Minnesota
By Eric Ostermeier on December 30, 2008
As Minnesota gears up for congressional and legislative redistricting in the next few years, as well as the possible loss of a U.S. House seat, the Gopher State can take some pride in the fact that its U.S. House contests continue to be more competitive than the national average by...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 29, 2008
As documented by Smart Politics last week, Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley took a very different path to reach 15 percent in the 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate race than did 2002 Independence Party gubernatorial nominee, Tim Penny (who reached 16 percent in that race). Penny’s support was heavily skewed towards...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 27, 2008
At about the same time Smart Politics posited the question as to what effect, if any, the rising unemployment rate and economic downturn would have on the state’s violent crime rate, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office issued a press release documenting how violent crime has declined in every Minneapolis precinct...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 23, 2008
Independence Party nominee Dean Barkley’s U.S. Senate candidacy was of great interest to the media and political junkies leading up to the 2008 election. Could Barkley launch a Ventura-esque come-from-behind victory? Would his presence on the ballot hurt Al Franken more than Norm Coleman? Would he raise enough money to...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 22, 2008
The news released on Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that Minnesota’s unemployment rate had reached 6.4 percent, prompted Smart Politics to examine how the current jobless trend, and specifically the large rate of job loss, is unprecedented, going back decades in the state. The problems...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 20, 2008
The news gets bleaker and bleaker for workers in the Gopher State. The November 2008 seasonally adjusted jobless numbers have been released by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development: unemployment rose to 6.4 percent – up from 5.9 percent in October. The number of unemployed Minnesotans increased by...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 18, 2008
On Wednesday, Smart Politics highlighted GOP legislators who serve house districts won by Barack Obama – legislators who are more vulnerable to district political pressures that might lead them to consider defecting from their Republican caucus in the event of a DFL override attempt against Governor Tim Pawlenty in the...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 17, 2008
The budget crisis outlined at the Capitol earlier this month is of such historic proportions that it will likely only serve to further strain the already tense relationship between Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and the DFL-controlled legislature. In order to balance the budget, both sides will be calling for change:...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 16, 2008
Minnesota voters, buoyed perhaps both by a strong sense of civic duty, a high interest in politics, and a little thing called same-day registration, have once again led the country in voter turnout in the 2008 election. The Gopher State has now topped the country in turnout in seven straight...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 15, 2008
As Norm Coleman’s campaign continues to fight with Al Franken for every vote (and seemingly every procedural move) in the highly watched Senate race recount, his DFL colleague Amy Klobuchar remains the most popular figure in Minnesota politics. Prior to his 15+ round heavyweight fight with Franken, Senator Coleman too...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 12, 2008
In a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion of the 2012 projected reapportionment, Smart Politics presents two tables to illustrate the diminishing political influence of Minnesota and the Upper Midwestern battleground states in the U.S. House as a result of population shifts in the United States. Table 1 demonstrates how the projected...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 11, 2008
About a year ago Smart Politics examined the political impact of Iowa losing a seat in the U.S. House, as it is projected to do after the 2012 reapportionment. State Demographer Tom Gillaspy recently projected Minnesota is also on track to lose a seat. Should this occur, the impact on...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 10, 2008
9:40 a.m. The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting a conference on elections administration entitled, "The Minnesota Tradition of Fair Elections." 9:45 a.m. The first panel, "The Minnesota Gold Standard," includes: · Edward B. Foley, Professor, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University and Director, Election...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 10, 2008
Smart Politics will live blog a conference on Minnesota elections administration this morning sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance. The conference includes panelists such as Vice President Walter Mondale, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and Congressman Jim Ramstad. From the CSPG website: The Minnesota Tradition...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 9, 2008
3:00 p.m. The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting a conference on health care, entitled: "Market-Based Reforms in Health Care: The Next Step?" The first presenter is Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, with Larry Jacobs, Director of the Center, serving as moderator. 3:01 p.m. Pawlenty signed health...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 9, 2008
Smart Politics will live blog a health care conference this afternoon sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, which features a presentation by Governor Tim Pawlenty. From the CSPG website: “The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance welcomes Governor Pawlenty and Minnesota business and...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 7, 2008
The frivolousness of some of the ballot challenges issued by the Norm Coleman and Al Franken campaigns during the U.S. Senate race recount has been well documented – both through the media’s publication of many such ballot scans as well as critical public statements of the campaigns by Secretary of...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 4, 2008
In a day that saw a filled-to-the-brim press conference in the Governor's Reception Room, a mini-protest by the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout, and some not so thinly veiled and unsolicited advice by the DFL leadership as to what the Governor should do with his economic and job development...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 4, 2008
The Gopher State’s U.S. Senate recount may take a backseat in the newsroom today due to some important state governmental business: a much-anticipated budget briefing, a press conference by Governor Tim Pawlenty, and the DFL legislative response. Essentially, today is Round 1 of (Pawlenty) budget cuts vs. potential (DFL) tax...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 3, 2008
The Upper Midwest is home to a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to its Representatives in the U.S. House. Three of the twenty-one House Committee chairs hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, with two of those, DFL Congressmen Jim Oberstar (MN-08) and Democratic Congressman David Obey (WI-07) each...
