Halfway through convention season, the Ramsey County Attorney race is starting to take shape - and John Choi's message is resonating
with DFL delegates. With a little over 180 possible delegates identified, DFLers are over halfway to selecting the 304 delegates that will endorse for County Attorney. While the endorsement battle for the governor's office has
not resulted in a clear-cut leader, John has established himself as the frontrunner in the race.
At this point in the race, two key indicators are strongly in Choi's favor -- the
numbers of "named" delegates and "superdelegates." While they each
make up a fraction of all delegates, both categories demonstrate the general support a candidate has at a convention. Currently, John
has earned 30 named delegates, compared to 6 for all of his opponents combined, and he holds a 12 to 2 advantage in the superdelegate count.
John's leadership has attracted a team of long-time DFL activists and lawyers who have earned a reputation for highly-organized, well-run efforts. Heading into this weekend, John and his team show no signs of slowing down.
For more on John's experience and innovative leadership, visit www.votejohnchoi.com.
Cory Tennison
Political Director
Volunteers for Choi
Halfway through convention season, the Ramsey County Attorney race is starting to take shape - and John Choi's message is resonating with DFL delegates. With a little over 180 possible delegates identified, DFLers are over halfway to selecting the 304 delegates that will endorse for county attorney. While the endorsement battle for the governor's office has not resulted in a clear-cut leader, John has established himself as the frontrunner in the race.
At this point in the race, two key indicators are strongly in Choi's favor -- the numbers of "named" delegates and "superdelegates." While they each make up a fraction of all delegates, both categories demonstrate the general support a candidate has at a convention. Currently, John has earned 30 named delegates, compared to 6 for all of his opponents combined, and he holds a 12 to 2 advantage in the superdelegate count.
John's leadership has attracted a team of long-time DFL activists and lawyers who have earned a reputation for highly-organized, well-run efforts. Heading into this weekend, John and his team show no signs of slowing down. For more on John's experience and innovative leadership, visit www.votejohnchoi.com.
Now those of you who know me, know that I have reputation for speaking, even when no when else will speak. So it may surprise you that this year I am focussing on listening.
Peacemakers have a huge emphasis on everyone having a turn to speak in a round table fashion. A peacemaker should look at the world from the other person's perspective, to seek to understand before seeking to be understood. In taking all the workshops of peacemakers, I thought I learned the skills of listening - until I met Matt Bostrom, the Assistant Chief of St Paul Police.
What I observed with Matt Bostrom, was that he listened more reflectively and with longer pauses, than anyone else I had known. So I asked him about it. Matt Bostrom described listening as one of the key skills of good law enforcement work. Just waiting will frequently get more information than asking another question.
This morning I attended the Second Chance Day at the State Capitol Rotunda. Second Chance is an organization that is working very hard to get ex-offenders a second chance at building a new life. These people have paid their debt to society and feel that they shouldn't have to keep paying and paying after their release from jail or prison. They need to be able to find jobs, housing and medical care. I'm in full support of this coalition.
There was a press conference at 9:00 in Room 125 (for some reason that room seems very familiar to me). At 10:00 John Choi, the MC of the program, made the opening remarks. He was followed by Bishop Lee A. Piche. The bishop told a very moving story about his own life and the effect that what happened to him had on his life. He also said that he's in favor of a second chance but does not forget about the victims of crime.
Next, Marvin Clark, Program Manager from Emerge Community Develpment spoke, followed by Brockton Hunter, Legislative Chair of MN Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Other speakers were Russell Wech from Goodwill Easter Seals and Richard Stanek, Sheriff of Hennepin County.
John Marty also had a chance to speak. He was excellent, as usual. He fully believes that if the debt to society is paid, then the ex-offenders absolutely deserve a chance to change their lives and make their lives much better.
I and my pounding headache had to leave to go back to work, but I came away with a feeling of hope for these men and women who had made mistakes in life and were sorry for it and now want to be productive members of society. I'm all for that. After all, everyone makes mistakes. I've made a ton of them myself. No one should be bound down forever by it. No one should condemn another person forever for it, either.
My friend Frank Brown from TakeAction MN was there. I was able to chat with him for a short time. He told me he saw me on KSTP news the other evening. Today it was his turn to have a camera focus on him.
TheUptake was also there, along with other media. My agenda said that several more legislators were supposed to speak, including Tom Rukavina, but since I had to leave I missed that part.
I think that all the DFL gubernatorial candidates support Second Chance, but I'm not really sure. Some of the candidates weren't there today; some weren't at the candidate interviews that TakeAction and Second Chance had a couple of months ago. The candidates should all make it clear whether they support this if they haven't already done so.
