The Republican Party of Minnesota, investigated in the past for its contributions and accounting methods, says it will file a complaint against the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee challenging contributions it received and accounting methods.

The complaint, to be filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and the Office of Administrative Hearing, alleges that a $550,000 contribution to the DFL from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) violates state law because it came from a fund that commingles corporate and individual contributions. Corporations cannot contribute to Minnesota political parties or candidates.

In its financial report filed on Monday [PDF], the DFL attached a one-page summary listing some of the DLCC contributors, all individuals. But in reports filed with the IRS, the DLCC lists multiple contributions from such corporations as AT&T, Astra Zeneca, Reynolds American and the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Pat Shortridge

“The bogus report made it look like they took only individual contributions, but if you’re going to file campaign reports, you have to file the whole report,” said Pat Shortridge, Republican Party chair. “You can’t cherry-pick 10 donors and say, ‘This is all.’ ”

Furthermore, Shortridge said, even if none of the DLCC contribution came from corporations, segregating individual contributions still doesn’t comply with the law. “The interpretation [by the Campaign Finance Board] has always been, if you take any corporate money, it’s all tainted,” he said.

Ken Martin, chair of the DFL Party, issued a statement Friday evening, saying in part:

"At the eleventh hour, the Republican Party is scrambling to change the narrative.  Their latest attack is just a desperate effort to to distract voters from the real issues in this election.

"The Republican Party is trying to create controversy where none exists. The public record is clear that the funds we received from the DLCC consisted of contributions from individual donors. The only corporate spending happening in this election is the millions of dollars the Republicans' allies are spending to smear Democratic candidates across the state."

Republicans have a comparable organization, the Republican State Legislative Committee. But, Shortridge says, the RSLC “plays by the rules and does not give to the party.” 

The contribution from the DLCC is the DFL’s third-largest in the reporting period.

The penalties are stiff if the DFL were to be found in violation of the law. The party could be fined up to four times the amount of the contribution, or more than $2 million.

In the complaint, the Republican Party of Minnesota is asking the board to consider just such a penalty.  “It’s an attempt to mislead the Campaign Finance Board and the public,” Shortridge said.

The business groups that gathered at the Bloomington Hilton to monitor the results of Minnesota’s legislative races had early indications Tuesday night of the Republican losses that led to a DFL takeover of the House and Senate.

“It was a wave that we weren’t expecting,” said Mike Franklin of Minnesota’s Future, one of the independent expenditure groups that spent millions in support of mainly Republican candidates.

They were outspent by DFL groups like Alliance for a Better Minnesota, but Franklin and others weren’t blaming money for the change of hands. 

“My guess is that the marriage amendment was extremely useful to the Democrats’ enthusiastic turnout machine,” Franklin said. “In what was looking like the absence of competitive statewide races, it became the proxy campaign for a lot of DFLers to get organized around.”

As the votes came in, it appeared that both the marriage and voter I.D. amendments served as the statewide campaign that offered Democrats the coattails they needed to reverse control of the Legislature, almost precisely seat for seat.

But the consensus among Republican observers, operatives and even candidates is that there was another factor. “Did Republicans lose women?” Franklin mused.  

In a candid conversation in a private room at the Hilton, as Minnesota Republicans watched local and national races go to the Democrats, one woman just sighed, “They have got to stop talking about rape.”

From that frustration emerged the victories of DFLers Yvonne Selcer in Bloomington, Terri Bonoff in Minnetonka and Melisa Franzen in Edina. They are all moderate women who capitalized on the perceived anti-female reputation and actions of their opponents.

But just being a woman wasn’t enough, of course. Pam Wolf lost her Senate seat.  Terry Jacobson lost to Paul Rosenthal in 49B in Bloomington and Minnetonka, stunning her supporters who saw her as a moderate Republican, ideal for the district.

“Being a woman, why didn’t that benefit Terry?” asked Christopher Cole, a supporter from Bloomington.

Cole didn’t want to directly blame the marriage amendment, but said, “It seems like it did drive turnout in 49B.” At first privately, and now more publicly, Republicans are saying the amendment backfired, especially in vulnerable suburbs like Edina, Eden Prairie and Eagan, where voters are decidedly liberal on social issues.

Franklin and others point to Republican Congressman Erik Paulsen, who easily won re-election, as the model for future GOP candidates. Articulate and presentable, they say candidates like Paulsen are what the party needs, not candidates who want to talk about abortion and saving the state from same-sex marriage.

To get those candidates, some Republicans argue that the party needs to move away from its revered caucus system and have early primaries instead.  “Republicans have got to stop being afraid of primaries,” Franklin said. “Primaries are good for candidates.  Even the more conservative candidates come out a little sharper.”

The glimmer of hope for Republicans is that even in upset losses, like those in the Twin Cities suburbs, many district profiles may remain relatively conservative on the issues of jobs, the economy and taxes. So a swing back across the aisle in two years is not unlikely.

Republicans may have learned a few lessons this cycle about the wisdom of their political strategies. And they may have gained insight into the mind of the Minnesota voter. But it’s a certainty that they are not ceding those lost districts to permanent DFL control. It’s a matter of picking the right weapons, and candidates, the next time around.

While Republican legislative leaders choose their words carefully and defensively to explain how they lost their majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate, some of their candidates are not so hesitant.

“The constitutional amendments may have been an overall factor,” said Terry Jacobson, a first-time candidate for House seat 49B in Bloomington and Edina.

“It was a big effect,” said state representative Larry Howes, who lost his eighth bid for a seat representing Bemidji and Walker. “They were so easy to campaign against; we spent all our time explaining why it wasn’t bad. We were on defense the whole time.”

“You look at the state government shutdown. You look at the two amendments.  Were any of these three things part of this?” speculate Ted Daley, who lost his bid for a second term from Senate District 51 in Eagan. 

Marriage amendment

Leadership treads carefully on the role of the amendments. GOP Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers defended the marriage amendment at a news conference the day after the election. “We put it on the ballot because a majority of legislators believed it was the right thing to do,” he said

“I think it’s kind of mixed,” said David Hann of Eden Prairie, who led the Senate Republican election team and will be the caucus minority leader. “There are some in greater Minnesota who feel the amendments were helpful. There are some who say they were not helpful.”

Count Howes in the latter group. Although he voted for the marriage amendment, he believes his caucus erred in putting it on the ballot. “The fact that they had two amendments and they wanted to do four,” he said. “Some of us that were more moderate wanted to stop.”

Howes, like Jacobson and Daley, was hit with tens of thousands of dollars in negative mail, radio and on-line advertising. The Alliance for a Better Minnesota alone spent more than $28,000 against Jacobson, more than $33,000 against Howe, and more than $32,000 against Daley. Republicans, who lobbed their own rounds of negative ads, were outspent almost two to one.

Yet Howes, Jacobson and Daley, with varying degrees, say they had a positive campaign experience.

Newcomer Jacobson was especially enthusiastic. “I had a wonderful campaign team,” she said. “Going out door knocking, I absolutely loved it. I think people were really excited about me as a candidate.”

“I knocked on thousands more doors this time,” said Daley. “The website was stronger. Facebook and Twitter presence was stronger. I had far more physical, person-to person connections. They were good conversations.”

