MN State Senate
By Eric Ostermeier on December 8, 2010
Only New Hampshire and South Dakota gained a larger percentage of Senate seats in 2010 than Minnesota GOPers (+23.9 percent)
By Eric Ostermeier on November 1, 2010
Republican pick-ups of as many as 15 seats look quite feasible on paper
By Eric Ostermeier on April 4, 2010
Last week, on the 82nd Legislative Day of the 86th Legislature, the Minnesota Legislature set a new record for the most days in session in a decade
By Eric Ostermeier on January 27, 2010
Tri-County District split support among the three candidates; Roy Srp turns in best State Senate performance for IP since 2002
By Eric Ostermeier on January 26, 2010
Despite recent losses, Republican Party has notched a substantially better record in State Senate special elections than the DFL
By Eric Ostermeier on January 25, 2010
Retirement of Senator Steve Murphy Puts DFL Seat in play again for the GOP in '10
By Eric Ostermeier on January 21, 2010
Republicans in the district have outperformed against the GOP statewide average in 21 of 23 statewide and district races since 2002
By Eric Ostermeier on January 20, 2010
District has shown strong support for Independence Party candidates over the past decade
By Eric Ostermeier on November 29, 2009
Democratic-controlled legislatures in the spotlight, facing largest budget shortfalls across the nation
By Eric Ostermeier on September 3, 2009
During the past three days Smart Politics has issued reports analyzing party strength in the state's 134 House districts - including analyses on the state's 40 swing districts, the 94 DFL and GOP stronghold districts, and the barriers the Republican Party faces as it begins to rebuild and attempt to...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 27, 2009
Last month Smart Politics conducted a case study as to how one Minnesota lawmaker, Republican Representative Laura Brod, utilized the social networking site Twitter during the last legislative session. That study found the plurality of Rep. Brod's tweets were about substantive policy issues, with approximately one-sixth about her own personal...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 19, 2009
One of the reasons cited by Governor Tim Pawlenty in his recent declaration that there will be no special session this year to resolve the state's budget crisis, is that he does not believe residents of the Gopher State should endure the additional costs associated with calling the legislature into...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 18, 2009
When DFL Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller saw his redistricting reform bill (SF 182) pass on a 39-28 roll call vote last Friday, he nearly needed one of the five votes cast by Republicans in favor of the bill. While a nearly equal amount of DFLers voted against the bill...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 16, 2009
While the thunder of Governor Tim Pawlenty's new unallotment strategy drew all the attention of Capitol watchers on Thursday and Friday, the Senate, under the leadership of DFL Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (SD59-Minneapolis), passed a redistricting bill that will perhaps have an even greater consequence on Minnesota politics than any...
By Eric Ostermeier on May 15, 2009
Governor Tim Pawlenty delivered a shot across the DFL's bow Thursday afternoon, or perhaps it was the dropping of an A-bomb, when he declared there would be no special sessions to resolve the state's budget matters and that, if need be, he would use his executive power of line-item vetoes...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 5, 2009
Smart Politics recently examined Governor Tim Pawlenty's approval rating and highlighted its remarkable strength and stability in the face of the current economic crisis. But Pawlenty's popularity is also noteworthy when viewed in the greater partisan environment of the Gopher State. A Smart Politics analysis of state and federal officeholders...
By Eric Ostermeier on April 2, 2009
On Thursday morning the Minnesota Senate Finance Committee approved SF 182 on a voice vote, with one Senator dissenting. The legislation, authored by Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (SD 59-Minneapolis) and Ann Rest (SD 45-New Hope), would establish new legislative and congressional districting principles as well as create a new redistricting...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 30, 2009
With the release of the DFL's budget earlier this month, the war of words (and policies) in the budget battle between the DFL leadership and Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has seemingly intensified. During her media availability last Friday, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher described her recent meeting with the...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 19, 2009
A Who's Who of Minnesota politics from across the political spectrum continue to speak as one voice in an effort to bring change to the process by which the State draws its congressional and legislative districts. Back in January 2008, former Vice President and DFL Senator Walter Mondale, former Republican...
By Eric Ostermeier on March 11, 2009
Although Minnesota has the 4th highest percentage of women serving in state legislatures nationwide, the Gopher State only ranks 40th in the country in terms of proportional representation of African-Americans in St. Paul. Out of the 201 legislators in the State House and Senate, only 2 members are black -...