It was my pleasure to be able to talk with John Choi for about ten minutes. He's such a nice man, plus he's eager to make sure that every ex-offender gets a second chance.
I was not able to stay for the lobbying of the legislators. Health Plan and Provider data awaited me
What do you readers think of the idea of Second Chance? Comments, please.
I am pleased to share that several prominent Saint Paul leaders and legislative headliners are co-hosting an event for John Choi, candidate for Ramsey County Attorney.
Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Saint Paul Police Chief John Harrington, Moe Sharif, House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, Senate President Jim Metzen, Former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, Senator Mee Moua, Rep. Michael Paymar, Rep. Debra Hillstrom, Senator Ellen Anderson, Senator Sandy Pappas, Senator David Tomassoni, Senator Chuck Wiger, Former Senator Jerry Janezich, Former Senator Becky Lourey, Rep. Sheldon Johnson, Rep. John Lesch, Rep. Leon Lillie, Rep. Carlos Mariani, Rep. Sandy Masin, Rep. Nora Slawik all welcome you to a special reception in support of John on Wednesday, February 24th, at 5 p.m. at the Downtowner Woodfire Grill, 253 West 7th Street, in Saint Paul.
We hope to see you there!
Cory Tennison
Political Director
Volunteers for Choi
I am pleased to share that John Choi, current Saint Paul City Attorney and candidate for Ramsey County Attorney has raised $76,193 for his campaign. The contributions came from 750 different individuals and organizations. 680 of the contributions were from individuals giving $100 or less. John has $53,887 cash on hand.
The wide breadth of John's contributors is staggering. John raised contributions ranging from $5 to $500 from people from all walks of life. John received contributions from citizens, elected officials, and several current employees of the Ramsey County Attorney's office. Of particular note is that John was able to raise this kind of money in spite of the 2009 contribution limit of $100 per individual.
John has been endorsed by over 50 current and former elected officials in Ramsey County, elected county attorneys, past bar association presidents, AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, Saint Paul Police Federation, Firefighters Local 21, Teamsters Local 120, Laborers Local 132, Minnesota Pipe Trades Association, Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), Teamsters Joint Council 32 DRIVE, and Minnesota Nurses Association.
John was recently recognized as the top city attorney in America by his colleagues of the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
As Ramsey County Attorney, John's priorities include providing innovative leadership, holding offenders accountable, and preventing juvenile crime.
Please join us at caucuses this Tuesday and support John!
Cory Tennison
Campaign Manager
Volunteers for Choi
Every night, 2-15 women in Saint Paul call the police to report that they have been a victim of abuse in their home. When the police arrive, the offenders involved are frequently gone. These cases used to be handled in chronological order. Sometimes it took weeks to press charges. And now when funds are being constantly cut, that time situation is getting worse.
John Choi was a leader in a multi-department change of processing of domestic calls to an order based on an assessed threat level. It is a simple change that makes a big difference. Really it is a case of preventing murder. The local project is called part of a bigger project of best practices for handling domestic violence called Blueprint for Safety. For those victims at greatest risk, law enforcement officers are sent out to apprehend the assailant the same day and file charges immediately.
Mary Louise Klas, a retired judge, and Shelley Johnson, domestic abuse advocate spoke at a John Choi fundraiser about the importance of John's work in domestic violence.
I am please to share that John Choi, current Saint Paul City Attorney and candidate for Ramsey County Attorney has been endorsed by the Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), Teamsters Joint Council 32 DRIVE, Minnesota Nurses Association, Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, Former Attorney General Mike Hatch, and Roseville City Councilmember Amy Ihlan.
John has also been endorsed by over 50 current and former elected officials in Ramsey County, elected county attorneys, past bar association presidents, Saint Paul Police Federation, Firefighters Local 21, Teamsters Local 120, Laborers Local 132 and the Minnesota Pipe Trades Association.
John was recently recognized as the top city attorney in America by his colleagues of the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
As Ramsey County Attorney, John's priorities include providing innovative leadership, holding offenders accountable, and preventing juvenile crime.
Please join me in supporting John on February 2nd at DFL caucuses!
Thanks,
Cory Tennison
Campaign Manager
Volunteers for Choi
Last night I attended a gubernatorial candidate forum at the Fridley Community Center. It was hosted by SD50 and SD51. Here's what happened:
After work on Thursday evening I drove to Fridley for the SD50/51 gubernatorial candidate forum. It was held at the Fridley Community Center. I didn't go home first since the roads were very slick and greasy, so of course I arrived an hour and a half early. That was okay; I started a conversation with an elderly woman who was the evening monitor for the center. We had a great discussion about how Pawlenty has ruined Minnesota and what might be done about it. Of course we both agreed that the only solution is to elect a DFL governor. She noticed my by-now-famous campaign button and asked where she could get one. I just happened to have an extra one...