'Get off my property'

Except when there wasn’t a conversation at all. “There were a few people who slammed the door in my face before I could get the words out my mouth,” Daley said. He said that when asked about his party affiliation and he answered Republican, occasionally the response was: “Get off my property.”

Howes, too, describes bittersweet moments. “I still met a whole lot of new people,” he said.

Howes identified a number of factors for his loss.  “It wasn’t the fact that I wasn’t known. It was just the Obama factor.”

Also, for Howes, it was the relative weakness of the rest of the ticket in District 5A.  “Obama, Klobuchar, Peterson, Nolan,” he ticked off. “Why would you split the ticket? And Romney got hammered up here.”

Daley wonders why Republican polling didn’t factor more accurately the DFL get-out-the-vote effort.

“The polling I received, unofficial polling, sounded like things were getting better,” he said. But “I started doubting our polling; I questioned our folks. The results are two things -- the down ticket effect and turnout. I lost on both accounts.”

Directly and implied, the three candidates shared concern that the Republican Party was taking a bruising for its image. “What I heard was, the Republican war on women. We need to do something to address that,” Daley said. On Republican attempts in the last legislative session to pass restrictions on matters like contraception, Daley said: “You can’t do that kind of stuff.”

But that kind of stuff provided fodder for the negative ads that weakened otherwise strong suburban candidates like Daley and Jacobson. 

Hann sounded frustrated. “There is no mean-spiritedness on the part of the Republican Party agenda,” he said. “The tactic has been to portray that. That’s the thing we have to be better at overcoming.”

Noting Republican losses in the suburbs, Hann acknowledged they would be battle grounds for the foreseeable future. “The contested districts will still be the same contested districts the next election,” he said. “We’ll be back.”

And so will some of the candidates who lost this round. Daley, an Iraq and Gulf War veteran with a West Point degree, is looking for a leadership job in public-private policy development. Will he run again? “The quick answer is yes,” he said.

Jacobson said “absolutely” she would run again. “I am very concerned about the fiscal issues we will face in our state and nation,” she said. “This is more of concern for me that personally losing the election.”

Howes said he will not run again. But he leaves legislative life with advice for both parties: “When Republicans took control of both bodies, they didn’t know why. And if you don’t know why, you venture on a course that isn’t a true course. Hopefully, the Democrats know why they won.”

Political "identify theft."  That’s how some candidates and election watchdogs describe the explosion of negative ads financed by outside groups in the 2012 Minnesota legislative campaigns.      

“The candidates are being defined by an outside entity,” said Gary Goldsmith, executive director of the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. “This election has been the clearest demonstration of that yet.”

The ads are drawing the board’s scrutiny. With all the outside spending, “It’s a problem because the candidate’s voice is the weakest voice being heard. That’s generally the consensus of the board right now,” Goldsmith said.

Candidates are limited to spending $34,000 for a House race and $68,000 for a Senate seat.  But when the final campaign reports come in early next year, many legislative races will hit the low six figures in spending, and a few races could hit the half-million dollar mark.  Most of that money will come from groups far removed from the candidate’s control.

Republican Pam Wolf, defeated in her try for a second term as state senator from Anoka, Coon Rapids and Blaine, said that with 34 separate pieces of mail attacking her, voters had no idea who she really was.

“The tone of the pieces and the statements that were made were way over the top,” she said.  “One piece said I made it a crime to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and diabetes because I oppose human cloning. But I don’t oppose stem cell research.”

Wolf’s vote against human cloning is the typical mechanism used in negative ads to suggest a more extreme position than a candidate truly holds.

In the Senate District 49 race in Edina and Bloomington, the DFL Party, for example, used a series of procedural votes to claim that Republican Keith Downey voted against women by denying funding for mammograms and repealing equal pay laws.

His opponent was attacked, too. When a voting history is lacking, as in the case of Downey’s successful DFL challenger Melisa Franzen, the attack is less precise but no less definitive. “Melisa Franzen.  Endorsed by unions. Radical plans,” reads a flyer prepared and paid for by the Freedom Club.

The complaints come from both sides, but the howls over negative campaign ads are louder this year from Republicans, who were outspent two-to-one by groups aligned with the DFL.

Many Republicans, such as Wolf and Downey, were targeted with dozens of different negative ads. There were “two or three pieces a day” at the end of the campaign, according to Wolf.  “Who would have expected the police officers to start a PAC?” 

Public Safety Matters, a group that describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan association of law officers, took issue with Wolf’s vote to reduce Local Government Aid (LGA). In a flyer, it accused her of jeopardizing public safety in Blaine and Coon Rapids. 

The claim, she says, is an outright lie. “None of my cities had a cut in LGA. No deputies were let go because of funding,” she said.

Wolf and other candidates who say they were targets of false advertising have limited ways of finding relief. The state law that addresses false campaign statements comes under the jurisdiction of the Office of Administrative Hearings, which adjudicates but does not investigate.

That being the case, Wolf says, “ I think there should be some place where voters should be able to look at the resources to find out how the mailer got to this conclusion.”

“It’s an interesting question and an interesting concept,” Goldsmith said when told of the Wolf complaint. “[But] there’s no government agency that would have jurisdiction or even an interest in doing this,” he said.

The 2012 elections have left the campaign finance board with its own flood of spending problems to resolve, specifically disclosure of contributions to independent groups. The board is concerned with groups that avoid Minnesota’s disclosure laws because they exist as “education,” not political, entities. 

“They would fall through the cracks of our disclosure laws, so you may not know who the group is and where they get their money from. The board is looking at considering legislative recommendations on that,” said Goldsmith.  But, Goldsmith acknowledged, that kind of change would have no effect on the amount and tone of outside spending.

And it won’t help a candidate trying to get back to civilian life. “When we return back to our ‘real’ jobs, it is difficult if our character has been attacked during a campaign,” said Wolf, a teacher. “They said I was horrible for education, horrible for public safety, that I voted against funding for Alzheimer's. Now I have to go apply for a teaching job.”

Wolf suggests that laws should be tightened to require more factual campaign claims with better sources, “so voters can see what the statements are really based on.” 

But, the solution to the outsized advantage of independent spending may lie in expanding the power of the candidate, not in limiting the speech of groups on the outside.

With the prospect of proposals from the campaign finance board and the looming governor’s race in 2014, it’s possible that the Legislature would consider several campaign finance changes, including raising the candidate spending limits — to make the weak candidates’ voices a little stronger.

State Rep. Jenifer Loon

A new coalition of legislators moves into the Capitol next year with the potential to change the dynamics of the 2013 session. They are female, suburban and willing to buck the dogma of their colleagues on the left and the right.

“I’m hoping to refocus on fiscal issues, especially for women,” said Republican Jenifer Loon of Eden Prairie, the House assistant minority leader. “I personally feel some of the emphasis on social issues clouded or drowned out our fiscal focus.”

“We as women have an eye toward understanding what’s important,” said Terri Bonoff, who returns as the DFL state senator representing Minnetonka. “We need to be fiscally prudent to structure ourselves for a 21^st century environment.”

The political action committee Voices of Conservative Women was ahead of the curve when it formed in 2009 to endorse and work for women candidates strictly on the pocketbook issues of taxes, jobs and business growth. In 2012, despite spending only $36,000, Voices and its independent expenditure operation, Women Pac, helped elect 21 of its 30 endorsed candidates.

