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

Eden Prairie City Council

These seats are non-partisan. No DFL party endorsement has been given.

Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens is running unopposed. We believe Ms. Tyra-Lukens has served the people of Eden Prairie well during her tenures as Mayor and deserves another term.

Council Members Kathy Nelson and Sherry Butcher-Wickstrom are running for re-election along with Andrew K. Moller. We believe Ms. Nelson and Ms. Butcher-Wickstrom have also served the people of Eden Prairie well during their terms. And, therefore, deserve another term.

Mr. Moller filed for office, but doesn’t seem to have a campaign website.

Judgeships on the Ballot

At this month’s Third Congressional District Central Committee meeting, many of the judge candidates spoke to the body. CD3 then compiled information from those discussions and researched candidates. We’re including information on those races in our area with more than one candidate.

Associate Justice — Supreme Court 2, John Hancock, Wilhelmina (Mimi) Wright — Judge Wright has a website with an extensive list of DFL supporters including Sharon Sayles-Belton and Karen Thissen.  There is no contact information nor website for her opponent.  http://wrightforjustice.com/

Associate Justice — Supreme Court 3, Michelle L. MacDonald, David Lillehaug —  Judge Lillehaug is a known in the Twin Cities.  Please peruse his list of supporters for your information.  If you wish to know about his opponent, please do an internet search with her name to find out about her.  http://www.justicelillehaug.org/supporters

4th District Court 16 — Bruce Michael Rivers, James A. Moore — Judge Moore did not attend, as he has signed the agreement with the Hennepin County Bar Association to not participate in any partisan activities.  His endorsement list is here for your information: http://www.judgejamesmoore.org/endorsements/. Bruce Rivers joined us and spoke about his experience as a criminal defense attorney.  He is running a grassroots campaign and does not have a campaign website.  He links to his personal law firm website for information:  http://www.riverslawyers.com/

4th District Court 43 — Paul Scoggin, Bridget Ann Sullivan — Both of these very engaging candidates joined us last evening and spoke about their backgrounds, personal views and experience that draws them to run for this open seat.  Paul Scoggin offers an impressive list of supporters for our information:  http://www.scogginforjudge.com/#!supporters/c11vk.  Bridget Ann Sullivan also offers an impressive list of supporters http://www.sullivanfor43.com/index.asp?SEC=EA964D88-8CE3-461C-9D27-72FEC4E3292F&Type=B_EV.  Both are passionate and dedicated to their craft of advocating for justice.

4th District Court 53, Bev Benson, Chris Ritts — We were joined by both candidates for this open seat.  They spoke about their backgrounds, cases they have tried and the passion that drew them to run for this seat.  Bev Benson lists many supporters that will give credence to her speech: http://bevbensonforjudge.com/index.asp?SEC=8A65E138-CA67-4B2A-8866-19EF5E058525&Type=B_BASIC  Chris Ritts has an informative website that covers his background.  http://rittsforjudge.com/

4th District Court 61, Amy Dawson, Bevery J. Aho — We were joined by Amy Dawson, who spoke about her passion, experience and personal drive to serve the needs of justice last evening.  Her list of supporters is as extensive as her passion: http://www.amydawsonforjudge.com/  Her opponent is a known GOP activist, GOP state delegate who raised funds for George W. Bush. There are numerous writings online from her if you need more information.

Please look into all these candidates, read about them and make your decisions. Then, call them for a lawn sign and share your information with your friends, neighbors and family. Judges decide many issues in our community and we need to do our due diligence to make property decisions to elect those who share our values.

You can check on the licensure and other basic information of lawyers here.

Sample Ballots

We were able to download sample ballots and mark our endorsed candidates on them. If you’d like to take a completed sample ballot with you when you go to the polls, just click the link for the area you live in.

House District 48A Living in Eden Prairie

House District 48A Living in Minnetonka

House District 48B 

2014 elections · 2014 sample ballots · Al Franken · congress · Eddie Frizell · Gov. Dayton · HD48A · HD48B · Hennepin County Attorney · Hennepin County Sheriff · House District 48B · House Districti 48A · Joan Howe-Pullis · Lori Swanson · Mark Dayton · Mike Freeman · Minnesota Attorney General · Minnesota Secretary of State · Minnesota State Auditor · Rep. Selcer · Sharon Sund · State Auditor Rebecca Otto · Steve Simon · Tina Smith · U.S. Senate · Yvonne Selcer

Peter Bartz-Gallagher, Politics in Minnesota

Investment banker Mike McFadden had a bad weekend.

First, he failed in his attempt to invalidate the Franken campaign’s new ad highlighting the fact that his business is exploiting a Bermuda tax haven to avoid paying millions in U.S. taxes. SEE: WCCO: Reality Check: Franken’s Ad On McFadden’s ‘Tax Inversion’

If that wasn’t bad enough, then there was this:

“If the best Mike McFadden can do in his drive to become U.S. senator from Minnesota is to stumble and bumble his way to Nov. 4, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., will glide to re-election.”

