Although Minnesota and SD48 had higher voter turn out in 2014 than the country as a whole, it still wasn’t at a high enough rate to really shout about.

So, if you see things not going the way you’d like to see our country go (and that’s a strong possibility at the federal level than it’s been since the 1990s) and you were doing everything but voting last November.  Sorry, you chose not to participate. No beefing allowed.

You have to show up to make change happen.  You chose not to.  You can’t win a game if you don’t play.  You can’t learn a new skill unless you practice it.  You can’t elect people who support and will work toward your beliefs and values unless you vote to put them in office.

In the lead up to 2016, don’t make the same mistake. Get involved. The political process runs on the willingness of people who believe in the direction of the party they identify with to work to get their candidates elected.  Yep, it’s all individuals giving of what free time they have to make people’s lives better.

Want to make life better for you and your friends?  It’s like anything else.  Get involved, find out how you can help and then add your shoulder to the wheel of progress.

Here’s a link to where you can volunteer. We hope you’ll choose to engage, make change happen and move Eden Prairie and Minnetonka forward.

2014 election · change · progress · volunteer

With the worst mid-term election since 1928 and Democrats losing races across the nation, the Minnesota DFL met all but one of our goals:

• reelect Gov. Dayton;
• reelect Sen. Franken;
• reelect our congressional delegation;
• reelect Attorney General Lori Swanson
• reelect Auditor Rebecca Otto and
• elect Steve Simon as our next Secretary of State.

For the first time since 1970 – 44 years – the Minnesota elected a DFL Governor and DFL U.S. Senator.

With fewer than 2 million people voting we fell short on our fifth goal, retaining the majority in the Minnesota House. DFL Chairman Ken Martin makes the point that 10 of the 11 seats that the GOP picked up were in Greater Minnesota.

“The GOP message did not resonate with suburban voters who left the gains that the DFL made in 2012 in suburban districts relatively intact,” Martin said. “The DFL’s ability to win in suburban districts in a difficult mid-term election suggests that the GOP is becoming increasingly confined to a rural party. Indeed their inability to compete in the more populous parts of the state has prevented them from winning ANY statewide office since 2006.”

Thank you to everyone for their hard work to elect leaders who will build a better Minnesota and represent our values in Washington, D.C. We look forward to working together to ensure that the DFL is a Party built to win, built to last and that we retake the Minnesota House and go blue for our Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

2014 election · Al Franken · Attorney General Swanson · DFL Chair Martin · Gov. Dayton · Ken Martin · Lori Swanson · Mark Dayton · Secretary of State Simon · Sen. Franken · State Auditor Otto · State Auditor Rebecca Otto · Steve Simon · U.S. Senate

DFLers –

Thank you so much for all of your hard work this election cycle. Our work began last year with the “Turn On the Off Year” program. This effort provided an opportunity for DFLers to step up and take a leadership role in engaging voters in the 2014 election.

This election cycle we had 33 offices across the state, the most effective get out the vote effort ever and armies of door knockers and callers.

We couldn’t have done all the work we did without you, our DFL volunteers and donors.

As we move forward I urge you to stay involved with your local DFL. In two years we’ll need to defend the DFL majority in the Minnesota Senate, retake the DFL majority in the Minnesota House and elect a Democratic president.

But after what I’ve seen this election year I know we can do it. I’ve never been more proud to be your DFL Chairman and I’ve never been so excited to see what our elected officials will accomplish for all Minnesotans.

Sincerely,
Ken Martin
Chairman, Minnesota DFL

2014 election · 2014 elections · DFL volunteering · thank you · volunteer · volunteers

The Republican Party of Minnesota has issued a release citing the strongest fundraising last month in years.

Why are we telling you this?  Remember 2010 when the state Republicans when into debt to win so many elections so they controlled the Legislature? Let’s not let that happen again.

How can you help?

If you haven’t made a contribution to a state candidate yet this year, you can make a secure contribution to SD48 DFL here.  The first $50 of that will be refunded by the State of Minnesota. In past years, the Republicans in our state have had substantially more members make these contributions and get their refund that Democrats have.  Let’s reverse that trend this year.

If you watch much television, you might have caught a cable television ad for one of the House District 48B candidates purchased by an outside group. We’ve found they’ve made a media buy of almost $12,000. That’s the playing field we’re dealing with this year.

Only you can help us help our candidates with your contribution. You can make a secure, online contribution here.

2014 election · PCR · political contribution refund program