“I don’t think anywhere in the country is there a women’s organization that has sustained two-thirds win rate, left or right,” according to Jennifer DeJournett, president of Voices. “It’s a testament of the strong candidates.” 

DeJournett herself was a successful candidate, winning a seat on the Three Rivers Park Board. Challenged in a primary, she’s a believer that primaries develop a candidate with broader appeal. “When you’re forced to compete in primary, you hear the temperament of the electorate,” she said. “You’re forced to go out of your box.”

GOP candidates

This election cycle, Voices worked only on behalf of Republican women candidates, who must ask for endorsement. DeJournett says she hopes to expand the membership of the Voices board and that the past election victories will result in DFL and independent candidates asking for support.  

Courtesy of Jennifer DeJournett

Jennifer DeJournett

“We have no litmus test on social issues,” she stresses. “If someone asks for our support, we would give them the full respect and review.”

In return, in 2012, the candidate received a personal and customized form of voter outreach, unusual for PACs and independent expenditures that rely on template, “insert candidate’s name here” messages. The basics of the Voices strategy are reaching out to the women voters, calling for a specific woman in the household, and following up with a hand-written postcard. And no negative messages, says DeJournett.  “Women don’t want to hear other candidates being torn down.”

Both Bonoff and Loon welcome an expansion of a group like Voices of Conservative Women. “I think that’s up to the leadership, but they are unique by focusing on women candidates who are united around fiscal and economic issues,” said Loon. “I would certainly hope they would look at a broad spectrum.”

Bonoff says she knows the Voices brand is successful. “I have won and run on that platform,” she said. “I think it’s fiscally smart; the labels liberal and conservative are outdated.

Loon says the Voices’ message, like her message and the message of DFL women who ran as fiscal conservatives, appeals to a diversity of voters.  “A lot of pundits say Republicans have a problem with women, especially suburban women,” she said.  “I’m one of them. I think I can speak to women and to folks and find some commonality.”

Commonality helped Loon and Bonoff last session when they worked on legislation to help low-income parents with child-caring skills. Bonoff mentions Loon along with Republican Sen. Julie Rosen and Michelle Benson as colleagues with whom she has worked across the aisle on issues like the stadium and government reform.

Budget fix

Finding common ground on the next state budget will be trickier. Bonoff, for example, endorses tax reform but is opposed to raising income taxes. She wants health-care spending to fund outcomes, not procedures. She’ll look at expanding the tax base, but “I’m not for taxing business-to-business services.” More liberal members of her caucus, now in the majority, will prod her to move to the left.

State Sen. Terri Bonoff

Loon talks of providing “better value for the taxpayer,” not making government smaller. She says she ran for office to promote a strong jobs climate as the starting point for policy decisions. She said legislators must ask, “are you able to find a good job, do you have good schools, can you have the life you want to have in Minnesota?”

Despite the Republican’s minority status, Loon and others like her will hear from legislators with a more stringent take on budget issues.

But Loon, Bonoff, and the other women winners from the suburbs will not be ignored. They represent a coveted group of voters --  moderate women who were key to winning elections this year.  If, as center-left and center-right legislators, they forge partnerships on the state budget, education, jobs and health care, they will emerge as a distinctive and powerful political bloc.

Michael Brodkorb

Another bill is on the way to the Minnesota Senate for legal services related to the firing of Michael Brodkorb, former communications director for the Republican caucus. Paying that bill will be an order of business when the Senate Rules Committee meets Dec. 13.

The office of the secretary of the Senate says it hasn’t yet seen the invoice from the Larkin Hoffman Daley and Lindgren law firm.  But given that the legal services covered some actual court action in the case, the bill will be in the five figures, possibly as high as $50,000.

The Senate paid $85,000 for legal work that began early this year even before Brodkorb filed litigation, claiming his dismissal, for his affair with former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, constituted gender discrimination. Brodkorb claims that female employees involved in other similar relationships were not fired but transferred to other posts.   Thus far, the Senate has paid Larkin Hoffman $103,000 in legal fees.  

The Senate will have some extra funds to cover the new billing.  During the meeting, likely the last under the Republican majority, the Rules Committee will consider how to use a $2.6 million surplus in the Senate's budget.

On a two-year budget that hovers around $40 million, Steve Sviggum, the Republican caucus communications director, describes the amount as “a significant carry forward.  It’s a result of some pretty good management by the Senate.”

According to Sviggum, reducing the per diem payment by $10, travel restrictions and a salary freeze led to the surplus.

The surplus will move forward into next year, as will the Brodkorb legal fees. Both sides are waiting for a ruling from federal magistrate Arthur Boylan on whether to dismiss some of the motions in the case.   

On the eve of a state budget forecast that could provide the platform for major DFL changes on spending and social issues, new Assistant Senate Minority Leader Dave Thompson rejected two key pieces of the Republican’s re-election strategy.

In comments after a meeting Tuesday of the Republican Seniors of Minnesota, Thompson said that GOP candidates’ insistence that there was a budget surplus and the push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage had, in effect, backfired.

“When people wake up and read the paper and they see deficit, deficit, deficit, deficit, and then the one person comes out of the woodwork to say there’s a surplus, it looks like you’re being disingenuous, especially when it’s self-serving,” he said.

As for the wisdom of the marriage amendment, Thompson, who voted in favor of it, now says: “With the benefit of hindsight, politicians, policy makers need to respond to some perceived problem and I don’t think your average voter perceived that marriage in Minnesota has a problem.”

Thompson’s criticism may seem surprising from the man celebrated and reviled during the last legislative session for his passionate support of conservative principles and his efforts to undermine the influence of government employee unions. But the Lakeville Republican is a blunt political instrument and offered no words of comfort at the Republican seniors’ meeting.

“I’ve been looking hard for four weeks for a silver lining, but I’m not seeing one,” he told the group of about 50 gathered at Poor Richard’s Commonhouse in Bloomington.

He painted what he considers a dismal and unacceptable post-election future for the state under the DFL Legislature and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton.  “I think you are going to see a broadening of unionization. You are going to see an incredible shift against building roads and toward transit,” he said. “I think you are going to see an incredible level of increased spending.” 

But as he rued the state and national shift to the left – “I think it’s possible that 30 years from now we see that 2012 was the year America decided to be a western European social democracy” – he did not let Republicans off the hook. “I’m not here to defend Republicans,” he told his solidly GOP audience, who responded to his remarks with applause. Republicans were weak, he said, in their choice of Mitt Romney for president, their poor get-out-the vote effort, and their message.

“I take some responsibility,” he said. “I’m too willing to say no. The electorate has not responded well to ‘no.’”

After his speech, Thompson elaborated:  “I think what we have to focus on is not only the damage that I believe is done by a larger government, but the benefit that comes from less government.  The benefits of making your own life decisions.”

Pressed by the Republican seniors for some practical recommendations, Thompson offered an approach that hewed to conservative beliefs but incorporated the new voter reality.

“We have to find a way to legitimately criticize the policies the Democrats put in place,” he told them. “And you need to help nominate the most conservative candidate that can be elected.  We can’t do it without the votes.”

Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board not only is contemplating asking the Legislature for more money but also looking at expanding its authority to put that money to use.

