The retired professor and farmer said he decided to get back into politics because he is concerned [...]
Republican Allen Quist will make an announcement "regarding 1st Congressional District" tomorrow at 1p.m. in the Rochester City Council Chambers.
Quist has been considering running for the 1st District Congressional seat currently held by DFL Rep. Tim Walz. Quist, of St. Peter, served [...]
Democrat Gregory French, owner of Advantage Driving School, has established a campaign committee to run for the Senate District 29 seat. French would be taking on GOP Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, of Rochester. Here is a link to French's information.
Senjem was first elected to the senate in [...]
Even though he has not announced plans to run, former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman topped other GOP candidates running for governor in a new poll. A Rasmussen Reports poll founds that Coleman would get 50 percent support from likely [...]
Minnesota House Democrats voted this morning to wade into the legal fight over Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts this summer.
Members of the House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee voted in favor of filing a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit brought by six Minnesotans who are suing [...]
The Rochester Tea Party Patriots have another rally planned tomorrow in front of 1st District Rep. Tim Walz's office.
An e-mail from the group features the image of a plug removed from a light socket and states, "Congressman Walz pulled the plug on health care."
The e-mail goes on to state, [...]
It is clear that the passion among both supporters and opponents of the Democrats' health care plan continues to run high in Rochester.
On Thursday, liberal political action committee MoveOn.org has scheduled a rally in support of health care reform in front of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's office in Rochester. The rally [...]
Back after casting a vote this weekend for the House health care reform bill, 1st District Rep. Tim Walz will surround himself with area doctors and nurses at a news event.
The Democrat will be at Rochester Community and Technical College at noon to discuss the importance of having Medicare payment [...]
Potential GOP congressional candidate Allen Quist will be in Rochester tonight hosting a "Freedom in Health Care Forum" tonight in Rochester. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Ramada Inn.
Quist has established an exploratory committee as he mulls over a potential [...]
1st District Congressman Tim Walz offered his reaction to the Fort Hood shootings in an interview last night on MSNBC's "The Ed show" hosted by Ed Schultz. Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress, called the incident an "incredible tragedy."
"We've got these brave warriors who do [...]
In an interview this afternoon, Republican Allen Quist said he hopes to be making an announcement next week as to whether or not he will run for DFL Congressman Tim Walz's seat.
"I have formed an exploratory committee and the way you [...]
It's a pretty low-key election day here in southeast Minnesota. Nonetheless, there are some big school referendum issues on the ballot. Voters will be headed to the polls in the following school districts — Byron, Rushford-Peterson, Blooming Prairie, Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Austin.
The lone municipal election is in the city of Rushford, [...]
Republican Pat Anderson stopped in Rochester today as part of a 14-city tour to kick off her gubernatorial campaign. The former State Auditor described herself as a "pro-liberty conservative," who embraces fiscal responsibility, the free-market system and individual responsibility.
Anderson has been busy [...]
Today, Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall unveiled a list of his backers from southeast Minnesota in his quest for the governor's mansion. The individuals are part of Seifert's "Southeast Minnesota Leadership Team."
Among the Rochester big hitters on the list are: Republican Party [...]
Republican Rep. Steve Drazkowski has picked Halloween to announce his support for GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. The Mazeppa lawmaker is holding a meet and greet event tomorrow at noon at the National Guard Armory, 1715 Marion Road S.E. in Rochester.
Rep. Emmer, an [...]
The $36 million interchange would serve the 2,325-acre Elk Run development, which is slated to include a Biobusiness [...]
Last night's speed-dating style candidate event drew more than 100 DFLers interested in checking out ten gubernatorial hopefuls. One of the most interesting parts of the night is when voters were given "ladies and gentlemen's choice" as to which candidate they visited.
During the first choice round, two candidates drew [...]
Ten DFL gubernatorial candidates will be in Rochester tonight as part of a speed-dating style format with voters. Participants will be put in small groups and rotate among the candidates.
The candidates scheduled to be at the event tonight include House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kellliher, state Sen. Tom Bakk, former U.S. [...]
Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem got an unexpected endorsement for governor — even though he is not running.
Community News Corp Publisher Larry Dobson wrote an editorial with the headline "Senjem is good governor material." Community News Corp publishes the Byron Review, Dodge [...]
Members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots have organized a week of events to protest Presidents Obama's efforts to overhaul the nation's health reform. The series of events, dubbed "October Surprise," kicked off yesterday with about a dozen Tea Party Patriots waving signs along the 2nd Street Southwest bridge over [...]
A bipartisan group of 21 lawmakers has sent a letter to Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty asking them to restore the tax reciprocity agreement between the two states.
The lawmakers are asking officials to start negotiating both a short-term and long-term fix to the reciprocity dispute. And [...]
State Sen. Al Franken will be in Rochester Friday afternoon visiting with students at the University of Minnesota Rochester.
Franken will meet with the university's Chancellor Stephen Lehmkuhle and students to discuss ways to make college more affordable for students. This is part of his "Making College Affordable" tour of state [...]
Two Republicans with names known within the 1st Congressional District are considering challenging DFL incumbent Tim Walz.
Jim Hagedorn, son of former Minnesota Congressman Tom Hagedorn, said he is considering running for the seat.
"I've been meeting with Republican leaders about the 1st District for some time and am trying to determine [...]
Rochester Sen. Dave Senjem joined fellow GOP state senators in calling for Minnesota's Attorney General to investigate ACORN's voter registration activities. Senjem, who serves as Senate Minority Leader, signed a letter sent to Attorney General Lori Swanson. The letter states that ACORN [...]
