To All the People Who Volunteered this Cycle

We offer a loud and strong thank you. Thank you for:

• contributing to our candidates
• making phone calls for our candidates
• walking door-to-door for our candidates
• entering data from those calls and walks
• helping prepare for door knocks and phone banks
• bringing food for volunteers, and
• everything else you did.

We know you had lots of other things you could have been doing with what time you had available to you. Giving of your time and treasurer is appreciated by those of us in Senate District 48 DFL and our candidates.

Election Recap

We’re happy to report that Rep. Yvonne Selcer was re-elected to represent our House District 48A. It was a close race, but her hard work paid off. There will be more about this in Rep. Selcer’s update later in this newsletter.

We weren’t able to make a change in our House District 48B race, even with the strong effort Joan Howe-Pullis put into the race.

We’re honored to have had such articulate and wise women running to represent us.

Economy Continues to Improve Even if We Don’t All Feel It Yet

 From the Minnesota Office of Management & Budget:

As of October 10, 2014, the office projects that Minnesota’s net general fund receipts are estimated to total $4.297 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2015. You can read the complete update here.

Minnesota’s job growth continues to outpace Wisconsin (no matter what you heard from Gov. Dayton’s opponent during the election). You can read more about that here.

And, Minnesota’s unemployment rate continues to decline. Here’s a great site for information through September of 2014.

Things were looking pretty good, definitely continuing to improve under DFL control. We’ll have to watch what happens with the change in House control that will be reflected in the next two years starting in January, 2015.

Don’t Forget You Can Loan the District $50

With the Political Contribution Refund program, voters are able to contributed up to $50 annually to candidates or party units and receive a full refund from the State of Minnesota.* This is one of the tools our state uses to help elections be representative of real voters and not just deep pocket donors who are more and more often living outside our state, let alone our district.

Historically, the Republican Party of Minnesota and it’s senate districts have been more successful in raising funds than the DFL. Let’s not let that happen this year.

Just visit our contribution page and make a secure, online contribution now. We’ll process your contribution, generate the necessary paperwork and send it to you right away. Just send it in to the State of Minnesota (you’ll get all the instructions you need with your receipt), and in 4 to 6 weeks you’ll get a check for the amount of your contribution up to $50 per voter.

So, don’t let this money go to waste. Help us help DFLers become or remain your representatives by contributing now. And, remember, this is an annual contribution. So, you can do the same thing after the first of the year.

Interested in Being of Service to Your Community?

Don’t forget about city commissions.

In Eden Prairie, the City is accepting applications to its commissions in January, 2015. There’s a wide variety of ways to get involved. You can find out more here.

Minnetonka appoints people throughout the year rather than having a filing period like Eden Prairie. There are a number of boards and commissions for Minnetonka residents to participate in their municipality. You can find out more here.

If you’re interested in police work, consider the Police Citizens Academy. Applications are due by January 9, 2015. You can learn more here.

Update from Rep. Selcer

Many thanks to all of you who worked so hard, supported our campaign and went to the polls to vote in this close election. It is because of our efforts together that we were able to win. The negative campaigning against us was unbelievable, but you proved that personal contacts and positive messaging can carry the day. I am in awe of your commitment to the values that led you to devote countless hours to this effort, and humbled by the honor of continuing as your state representative.

I am proud of what we have accomplished together for our community and for Minnesota in the last two years, and look forward to continuing to partner with you to move Minnesota forward.

Now that the election is over, the recount finished, the lawn signs stored, and the celebrations enjoyed, it is time to begin that work again. We will be holding a listening session on Saturday, January 10, from 10:30 to 11:30 am at the Glen Lake Activity Center in Minnetonka so I can listen to your priorities as we begin the legislative session.

As always, thank you for the honor of being your state representative in St. Paul  Please feel free to contact me at any time; I welcome your thoughts and questions. 

And from my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Best,
Yvonne

Update from Laurie McKendry

We’ve come through this year’s election and have had time to recharge. Nationally, we saw the lowest turnout in 72 years. I door knocked with both Yvonne and Joan. I’m thankful Yvonne pulled through. And, am glad Joan is considering running again in 2016.

My campaign volunteers and I’ve been working toward 2016 since the day after the 2012 election. And, from here on out, we’re ramping up our activities. We’re fundraising to meet the maximums of this two-year cycle, and will continue this with the new two-year cycle that starts in January. I continue to be active in both Minnetonka and Eden Prairie with the Economic Development Advisory Commission and as a member of the AM Rotary Board.

But, as we move into the more active phase of our campaign, no matter how much we do, we can’t do it alone. It takes support from everyone to get done what needs to be done during a Senate District-wide campaign.

After this election, I’m hearing the media talking about the trend I noticed last year: with the ineffectiveness of the U.S. Congress, more issues that have been considered federal issues are coming down to State Legislatures. So, it’s more important than ever who is elected to represent you there. Who do you want making decisions on student loan debt? legalization of marijuana? immigration? water rights? And so much more…

I’ll be starting to door knock in late winter/early spring of next year and will continue until Election Day of 2016. And, plan to door knock the full Senate District at least twice. I hope you’ll join me and my campaign team as we begin building our efforts for the 2016. Please join us on what I believe will be a historical journey for our district!

In closing, I hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Hope to see you soon.

Update from Joan Howe-Pullis

The last six months have been a remarkable privilege. The incredibly dedicated team who worked with me gives me hope for our future. And, the thousands of Eden Prairie residents who opened their doors to have conversations about what matters to them proved that there is more that unites us than divides us. Each one of you makes a difference in our community. Thank you all.