On Wednesday, the board meets to consider a request to increase its annual budget from $689,000 to $1 million. The increase would be funded by a direct legislative appropriation or by an increase in fees paid by lobbyists, political parties and independent expenditure groups.

The extra money could make the board extra-vigilant.

“The board is interested in becoming more proactive,” said Executive Director Gary Goldsmith. “This board has recognized that there's already a lot of interest for better disclosure and this election has pointed out we don’t have the best disclosure.”

The 2012 election saw an unprecedented burst in spending from outside groups that wanted to influence the political makeup of the Legislature. With the increase in spending comes an increase in complaints.

The board already has received a request for what would be a major investigation.  The Republican Party of Minnesota has alleged that the DFL Party accepted illegal contributions from corporations, hidden in a contribution made by a political action committee that co-mingles private and corporate donations.

The board is also looking at bringing more groups in line with Minnesota’s campaign finance disclosure laws by asking the Legislature to expand the definition of what constitutes a candidate endorsement.

Specifically, the board is considering whether groups that try to influence an election but don’t specifically endorse should be required to disclose the sources of their funding.

Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group founded by Charles and David Koch, is an example. Its Minnesota website focuses on the issues, not the candidates. The group did spend money on Republican candidates this year, but no one knows how much because, as an educational group, Americans for Prosperity is not required to disclose. 

“Those groups know exactly what the rules are,” said Goldsmith. “They may talk about someone’s record or thank them. They use different tactics, but they always avoid those magic words.”

So, the board of six is debating whether to ask the Legislature to broaden the definition.

According to proposals under consideration, “express advocacy means any communication that when taken as a whole and with limited reference to external events, such as the proximity to the election, could be interpreted by a reasonable person as containing advocacy of the election or defeat” of a candidate.

Goldsmith is anticipating some pushback on the proposal to raise filing fees.

“I would expect the most opposition to a fee program to come from the campaign finance sector, and in particular from party units and political funds,” he wrote in material prepared for the board’s consideration. “If these arguments materialize, they will be based on the burden that a fee places on speech.”

It’s possible, though, that proposals to regulate a broader range of advocacy voices will draw an even louder protest.

“This is essentially a mini-McCain-Feingold, trying to create a structure around non-election freedom of speech, which should raise alarm bells,” said Mike Franklin who helped run the independent expenditure group Minnesota’s Future.

Franklin said he understands the concept of trying to regulate an election ad hiding as issue advocacy, but “you are running a very slippery slope. It’s kind of in the eye of the beholder.”

And, he maintains, issue groups across the spectrum should be concerned. “Just because you’re the Koch brothers does not mean you’re up to a nefarious pursuit,” he said. “I’d say the same thing about Education Minnesota, public employees unions. Any group that has the resources is going to try to do issue advocacy.”

The board takes up a package of legislative initiatives at its meeting on Wednesday with no expectation that any of the proposals will be adopted.

What is certain is that if a government board takes up an issue tied to free speech, the speeches that follow will be noisy.

The horror of what happened in Newtown, Conn., immediately drew lawmakers and school administrators in Edina into discussion of gun control and school safety.

At a meeting Monday night of parents and their newly elected legislators, Superintendent Ric Dressen said he was compelled to begin with comments about the shootings at Sandy Hook elementary school.  

“We’re reminded again of the importance of safety and making sure our students feel safe as a school district,” he told the group. “We do have policies in place that support that. Yet, situations that occurred last Friday, those are literally impossible to figure out how you can manage that.”

Melisa Franzen, state senator-elect from District 49, also started her comments with a reflection on the tragedy. “What triggered in my mind was, how did we fail one child because really it was a child that committed this tragedy,” she said.  “So I don’t see it [as] someone’s fault or someone’s failure. I see it as a need for society to figure out how to not have this happen again.”

In a message to parents on the Edina school district website, Dressen described the district’s approach to dealing with a crisis in the schools: “We are constantly reviewing and updating our crisis plan, both internally with our staff and externally in partnership with local first responders, counselors and other community resources in an effort to ensure a safe and secure learning environment for our students and staff.”

That message, along with emails from teachers and school principals, was a great comfort, said Paul Rosenthal, incoming state representative from District 49B and who has two children in Edina schools.  “It really gave us a way to approach our kids as we came home that day,” he told the group of about 40 parents who had gathered at the Edina Community Center.  “One of my kids knew, the other didn’t, and I was really worried about how to approach that.” 

Rosenthal, Franzen and Ron Erhardt, the new state representative from 49A, all DFLers, reacted coolly to a proposal from Tony Cornish, the Republican state representative from Good Thunder, to allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. 

“My initial thought is the less guns in school the better,” Rosenthal said.  Erhardt agreed: “We have enough guns.”

“I don’t know what could be more dangerous than killing 20 kids,” Cornish said in defense of his proposed legislation. “It’s no more risky than a pilot that carries a gun on an airplane.”

Cornish described the legislation as a step up from conceal-and-carry. Currently, teachers can carry guns but only with permission from their school district superintendents.  “Right now an intruder can come into a gun-free zone that we have created and know that there’s no one there to resist,” he said. 

The legislators and the superintendent acknowledged the desire to react, but “to target one solution isn’t the answer,” Dressen said.  “I think it’s got to be broader.”

Dressen said he will gather his administrative staff on Wednesday to review the district’s policy and conduct an audit to determine where procedures can be improved.  He indicated that as in school districts around the state, the topic will eclipse other education concerns for now. “Safety right now today, that is going to be front and center going forward.”

MinnPost photo by Brian HallidayErica Schumack

Part 11 in a series

It was a difficult election year for Republicans in Minnesota. The DFL gained control of both houses of the Legislature, Sen. Amy Klobuchar trounced her GOP opponent and Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack was knocked off in the 8^th congressional district. Among the GOP candidates to lose was Chris Fields in the 5^th congressional district. Erica Schumack, Fields’ 23-year-old campaign manager, describes what it was like running against Keith Ellison in a Democratic year:

I jumped at the chance when I heard Chris was looking for people. I will say a lot of us are young. You can afford to be an idealist when you are young. It’s important to work for someone you truly believe in, and that’s what important. 

Chris Fields was just refreshing. He reaffirmed that politics was what I wanted to do. The combination of his personality, of calling it like it is but also being a first-time candidate, not knowing not to call it like it is.

It was just a real break-in. It was kind of cool to be on this campaign for Chris because it was kind of the first time for both of us. I worked on campaigns but never anything on this level with this much responsibility. Chris had never been a candidate. It was two rookies working together.  Frustrating but rewarding, too. 

Debates were the highlights of the campaign. They were the highs and the lows, for a couple of reasons. I thought Chris always performed really well and I never saw the numbers turn after that. Even knowing that we were putting our best foot forward, still the fact that our candidate had an “R” behind his name, that was not going to change.

[Reflecting on the radio interview in which Ellison called Fields a “scumbag” when Fields brought up Ellison’s failure to pay child support.]

That goes to the lows. It was a good day for me. We got media recognition, something that we always struggled with. That was the high point. We got national recognition. There’s 800 races going on in the country. It’s rare to get recognition on a national stage. But then again, you didn’t see [Ellison’s] support wane.

You had a sitting congressman who had a complete meltdown on live radio, personally attacking his opponent and you just did not see evidence that his supporters were going anywhere. So that was discouraging.