Mike Benson, a business professor at Crossroads College, has announced he plans to challenge three-term DFL incumbent Andy Welti for the District 30B House Seat in 2010. Benson has registered a campaign committee with the state.
The Rochester Republican said he decided to run [...]
The Minnesota Nurses Association is rallying at the state Capitol today to protest health care cuts made by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.A flier about the rally states in bold print at the top "Don't let him get by with it!"
To help balance the state [...]
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced this afternoon that he does not plan to run for governor in 2010. The news is especially surprising given the fact he has been acting like a candidate for several months.
In July, he joined in "Politics [...]
Supporters of a high-speed rail route along the Mississippi River are firing back at Rochester rail supporters.
Last week, Rochester officials gathered at the state Capitol to unveil a new study that makes the case that Rochester should be included on a high-speed rail line from Chicago to the Twin Cities. [...]
1st District Rep. Tim Walz is hosting a town hall forum on Friday at Winona State University to get residents' input on the war in Afghanistan. The event will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Somsen Auditorium.
The town hall comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send more [...]
The Southeast Minnesota Rail Alliance has scheduled a press conference at the state Capitol in St. Paul tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. to unveil a new study. According to a news release, the study will provide an "apples-to-apples" comparison of potential high-speed routes between the Twin Cities and Wisconsin.
Alexander Metcalf, president [...]
The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities today announced a campaign aimed at urging voters to ask gubernatorial candidates whether they support Local Government Aid. As part of that announcement, they unveiled a two-minute video that states cities have lost $782 million in LGA since 2003 and that Minnesota property taxes [...]
Tomorrow night, the League of Women Voters is hosting a meeting in Rochester aimed at explaining Instant Runoff Voting. In a nutshell, the system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The idea is to make sure the winner has an absolute majority of votes instead of a [...]
Mayo Clinic got a boost of good news Tuesday on its efforts to shape health care reform.
The Senate Finance Committee accepted an amendment to its health care bill that would set up a "value index" aimed at paying providers based on quality of care, not quantity. That is something that [...]
Mayo Clinic physician and University of Minnesota Regent Patricia Simmons is part of a 13-member delegation leaving tomorrow for Germany to learn about that country's health care system.
As part of the trip, delegation members will attend a seminar in Berlin from Sept. 22 to 27 that compares the U.S. [...]
American Medical Association President J. James Rohack is in Rochester today to speak about national health care reform.
Rohack will be addressing members of the Minnesota Medical Association as part of their annual conference. The Chicago Tribune recently had an interesting article about how the AMA has done a 180 on [...]
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty today joined fellow GOPers who are working to block ACORN from getting any taxpayer money. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, has drawn the ire of Republicans following an undercover sting where ACORN workers offered tax advice to two conservatives dressed up [...]
Minnesota's two senators joined two Indiana senators today in voicing opposition to a proposed tax on medical device manufacturers.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken, both Democrats, signed a letter addressed to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus voicing opposition to the tax. The tax is currently part of the [...]
Plenty of campaign news today. First off, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher plans to officially announce she is running for governor on Wednesday at a picnic on her family farm in Mankato.
The Minneapolis DFLer will face plenty of competition for the nomination. Other candidates who have announced or are expected [...]
Gov. Tim Pawlenty sent a letter today to Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Al Franken expressing his opposition to a $40 billion tax on the medical device industry that is party of the Senate Finance Committee's health care reform proposal.
In the letter, the Republican governor warns that the tax could [...]
Among those sitting in the gallery last night listening to President Obama's address was Mayo Clinic's Jeff Korsmo — executive director of the clinic's Health Policy Center.
Korsmo voiced strong support for Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system saying the status quo is not sustainable.
"Overall, we support his call [...]
A press call with 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz took an unexpected turn today when one of the participants used profanity about the congressman while waiting on hold. It happened a few minutes before the press call began. The unknown man made the comment expressing frustration with the wait. [...]
First District DFL Rep. Tim Walz is scheduled to talk with reporters this afternoon about a recent trip to Afghanistan, Kenya, Mali, Djibouti and Morocco. During his visit, Walz met with the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
This comes as McChrystal is expected to request additional troops [...]
Yesterday, Iron Range DFL Rep. Tom Rukavina officially announced his candidacy for governor at a Labor Day picnic in Duluth. That announcement was not a surprise — Rukavina had announced earlier this summer he had put a campaign exploratory committee together. But what caught my eye was the Republican Party [...]
The public debate over the Democrats' proposed health care overhaul is coming to Rochester. 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz has scheduled a health care town hall in Rochester on Saturday, Sept. 12.
The town hall comes as President Obama is scheduled to lay out specifics of his health care reform [...]
Members of the Senate Capital Investment Committee will not likely forget what awaits them in Mantorville today. Residents have planned an elaborate welcome complete with people dressed in 19th Century costumes riding on horseback. Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said he will be getting [...]
Spring Valley City Administrator Deb Zimmer got a welcome surprise Monday. Someone from 1st District Rep. Tim Walz's office called looking for a comment to go with a press release announcing the city had been awarded an $800,000 grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That was the first [...]
A new survey released by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Tunheim Partners finds that the majority of respondents do not want state government to raise taxes. According to the survey, 63 percent advocated cutting overall government spending to balance the state budget. But interestingly enough, 6 out of 10 [...]
