MN US House
By Eric Ostermeier on January 9, 2009
Last month Smart Politics examined the political impact on the state of Minnesota should it lose one U.S. House seat as projected by many analysts, including a recent report issued by Election Data Services. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data detailing the teenage...
By Eric Ostermeier on September 18, 2007
After Republican U.S. Representative Jim Ramstad announced his retirement Monday, effective at the end of this term (his 9th), the buzz around Minnesota politics was that his open seat would produce a competitive Congressional District race—one that was ripe for the picking for the DFL. And there is data...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 14, 2007
12:00 pm. Jim Ramstad's speech today is entitled "Life as a Centrist in the New Congress." Ramstad has touted his moderate, centrist credentials in recent years, and there is evidence in his voting record to bolster this claim. In 2006, the Republican congressman was rated fairly dead center -- the...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 13, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live covering Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad (MN-03) from the Humphrey Institute on Tuesday, August 14th, from Noon to 1:15 pm. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled " "Life as a Centrist in the New Congress" and...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 25, 2007
12:00 p.m. The title of Congressman Jim Oberstar's (MN-08) talk today at the Humphrey Institute is "Transportation Policy and America's Future." Oberstar is the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, after serving more than a decade as its ranking Democratic member. In part due to the 17-term Congressman's...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 22, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live covering Congressman Jim Oberstar's (MN-08) talk at the Humphrey Institute on Monday, June 25th, from Noon to 1:00 pm. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled "Transportation Policy and America's Future," and is the sixth...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 11, 2007
9:30 a.m. Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05) came into the 110th Congress as one of the Democratic Party's new stars (and the only Muslim in the House), despite his predecessor (longtime Congressman Martin Sabo) failing to offer a ringing endorsement during the 2006 campaign. Ellison nabbed a prized seat on the...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 7, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live covering Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05) from the Humphrey Institute on Monday, June 11th, from 9:30 - 11:00 am. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled "Leveling the Playing Field for Working Families: Promoting a Consumer Justice...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 12, 2007
10:00 am. Freshman Democratic congressman Tim Walz's (MN-01) talk today is entitled "Tomorrow's Foreign Policy: What We're Teaching Today's Students and Why It Matters." 10:10 am. Walz begins his talk by discussing the importance of opening a line of communication between citizens and the government. He explains how his first...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 11, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live from the Humphrey Institute on Thursday, April 12th, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Congressman Tim Walz's (MN-01) speech on educating students about U.S. foreign policy. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled "Tomorrow's...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 9, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live from the Humphrey Institute on Monday, April 9th, from Noon to 1:00 pm at Congresswoman Betty McCollum's speech on her recent trip to Afghanistan. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled "American Foreign Policy: A...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 18, 2007
On Friday the U.S. House vote 246-182 for a resolution disapproving of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007 to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq. The non-binding measure had near unanimous support from within the Democratic Party, with 229 of 231...
By Eric Ostermeier on February 14, 2007
On Tuesday afternoon rookie Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz (MN-01) was interviewed by Chris Matthews on MSNBC's political show Hardball. Earlier in the day Walz had spoken multiple times on the floor of the U.S. House supporting a Democrat-backed resolution criticizing President George W. Bush's decision to add more troops...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 15, 2006
Earlier this week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced new Committee assignments for Freshmen members, plus added existing members to new Committees as Democrats increased their membership on Committees with their 30 seat gain in November's election. Starting his 6th term, Ron Kind (WI-03) was assigned to the influential Ways and...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 24, 2006
Minnesota's 8th Congressional District (comprising the northeastern Iron Range counties), is home to one of the more unusual Congressional races this year, in which DFL incumbent James Obserstar, the senior member of Minnesota's US House delegation, is being challenged by Republican Rod Grams, a former US Representative in his own...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 17, 2006
Coleen Rowley, the DFL candidate in Minnesota's 2nd US House district, has closed her deficit to 2-term GOP incumbent John Kline from 20 to 8 points in less than three weeks, according to polls released by SurveyUSA in late September and mid-October. The poll's media sponsor is KSTP-TV Channel...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 16, 2006
A recent spate of polls tracking US House races in the Upper Midwest reflect what is perceived by most political analysts to be a nation-wide trend: GOP-held districts that were secure in 2004 now seem to be competitive or near competitive. The GOP leads the current Upper Midwest US House...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 4, 2006
In the coming year or so states will begin to outline plans for the redistricting process that will go into effect in 2012 after the 2010 Census results. One way to measure the 'success' of these processes is to examine to what extent the proportion of votes cast for...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 2, 2006
Minnesota's historical success of placing third party candidates on the ballot usually begins and ends with Jesse Ventura. In a report released earlier this summer, the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance also showed Ventura's legacy in sustaining third party success in the state. 'Success' is, of course,...
By Eric Ostermeier on September 30, 2006
The Blue Dog Democrats, though a dying breed, have a fair-sized delegation from the Upper Midwest. The Blue Dog coalition (originally formed in 1995) is a group of 37 conservative and moderate democrats who are seen as serious players in the policy arena due to frequently being swing votes. While...