I think you need to revel in the discouragement for a while. You really do. But I don’t think to the point where you give up. Again, I think that might be the young idealist in me, but I fight to fight, not necessarily to win. I fight to hold these politicians accountable. And sometimes it’s not fair. That’s just the way it is, I guess. 

Monday: LRT construction: 'Business dropped by about 40 percent. I cried many nights.'

The Minnesota Legislature's incoming minority leaders — David Hann in the Senate and Kurt Daudt in the House — will operate at a distinct disadvantage, given the DFL control of both chambers and the governor’s office. But their leadership styles and experience, a study in contrasts, could help Republicans maintain relevance.

Hann, the state senator from Eden Prairie, brings to his fourth term a reputation as both a policy expert and a conservative ready to do battle. Daudt, a second-term legislator from Isanti County, is praised for his political instincts and for an appreciation of the importance of the message.

Pat Anderson, a former state auditor and current lobbyist, served with Daudt on the party’s executive committee. “He understands the process,” she said. “He’s willing to get some bipartisan legislation.”

Hann, she says, will actually be involved in crafting the budget. “Hann has an excellent grasp of policy, especially the budget for human services.”

Budget debate a key issue

Both men talk about shaping the new state budget with its billion-dollar shortfall with the same goal, albeit with different rhetoric.

“Our priority is going to be balancing the budget. We have a track record of doing that without a tax increase,” Daudt said.

“If the Democrats push a tax increase and this puts us in the position of hurting the economy, we have to be truthful and say these are wrong choices,” said Hann.

The two leaders do not know each other well. “We have slightly different personalities,” Daudt admits. “I have a reputation as a consensus builder.”

They agree, though, that the first test of Republican input will come with legislation to establish a state health care exchange, the online market mandated by federal health care reform law that will allow consumers to compare the costs and features of various kinds of health care coverage. Daudt describes the legislation as a “bellwether” and opportunity for cooperation. 

“We don’t support Obamacare, but it is the law of the land,” Daudt said. “Republicans, we want it to be a more market-driven solution.”

While Daudt holds out hope for collaboration, Hann is skeptical. “Our concern is whether there is a strong private-sector insurance market, but you’ve got bills out that call for the private sector to be eliminated from the exchanges,” he said, referring to a comment that Roseville DFL senator John Marty made at MinnPost that he prefers advocates, rather than industry professionals, to lead the exchange. “We’re not going to participate in that.”

Hann, professionally, has an indirect relationship with the insurance industry. He is a partnering agent with a company that offers financial consulting, including insurance plans, to businesses.

With a Senate Republican caucus still directionless, Hann’s bluntness and force will be a factor in whether he can pull members into a strong political position, not just opposition.

Former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, whom Hann pressured to resign her post because of an affair with staff member Michael Brodkorb, recalls playing board games with Hann. “David Hann is outstanding at Trivial Pursuit,” she said, as a compliment to his knowledge base.  “He is not impressive at [the strategy game] Risk.”

MinnPost photo by James NordHouse Minority Leader Kurt Daudt: "Our priority is going to be balancing the budget."

A unified front?

Minority members still have an important role in legislative negotiations, provided they offer a unified front.  Gov. Mark Dayton has suggested he would like to see a bonding bill this session, legislation that requires a three-fifths majority vote and would need Republican support.  If both Hann and Daudt manage their caucuses successfully, yes votes could lead to greater Republican influence in other legislation, such as tax reform.

“I think there is an appetite for reform among Republicans,” Hann said. “If there’s an interest in tax reform, there are a number of Republicans that would be willing to participate.  Maybe there’s a way to broaden the sales tax and reduce income tax rates.”

Hann’s attentiveness to policy seems to signal he may use his leadership as a springboard to a run for governor. “All I will say is that my focus is leader of the caucus,” he replied to a question about future ambitions. “There is going to be another election in two years, but at this point, my focus is on the caucus.”

Daudt, however, does have his eye on Republicans retaking the House. “We are looking forward, looking at our role over the next two years,” he said. “Our caucus is upbeat and looking forward to 2014.”

But first, there is the 2013 legislative session, with one-party control for the first time in more than 20 years. And even though DFL leaders have pledged to not overstep, they are sure to push back at any suggestions that Republicans will return to dominance. And compromise and consensus will be at the call of the party in control.

There are rumblings in the Republican Party that it may be time for a conservative woman to run for governor.

It’s no coincidence that the discussions are taking place as Republicans cast about to redefine their image after losses in the 2012 elections.

Among those speculating about the possibility of a Republican woman at the top of the ticket is Jennifer DeJournett, director of Voices for Conservative Women. It’s a real possibility, she says, because “there will be a primary. So the question is: What would it take to get someone through a primary?”

Voices for Conservative Women has been successfully fielding conservative female candidates for legislative and local offices but has not been involved in a gubernatorial race. The governor’s office has eluded women from both parties in Minnesota, although women have held other statewide posts, including auditor, attorney general and secretary of state.  

The closest a woman has come to becoming governor was in the DFL primary season in 2010. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, then speaker of the Minnesota House, lost the primary by 1 percentage point to Mark Dayton, who went on to defeat Republican Tom Emmer and independent Tom Horner. 

Kelliher’s strong showing came in large part because of support from Women Winning, a 30-year-old bipartisan organization that endorses pro-choice women running for office.

Building coalitions

Lauren Beecham, executive director of Women Winning, says the group’s strong suit is building coalitions, which she says comes naturally to a female candidate. “You’re dealing with someone who comes with an extensive network,” she says. “We help them piece this together. The way you win is by being very involved with others.”

DeJournett envies the network that Women Winning has created. “When Women Winning went all in for Margaret, they really felt like they were backing a winner,” she says.  “Why wouldn’t Republican women do the same [with a candidate for governor]?”

If such a group gets formally organized with the goal of finding and then promoting a woman for governor, DeJournett would certainly play a major role.  Other notable conservative women who would likely join the effort include former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, state Sen. Julianne Ortman, state GOP Deputy Chair Party Kelly Fenton and former legislator Laura Brod, who voiced interest in running for governor in 2009 and has left open the possibility of making a future run.

Developing a pipeline of candidates is key to electing women, says Beecham, who adds that’s what Women Winning does best. “We look for opportunities in identifying strong community leaders who are passionate about prioritizing women and their families, and then prepare women for statewide office,” she says. “When women run for office, women win. But the problem is that women aren’t running at the same rate as men.”

No announced candidates

That rate is even lower in the Republican field. Not only is there no announced Republican woman running for governor, the rumor mill has churned out only male possibilities, including state Sen. David Hann, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson and Emmer. 

Courtesy of Jennifer DeJournett

Jennifer DeJournett

That’s why Republicans will need to create a group with the force, commitment, and tentacles of liberal women’s groups.  Like Women Winning, this organization must reassure a candidate that if she undertakes the journey to run for the state’s highest office, she will have other women behind her.

“I think women want to know if they are going to take a leap, there will be a support group,” says DeJournett, who has heard the concerns of legislative and local candidates. “‘Am I qualified? What’s going to happen to my business? Can my family handle this? Can I make a successful argument to the voter?’ Women want to figure that out before they start a campaign.”