No, that’s not a line from the Minnesota DFL. It’s the first paragraph of an editorial in the Fargo Forum, one of the state’s largest newspapers, thrashing McFadden and his campaign.

The editorial continues:

The Republican businessman’s campaign is off to an unimpressive start. First, he said he’d be OK using Chinese steel to build a pipeline, a position that likely did not go over well in taconite country in northeast Minnesota, where the hardworking folks up there make steel.

Second, he said he’d be OK with an increase in the gasoline tax, a gaffe he retreated from quickly. Most Minnesotans already are unhappy with $3.50 (or more) a gallon prices, so the prospect of more taxes has virtually no support, especially among Republicans.

And not to be outdone, the Minnesota Republican Party in the guise of helping their Senate candidate, tried to embarrass Franken by resurrecting an old photo in which the senator placed highway cones on his chest in mimicry of female breasts. It was a stupid stunt for which Franken apologized, but it was not the stuff of lasting campaign damage.

The irony is that from a business perspective, businessman McFadden is probably right about Chinese steel and the gasoline tax. Cheaper imported steel holds down construction costs. More revenue from gasoline taxes is one way to finance badly needed road and bridge repair and expansion.

The traffic cones/breasts photo? McFadden, who seems to have a sense of humor (his TV spots), would have gained a point or two had he mildly chided Franken with a little tongue-in-cheek, and let it go at that.

As it is, the McFadden campaign’s most distinguishing feature has been lack of discipline. Early polls suggest the incumbent has an insurmountable lead, but early polls are not necessarily predictors of an outcome. However, polls can serve as an energizer for a candidate who trails. McFadden will have to do much better than he’s done thus far if he is to emerge as a serious threat to Franken.

Bermuda · Mike McFadden · stumbles and bumbles · U.S. Senate

Investment banker Mike McFadden was caught misleading voters again this week after he launched an attack ad to try and distract attention from weeks of bad headlines and terrible stories about his strong support for Chinese steel.

Minnesota Public Radio’s PoliGraph took a look at McFadden’s latest attack ad and, unsurprisingly, deemed it “misleading” and called it a “big stretch.”

But McFadden’s willingness to purposely mislead voters is nothing new. Let’s not forget that McFadden chose to introduce himself to voters in May by going negative and deliberately misleading them. His ad was fact checked by two non-partisan organizations — PolitiFact and MPR’s PoliGraph — and deemed false.

It doesn’t end there:

McFadden purposely misled voters about Sen. Franken and the Affordable Care Act and got caught. He continued making the same false claim and could provide “no back up” when called out by the Star Tribune.

McFadden also purposely misled voters and claimed Sen. Franken directed the IRS to “intimidate and harass people based on their personal beliefs.” This was, of course, also deemed “false.”

McFadden even tried to con Republican donors by asking for money under false pretenses — only to get called out by GOP activists for being a “phony” and a “fraud.”

We could go on, but you get the point…

Mike McFadden · misleading voters · U.S. Senate

Hundreds of “McFadden Supports Chinese Steel” lawn signs pop up across Northern Minnesota

Outraged by investment banker Mike McFadden’s support for Chinese steel over Minnesota jobs, Iron Rangers took to their lawns today—hundreds of “McFadden Supports Chinese Steel” signs now grace lawns across northern Minnesota.

McFadden will be campaigning on the Range today at PolyMet in Hoyt Lakes. Here are a few lawn signs welcoming him.

Here’s a lawn sign outside a house in Chisholm.

Here’s Minnesotans with more than 20 lawn signs outside the Duluth Labor Temple.

Here’s a lawn sign welcoming Minnesotans to Aurora

Here’s a lawn sign outside the Iron Man statue.

Here’s a lawn sign along the way to Buhl, Mt. Iron and Virginia.

Here’s a lawn sign at a mine in Hibbing.

Here’s another at a mine in Eveleth.

“Every family in northern Minnesota is going to know that investment banker Mike McFadden’s first instinct was to sell their jobs to the cheapest bidder in China,” said DFL Chair Ken Martin. “Mike McFadden will not be able to run from his plans to use cheap Chinese steel to boost the profits of corporations—putting thousands of Minnesota jobs at risk—without  passing a few yard signs along the way.”

The investment banker has been under fire for weeks over his declaration that he would pick padding the profits of big corporations over Minnesota jobs and use Chinese steel to build the Keystone pipeline—even if it were just one penny cheaper.

Last weekend, McFadden landed on the front pages and led the local news across northern Minnesota after Iron Rangers sounded off on his out of touch position at a press conference in Virginia.

Chinese Steel · Iron Range · Mike McFadden · U.S. Senate