The first order of business at the forum was mingling. I saw some people I've met at other events. It was great to see them again. I also met some new people, such as John Choi, who is a candidate for Ramsey County Attorney, and Jeanna Sather. These are two very nice people. I'll have to learn more about John Choi and what his goals are for the Ramsey County Attorney position.
It was fantastic to see so many people come up and talk to me. I was surprised to hear how many are reading my blog. Three candidates greeted me warmly. They were John Marty, Paul Thissen and Steve Kelley. It's always good to be nice to political bloggers.
The only other two gubernatorial candidates who were there this evening were Susan Gaertner and Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Tom Bakk was supposed to be there but unfortunately he got stuck in southern Minnesota because the highways were closed due to the weather. The remaining candidates had been invited but they all had previous engagements. Quite a few people told me that they were disappointed that Mark Dayton couldn't make it. Apparently he had a fund raiser to attend that he had already committed to. "Rats!" exclaimed one woman. "That makes this a rather constricting experience."
I thought it was easier to manage a smaller forum. The candidates seemed more comfortable when there weren't so many of them. It was probably easier for the audience to keep them straight, too.
There were quite a few people there considering how slippery the roads were. Then the frolics began. Each candidate was given a couple of minutes to introduce themselves. After that they were given a question which each answered. Here are the highlights.
I am please to share that John Choi, current Saint Paul City Attorney and candidate for Ramsey County Attorney has been endorsed by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Minnesota Council 5 and Former Governor Wendell Anderson.
AFSCME Minnesota Council 5 is one of the state's largest and most politically active unions. Assistant Ramsey County Attorneys are members of AFSCME Minnesota Council 5.
Former Governor Wendell Anderson said "I enthusiastically endorse John Choi's candidacy for Ramsey County Attorney because he has a distinguished record of innovative accomplishments as a leader in the criminal justice system. As a former Governor, I am impressed with John's record of leadership as the Saint Paul City Attorney. He will keep the public safe and and seek justice in everything he does as our next Ramsey County Attorney."
John was recently recognized as the top city attorney in America by his colleagues and the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
As Ramsey County Attorney, John's priorities include providing innovative leadership, holding offenders accountable, and preventing juvenile crime.
John has also been endorsed by over 50 current and former elected officials in Ramsey County, elected county attorneys, past bar association presidents, Saint Paul Police Federation, Firefighters Local 21, Teamsters Local 120, Laborers Local 132 and the Minnesota Pipe Trades Association.
Please join John!
Cory Tennison
Campaign Manager
Volunteers for Choi
cory@votejohnchoi.com
Today a tantalizing job showed up on a job search. Someone is looking for a campaign manager for an independent candidate for Ramsey County city attorney. Do note that some of the quoted facts here are wrong.
Looking for experienced campaign manager/lead to direct Ramsey County Attorney race for the second largest county in Minnesota. There were about 200,000 voters in 2008 from approximately 100,000 households.
Seat is open, as 16-year incumbent is running for Governor. The incumbent is a democrat who never earned DFL endorsement but instead ran against DFL-endorsed candidates in all 4 of her races. The candidate is the only elected official; only woman; and only one from the suburbs running. She is also a former prosecutor. She was elected in 2005 and 2008.
The candidate is NOT seeking endorsement in this legally designated non-partisan race, viewing the county attorney position to be more akin to a judgeship, which is nonpartisan and non-endorsed in Minnesota, than to a policy-making position like state legislator. Party affiliation will not show on the ballot. The candidate has a strong history as a democrat, but has always run non-partisan in the past.
At a "meet and greet"small gathering, I heard John Choi speak of what makes a better Ramsey county attorney and better justice. I have often heard people ask about actual courtroom experience for the role of Ramsey county attorney when in truth the role is managing a large number of prosecutors. John Choi says the best measure of doing well is not the number of convictions, but rather the right result for justice. The best result would be that a person would never come through the prosecution process again. This means that the Ramsey city attorney becomes a more publically engaged figure involving the whole community in creating better justice outcomes.
John Choi says that our entire justice process is like a giant assembly line where everyone is doing their particular job really well, yet no one is looking at the end of the assembly to see if we are getting is what we truly want. John Choi is good at the end product analysis of justice, and then working with various partners in the community to achieve that result. Currently, John Choi is that kind of manager as the St Paul city attorney.