Although there is no formal organization – yet – to draft a Republican woman for governor, there is a growing recognition that 2014 would be the right time to make such a launch. Facing a relatively popular incumbent governor, Republicans will need to move beyond the usual suspects. And given the incumbencies of Dayton and 2014’s other big DFL name, Al Franken, Republicans would stand alone with a major female candidate.

As Republicans look for a game-changing political strategy, a woman at the top of ticket guarantees voters would take a second look at the party and its message.

Longtime Minnesota public official Steve Sviggum is among the 35 staff members of the Senate Republican caucus whose positions were eliminated with the downsizing that comes with minority status.

Sviggum’s last paycheck, along with those for the other 34, was issued last Friday.

Sviggum, who was hired last January as executive assistant and communications director for the then-majority caucus, had indicated before the holidays that he expected to leave his position.

“I did tell David [Senjem, former majority leader] that I’d stay with him through the elections, but I’m not sure it might not be best for me not to come back,” Sviggum said in an interview in mid-December.

At the time, Sviggum was anticipating that the Republican caucus would have to cut up to 25 positions, a prediction that was on the low side. The new DFL majority caucus reduced the GOP staff to 39 from 74, four fewer staff members than the DFL had with its minority status.

Sviggum, 61, has held a variety of top posts in state government, including House speaker, commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry, and a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

He said with such drastic staff reductions, he felt that the remaining jobs should go to younger staff members with growing families and needs.

But there was a tinge of sadness in his voice as he described his affection for his job: “I enjoy going down talking to the press. The Capitol has been my home.”

With the contest for a new chairman, the Republican Party of Minnesota is headed for another power struggle between two blocs of activists — the Ron Paul supporters who have taken over much of the party’s grass-roots structure, and traditional conservatives who lost their hold at the state convention last spring.

MinnPost photo by Brian Halliday

Marianne Stebbins

Two of the key players in this competition are Marianne Stebbins, not a candidate for chair but the chief organizer of Paul supporters, also known as the “liberty” wing, and Keith Downey, a former state representative with a business and legislative résumé, who is a candidate for party chair.

The victor will determine nothing less than whether the Republican Party can return to dominance. Each group believes it has a vision that will lead the party back to financial solvency and organizational effectiveness that, in turn, will lead to the broad voter support that the party lacked in the 2012 election. For Stebbins, that means a radical retrenchment of party ideals.

“We looked at the last election and  the party just showed that it was genuinely out of touch,” she said. “They weren’t talking about the economy,  they were talking about the constitutional amendments.” For Downey, the party’s principles are not the problem, but he believes they got lost in the translation to voters.

“The basic Republican message of relying on Minnesotans and not bigger government is an appealing one,” he said. “If we can animate the  activist base and make people understand we do care, we can excite the public.”

Meetings in February

The selection of party chair is an inside job. In February, Republicans will attend meetings in their Senate district, also called a basic political organizing unit or BPOU. Each BPOU elects delegates to the party’s state central committee. The central committee then selects the party chair.

As an indication of how tough a job the party chairmanship will be, the state central committee has approved a budget that includes a salary for the party chair. Downey has not indicated whether he’d take the salary, which current chair Pat Shortridge has turned down.

Ron Paul supporters promise an effort to take control of the state central committee. Contrary to claims that Ron Paul supporters were interested only in making a statement in the 2012 presidential race, Stebbins says they are a force at the local level.

“These folks are still very active and working together, meeting and discussing organization,” she said. “They will still come out to the BPOUs, maybe more in some areas than others. It's a self-propelling movement to a large degree.”

The liberty wing hasn’t endorsed a candidate for party chair publicly, but has mentioned support for businessman and activist Corey Sax and former state auditor and national committeewoman Pat Anderson.

Downey to stress the future

MinnPost photo by Brian Halliday

Keith Downey

The BPOUs give Downey an opportunity for retail politics where he says he will stress his message of moving forward.

“We’ve got all kinds of things you can look at and analyze to death, but what we really need is somebody who can take our party forward to the future,” he said. “In my mind, the essence of that is remembering that we Republicans are here to provide leadership for our state and the betterment of our people.”

Downey and Stebbins also split on how many Republicans can fit under the big tent.

As far as Downey’s concerned, all Republicans, be they social conservatives, Ron Paulites, or traditional conservatives who tend to be social moderates, are necessary to move the party forward. 

Stebbins implies litmus test

Stebbins is not so sure about that and implies there will be a litmus test for future candidates to get the liberty wing’s stamp of approval.  “We’re not interested in electing any Republican that runs,” she said.  “We want to choose a candidate that has principles.”

Neither the Paulites nor the establishment activists can claim any high ground based on the results of the 2012 election. Ron Paul supporters succeeded in winning the Republican endorsement for U.S. Senate for high school teacher Kurt Bills, who went on to lose to Sen. Amy Klobuchar by the widest margin in state history.

As to why, Stebbins explains, “Nobody was going to do well against Klobuchar. He [Bills] got started late and his campaign was run by the establishment Republicans.”

A focus on communication

Meanwhile, the establishment Republican Downey, who was co-chair of the Bills campaign and ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota Senate, was one of the defeated Republican candidates who returned the Legislature to DFL control. Women and minorities led the anti-Republican tide. Downey insists that “the Republican approach is absolutely the right approach. [But], do we need to communicate that in a way that appeals to all kinds of Minnesotans? Absolutely.”

There is common ground for Stebbins and Downey and the Republican activists they represent. It’s the deep concern about what happened to their party in the last election cycle and the willingness to reevaluate its political purpose. And no one thinks it will be easy. Downey offered an assessment that gets no argument. “We have a lot of work to do,” he said, “if we are going to be the GOP the state of Minnesota needs.”

There’s nothing like a breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns in the elegant yet cozy dining room of the Governor’s Residence to take the edge off political harshness.

Gov. Mark Dayton, continuing his tradition of breakfasts with legislative leadership, hosted his first one of the session Thursday morning with GOP minority leaders Rep. Kurt Daudt and Sen. David Hann.

“It was a very cordial meeting,” said Daudt. “We talked about issues where we thought we could agree and where we disagree.”

The former was the shorter list, but Daudt said that’s where much of the breakfast talk was focused.  In addition to the restoration of the Capitol, “a very bipartisan thing” in Daudt’s words, the three men discussed election changes.

Daudt is a proponent of a June primary, as is Dayton, providing some common ground to talk about legislation on other election issues.  “We both agree that we should do some campaign finance reforms,” Daudt said, “including raising the campaign contribution limits.”

Figuring high on the disagreement list are the state’s heath care exchange to implement the federal health care law and the proposed state budget, which Dayton is scheduled to deliver on Tuesday.

Daudt said that there was little detail on the budget — “We didn’t expect the governor to divulge specifics” — but some serious talk on the health care exchange.

“There are things in the bill now that are unworkable,” he said. “We expressed some concerns with the governor, and he understood that.”

Daudt declined to give specifics but said he told Dayton that if Republican objections were considered, “our people would be able to come to the table.”

Daudt, who is likely to play good cop to Hann’s bad cop during the session, said the meeting ended with the promise of meeting over breakfast every other week.  It remains to be seen whether, in the heat of the session, hot coffee will be enough to keep the governor, the DFL and the GOP on speaking terms.

The Republican response to Governor Dayton’s budget proposal approximated the outdoor temperatures this week.

