After defeat, Johnson hints that he may be done with politics
Give him this, Republican candidate for governor Jeff Johnson stayed on message until the very end. “The fight is not going to end tonight,” he told supporters at the Loews Hotel in Minnesota after...
View ArticleDayton on working with GOP-led House: 'I'm not going to give up everything I...
Newly re-elected Gov. Mark Dayton didn’t so much extend an olive branch as wave it in the general direction of the Republican leadership that takes control of the Minnesota House in January.At a news...
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The Minnesota Republican Party is back. Maybe. Or Not.
The future of the Republican Party of Minnesota, based on the results of last week’s elections, is either a) sound and poised for future gain, b) in flux, or c) still in doubt.The correct answer — if...
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Hey, big spender: how Minnesota Republicans want to be just like Minnesota...
For the third consecutive election cycle, Minnesota Republicans are lamenting the absence of a political action group to rival the well-financed, DFL-aligned outside group Alliance for a Better...
View ArticleWhy 'donor alliance' groups may be the most powerful force in elections today
Well funded, data driven, and largely anonymous "donor alliance" groups are as much responsible for the DFL sweep of statewide offices — and for Republican victories in the Minnesota House of...
View ArticleScott Honour sure sounds like he wants to run for office again
Former Republican candidate for governor Scott Honour has returned to his private investment business — but that doesn’t mean he’s abandoned public policy.On the contrary, he’s working on several...
View ArticleMinnesota GOP activists resist push by national donors to 'anoint' a 2016...
Suggestions by major GOP donors — as reported earlier this week by the New York Times— that Republicans should coalesce early behind a frontrunner presidential candidate for 2016 are getting a tepid...
View ArticleThe Minnesota Department of Commerce is an easy political target — and has...
The Minnesota Department of Commerce is tangled up in politics — again. This is not exactly new territory for the state agency. With a mission of regulating commerce, the department crosses paths with...
View ArticleWhy Minnesota's biggest GOP donors like Jeb Bush so much
There’s no question that the 2016 presidential race will be expensive. Some estimates suggest that a candidate for president in 2016 will have to raise about $500 million to win the White House. A...
View ArticleWhy a Republican group is already going after DFL legislators
The new year starts with evidence that outside Republican campaign groups intend to play early and often in response to concerns that they run a poor second to their DFL counterparts. One such outside...
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Why the current campaign finance system is bad for Republicans
University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter believes that Republicans should be afraid — very afraid — of the campaign finance system. And, as a Republican himself, he intends to do something...
View ArticleDowney to seek another term as Minnesota GOP chair
This year is an election year, though not for the general public. Both the DFL and Republican state parties will elect their leadership. Like Ken Martin, his DFL counterpart, GOP chair Keith Downey...
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U professor part of conservative effort to reform campaign finance system
Richard PainterA University of Minnesota law professor and a political consultant who's worked on five Republican presidential campaigns – both alumni of the George W. Bush administration – launched a...
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About that time I met Paul McCartney at a frozen food plant in southern...
Appearances at plant openings and business expansions are a routine obligation of being governor. Few are memorable.But when I read the news this weekend that Fairmont Foods in Fairmont would be...
View ArticleThe Legislature's first stab at education reform is creating some odd bedfellows
With the release of dueling tax proposals Tuesday, Gov. Dayton and legislative Republicans added another issue to the partisan divide that they'll have to bridge before the end of the legislative...
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Minnesota Chamber of Commerce proposes alternative transportation funding...
Republicans in the Legislature and state business leaders aren’t even taking Gov. Mark Dayton’s transportation proposal out for a test spin before declaring it unacceptable. But state business leaders...
View ArticleHow Senate Republicans are planning to respond to Dayton's budget
Over the next several weeks, Minnesota Senate Republicans will roll out their response to the budget initiatives Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled this week: a series of policy proposals on education,...
View ArticleFinal numbers for the 2014 campaign: DFL groups outspend GOP — by a mile
A check of the final campaign finance reports from 2014 shows that the DFL was the clear winner. At least when it came to money.The state DFL Party reports spending nearly $8 million last year,...
View ArticleWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to speak at Freedom Club's annual dinner
The Freedom Club of Minnesota often scores bold-faced names for its annual spring dinner, but none with more currency than this year’s guest, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a possible candidate for the...
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This time, it's personal: Why Mark Dayton's 'unbound' second-term style is...
What do politicians do in office when they no longer have to answer to voters?If you’re a Minnesota governor, you have a tendency to pursue legislative and policy priorities that are far-reaching — but...
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