Senate and House minority leaders Sen. David Hann and Rep. Kurt Daudt found nothing to like and everything to fault. They characterized Dayton’s proposal for a lowering and broadening of the sales tax as a middle-class tax increase and job killer.

“A more fitting title for the governor’s budget would be that this budget is for a better Wisconsin because that is where Minnesota jobs will go,” Daudt said. 

Hann noted that a sales tax would be levied for the first time on clothing, hair cuts, oil changes and health club memberships. He then dismissed the Dayton administration contention that business would pay most of the $2 billion generated by the sales tax expansion.

“We are going to raise two billion dollars in sales taxes but nobody’s going to pay them?” he asked. “How does that work? So the businesses are going to be absorbing these taxes and what is going to happen? It’s not going to pass them to ordinary people and consumers?  So, of course, people are going to pay.”

That’s what the Republicans don’t like on the revenue side of the governor’s budget. The spending they care for even less, noting the budget proposal calls for a 7.6 percent increase over the current budget. 

Daudt picked one budget nit — reinstatement of the political contribution refund program. “We’re taxing Baby Tylenol to pay for welfare for politicians,” he said.  “We think that’s wrong.”

Hann again countered the governor’s budget answers with more questions. “When we’re spending this kind of money, spending to this degree, what are we going to get for it?” he said. “What’s the big thing that we’re going to get for this? To buy down property taxes? Is that the big idea?”

The closest that the Republican leadership came to a proactive statement dealt with the so-called school shift, payments to schools that have been delayed to balance past budget deficits. The Dayton budget does not re-pay the shift that the DFL has cited as a high priority until the 2016 budget cycle.

“We need to pay back the shift in this current budget,” Daudt said. “We’re punting that down the road.”  

Still, Daudt, said, House Republicans are ready to work.  “My caucus is ready to roll up its sleeves.”

But Hann offered no similar words of encouragement but had a realistic take on the Republicans' loss of power in budget negotiations: “We don’t have the votes.”

Furthermore, Hann and Daudt hinted that Republicans may even be content to let the DFL take the budget lead. “We’ll certainly invite the public to come to the Legislature and voice opinion on the increased taxes,” Hann said.

Daudt even speculated how the governor’s budget, if adopted, would affect the 2014 elections. “I think it would fare very well for Republicans,” he said. “I don’t think people are going to respond very well to paying a tax on a coat for their children.”

With their criticism and lack of critical mass, Republican legislators appear to be indicating that the budget debate will be a one-party discussion and that they’re betting the voting public won’t like what it hears.

It’s been a bad year for former Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, capped by a particularly bad week.

On Wednesday, Michael Brodkorb, the staff member with whom she had the relationship that cost her the leadership post, was involved in a serious car accident.

Brodkorb’s condition has improved, and he’s been communicating with friends and families via text messages. Koch declined to comment on the current status of their relationship.

But, the accident will strengthen the blame game for Republicans who want to trace the source of their recent problems to the Brodkorb-Koch affair.    

Koch, in an interview Friday, was in a mood to fight back, clear the air and vent frustrations about her party’s ineffectiveness.

“[Minnesota] Republicans are a Blockbuster Video in a Hulu world,” she said.

“Our business model is outdated. How you’re delivering it needs to be fundamentally changed. The DFL is ahead on data [and] social media,” she said. “And yet, [Republicans] we're ready to point the fingers at everybody and say, ‘This is where it all fell apart.’ ”

Republicans, Koch said, still have a path to relevance both during the legislative session and the 2014 elections.

 “There are so many talented people,” she said. “Everybody has faults, nobody’s perfect, me least of all, but find what they’re good at and build people up.”

Koch maintains that even though Republicans are in the legislative minority, they can still be players in the budget process.

 “We are fundamentally a fiscally common-sense state,” she said, so Republicans should offer an alternative budget and focus on spending and tax reforms.

She had specific recommendations: “Take away the sales tax on capital investment and pay for it by cutting programs like JobZ [a program initiated by then Gov. Tim Pawlenty that offers tax relief to specific industries and regions].”

Republicans have an opening to challenge Governor Dayton’s budget proposal, Koch said, because “I think it will be a hard sell.  It’s too broad.”

As once-powerful people often do, she reflected on the glory days of her caucus, after the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of the Senate and the House.

 “It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t a fluke what happened in 2010,” she said. “We were a team, if we can find a way to get back to that.”

Koch agrees with the view that her status as the first woman to serve as Senate majority leader influenced the way the Republican caucus handled her resignation.

 “There was a gender component,” she said.

On Dec. 16, 2011, the day after Koch announced in a statement that she was stepping aside as majority leader, four male senators staged a news event at which they proclaimed surprise and shock at learning of the Koch-Brodkorb relationship. Many women legislators say reaction to the resignation would have been different had the leader in question been a man.

For the time being, Koch has ruled out running for office again. Divorced, she has bought and manages a bowling alley in Maple Lake near Buffalo.

 “I don’t bowl,” she said with a chuckle. “But I really like the people I have working for me.”

And she’s a hands-on manager. She was at work when the 10 o’clock news was airing reports of Brodkorb’s accident. Her patrons, she said, gave her a sympathetic nod, as if to say, “This, too, shall pass.”

Ronald Reagan incarnate could not have united the 250 Republicans who gathered Wednesday night in Arden Hills to discuss the future of their party.

Billed as “Minnesota GOP: Where Do We Go From Here,” a panel of seven campaign professionals, bloggers, and consultants each offered a road map that would send the party in seven different directions.

The panel reflected the factions and frictions in the crowd at the Blue Fox Bar and Grill.  Ron Paulites, Tea Partiers, fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and one tri-corn hat-wearer alternately cheered and booed as panel members commented on the state of the Minnesota GOP.

“The Republican Party is an absolute disaster,” said Andy Parrish, a former Michele Bachmann chief of staff who helped direct the unsuccessful campaign to pass the marriage amendment.  Parrish argued the party has abandoned its social conservative principles and suffered as a consequence.

Parrish’s position got a forceful pushback from writer Sarah Janecek.  “Let’s get the hell off the social issues and focus on the fiscal issues,” she said.

She delivered several versions of that line, always met by a round of applause from the libertarian Ron Paul supporters, who made up most of the attendees.

Reaching out to minorities, using social media, appealing to independent voters and improving basic campaign techniques were some of the tactical suggestions of the evening.

But, one question from an audience member reflected the overarching concern: “How do we get the factions to work together?”

Like his panel colleagues, Mark Westpfahl, Republican chair of the 2nd Congressional District, couldn’t give an answer but he did sound a philosophical note.

“Republicans have always been a faction party,” he said. “It’s nothing new, but we pick up on it when we have big losses.”

Parrish took the bleakest view of his party’s future, suggesting the Minnesota Republican Party should file for bankruptcy and start over, a comment that elicited some nods of agreement.

The two-hour discussion ended as it began — with no unity on content of message, tactics or strategy but plenty of evidence that Minnesota Republicans are scattered well beyond the boundaries of the big tent.

For lobbyists, access to Minnesota legislators -- in the State Office Building, outside the House and Senate chambers or just over coffee -- has never been more critical, given the potential impact of Gov. Mark Dayton’s sweeping budget proposal.

But Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk is making it clear: he wants to hear less from business lobbyists and more from top business leaders.

“Things are different coming from business lobbyists’ communication than it is coming from the decision makers,” said the DFLer from Cook.

Bakk says he’s heard that disparity in the last several weeks as he’s met with the CEOs and other executives of some of Minnesota’s Fortune 500 companies.  Bakk won’t specify which companies have filled up his appointment calendar, but he’s likely to find time to talk to the heads of Ecolab, ALLETE, the Mayo Clinic, 3M, US Bank and the Carlson Companies.

“They understand that we need to invest in the state’s education system,” he said. “I think uniformly they are facing a significant number of retirements over the next decade, and that comes across as a great concern about work force issues as it relates to retirement. I don’t sense they are against all tax increases, but they want it to be spent on things that are important to them.”

Relationship with business

David Olson, president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, has a long and friendly relationship with Bakk. He said Bakk’s contact with business people is helpful.

“We’ve said for years, if we can get our members to speak up, that’s the best thing because they are the ones that grow the jobs,” he said. “But most of our members are small businesses and they don’t have the time to go to the Capitol.”

Bakk acknowledges as much. “When it comes to the day-in, day-out business, we are going to interact with the business lobbyists,” he said.

That’s a relief to Mike Hickey, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. Hickey said when Bakk met with the state NFIB board, he told them that he wanted to talk to the decision-makers. “And I told him, ‘Make sure you contact the people who will be the most affected,’” Hickey said, referring to the small businesses that will pay more taxes through a new higher income tax bracket.

Hickey and Olson are worried about Dayton’s proposed extension of the sales tax to business services. Hickey characterized it as “devastating” and said he has alerted his members to let Bakk and other legislators know of their concerns.

Bakk appears to be listening. Olson said Bakk and House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, told the chamber board they believe the business-to-business tax extension is bad policy. 

'Down the road together'

Bakk wouldn't directly respond to Olson's description of the chamber board meeting, but said he wants to “go down the road together” with business as budget negotiations progress.  “I have not heard them critical with the governor's spending initiatives; I've heard them generally supportive,” he said. “But they tell me, ‘As you look for money, we still need to be competitive.’ And I don't think you’re ever going to hear that from a business lobbyist.”

Certainly, increasing state spending is not on the Chamber of Commerce agenda, but Olson said the chamber will offer more than stubborn opposition to the Dayton budget. He said his lobbyists are working on spending reforms, workers’ compensation, higher education and the health insurance exchange. “But the big thing is the budget,” he said.

Hickey is sympathetic to Bakk’s political position. “He’s an astute guy and he’s got his own way of working through these things. He’s been thrown a firecracker by the Dayton administration.”

Bakk doesn’t minimize the impact of a budget plan that’s more than just one firecracker but rather a full pyrotechnic show with all the fuses lit. “What the governor proposes is a significant departure, such a big change, that we are susceptible to making mistakes,” he said. “To the extent we can minimize mistakes, I want to engage the real decision-makers. If we make a mistake, if businesses react, I want them to have some ownership.”

In the end, lobbyists will likely carve out the legislative language that reflects business input in the next state budget.  “I think whether [legislators] agree with us or not, they respect the ideas we bring to the Capitol,” said Olson. “And everybody realizes this budget is going to take a lot of voices to figure it out.”

Few would bet against a DFLer winning the Minneapolis mayor’s race in November.

Cam Winton

But with ranked-choice voting, the odds have improved some for independent candidate Cam Winton, who has referred to himself as a moderate Republican and whose platform pushes such conservative policies as improving the business climate and the efficiency of city services.

The city's ranked-choice voting uses a nonpartisan ballot ranking that allows a voter to choose a first, second, and third preference for mayor. As Community Voices contributor Jeffrey Peterson explained on MinnPost last month:

“In a single-seat election, if no candidate receives a majority (50 percent plus one) of first choices, the least popular candidate is eliminated and his or her ballots get reallocated to remaining candidates based on their voters’ next choices. This process continues until one candidate earns a majority of support.” 

“That’s an advantage to a Republican or independent,” observes Walter Rockenstein, the Republican City Council member who represented the city's 11h Ward from 1974 to 1983 and now supports mayoral candidate Jackie Cherryhomes, a former City Council president. “It allows a voter to say, ‘I don’t have to, quote, throw away my vote away for an independent.’ ”

Former City Council Member Steve Minn, an independent, agrees, up to a point.

“With instant runoff voting, the voters are really empowered to pick a candidate they like,” he said.  “You can pick your candidate of choice and a safe candidate and not waste your vote.”

Where a candidate like Winton falls short, Minn opines, is being, thus far, unknown.  “Instant runoff is name recognition, not party affiliation,” Minn said. Furthermore, “the second- and third-place votes tend to follow the trend of the top vote.”

In the current field of mayoral candidates, Cherryhomes and the three current City Council members — Don Samuels, Gary Schiff, and Betsy Hodges — have established credentials as city officials. And Mark Andrew is a former Hennepin County commissioner. Their names offer a comfort level that could persuade a voter to pick three from a familiar field.   

But Winton sees ranked-choice voting as a plus, and a big one.

“It’s an absolute game-changer,” he said. “Ranked-choice voting is a wonderful development for someone who wants to bring fresh thinking,” he said. “It enables someone like to me to build coalitions across the political spectrum.”

Rockenstein believes such coalition-building is doable but difficult.

“The traditional Republican Party has gone so far to the right, it has little or no appeal in the city of Minneapolis,” he said. “If I were running today, I wouldn’t carry a Republican label.”

The last Minneapolis elected official who did is Denny Schulstad, the retired brigadier general who, as part of his LinkedIn profile, states he is “the only Republican endorsed member of the council for the past 25 years.”

Schulstad left the council in 1997 and closed the brief chapter of Republican representation in the city of Minneapolis. In recent history, only five other council members, including Rockenstein, served as card-carrying Republican members.

There were never more than four Republicans at one time in service and, other than former radio host Barbara Carlson, the names of Charlie Hoyt, Parker Trostel and Sally Howard are not readily recognizable today.

“You are alone,” Rockenstein recalled. “And that can wear on you, because you spend an enormous amount of time forging coalitions.”

According to Rockenstein, to succeed in such an effort, Winton would need to attract what’s left of the moderate Republicans in Minneapolis and then a large percentage of the true independents, plus a chunk of Democrat voters who would find his platform appealing enough to give him a second or third placement on their ballots.

Winton said that’s the direction he’s heading, and he claims his support cuts across partisan lines.

He notes that his treasurer is well-known and respected DFLer Ashwin Madia, an attorney and Iraq war veteran who ran against Congressman Erik Paulsen in 2010.

While Winton welcomes partisan support, he shuns partisan endorsement.

“I will not seek or accept the endorsement from any party,” he said. “If anyone tried to give me an endorsement, I would respectfully decline it.”

Independent Minn, who in the past belonged to the Independence Party and the Reform Party, dismissed the value of endorsement for any mayoral candidate. “In today’s world, it’s just about impossible to marshal a party system, so you build your campaign around a candidate,” he said.

And, with the new world of ranked-choice voting, a campaign is not a win-or-lose proposition. Now, a Minneapolis candidate can present himself or herself as a viable No. 2 or 3 for a voter who might want to hedge a bet.