John Choi helped implement one recent improvement in the process of handling domestic violence, called Blueprint-for-Safety. Basically, each morning a prosecutor and police officers review the domestic violence cases to pick out the most-likely-to-be-dangerous as priorities. In domestic violence calls, the most sophisticated abusers are likely to be gone before the cops arrive, which means that in the old process, the reports were filed with no immediate action. However, these most sophisticated abusers are now the identified as the most dangerous, so picking up these particular abusers is given a high priority on limited police resources.
Dave Pinto received an endorsement from St. Paul Democrats for Civil Rights for the Ramsey County attorney's race to be decided next November. St. Paul Democrats for Civil Rights formed in response to civil rights violations that happened at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul last year. The group hopes to prevent future civil rights abuse and hold elected officials accountable for all types of civil rights in St. Paul and Ramsey County.
All four candidates interviewed for endorsement: John Choi, Dave Pinto, Tammy Pust and David Schultz. Tammy Pust withdrew after interviewing. Surprizingly, all three candidates were perceived positively by the Civil Rights group. Dave Pinto was impressive because of his eloquent defense of civil rights and his actual willingness to pledge and to form citizen advisory groups. John Choi has actually implemented effective programs that improve economic injustice. He has also led in restorative justice. David Schultz was recognized for his strong courtroom experience in civil rights cases. While Dave Pinto has the prized endorsement, both John Choi and David Shultz received "acceptable" ratings. The acceptable ratings indicate a strong positive group support for Choi or Schultz, if they win the DFL endorsement.
Of all four candidates, only John Choi was the only candidate active in Republican National Convention, the other candidates were not involved and did not speak out. In the discussions of endorsement, it was clear that the members of the St. Paul Democrats for Civil Rights, thought that John Choi had not released people from consideration of charges fast enough, especially journalists. Eventually over 80% cases were released over 6 months.
Do note that all of the high profile felony cases are being processed at a different office, by the Ramsey County attorney Susan Gaertner. Susan Gaertner has chosen to run for governor instead of re-election as Ramsey county attorney.
Dave Pinto stood out for his recognition of the injustice of too many people charged on too little evidence at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Pinto believes we could have learned from previous National Special Security Events in other cities so as to proactively set up processes which better-protected civil rights.
I, Grace Kelly, am fully endorsing John Choi for Ramsey County Attorney. In the process of doing research in making the decision about endorsement for this critical local race, I personally tested John Choi's major focus, restorative justice, in my own life and it profoundly changed my life. In reviewing John Choi's work as St Paul city attorney, I find him to be a politically courageous leader who is actively
improving justice for the economically disadvantaged
improving justice disparity in racial and in cultural areas
putting pressure on corporations to act better in foreclosures
holding to the same standards of justice in processing all cases despite political pressure
using foresight to improve our St Paul budget problems
being open to the public and the press, including citizen journalists like me
willing to meet with citizen groups in a dialog that was openly critical instead of staying inside of a comfortable shell of communication
using restorative justice actively to improve our community
Indeed John Choi's work is now a model for other cities. International Municipal Lawyers Association is giving John Choi a major Joseph I. Mulligan Jr. Distinguished Public Service Award in October. This is a story where you will want to follow the details, below the fold.
Today we filed John Choi's campaign report removing the "exploratory" from his campaign committee name for his run for Ramsey County Attorney. Because it was a change in the committee filing, we had to report cash on hand. I am pleased to share that we reported $21,225.35 cash on hand as of today. Keep in mind that this is not our raised number which was higher, this is after several expenditures and what we have in the bank.
We also announced John's six campaign co-chairs:
Rep. Nora Slawik,
Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman,
Sue Vento,
Sen. Mee Moua,
Arden Hills Mayor Stan Harpstead, and
Mike Galvin.
Thanks to all of our great volunteers! You can find out more at www.votejohnchoi.com.
Thanks,
Cory Tennison
Campaign Manager
Volunteers for Choi
At a "meet and greet"small gathering, I heard John Choi speak of what makes a better Ramsey county attorney and better justice. I have often heard people ask about actual courtroom experience for the role of Ramsey county attorney when in truth the role is managing a large number of prosecutors. John Choi says the best measure of doing well is not the number of convictions, but rather the right result for justice. The best result would be that a person would never come through the prosecution process again. This means that the Ramsey city attorney becomes a more publically engaged figure involving the whole community in creating better justice outcomes.
Dave Pinto received an endorsement from St. Paul Democrats for Civil Rights for the Ramsey County attorney's race to be decided next November. St. Paul Democrats for Civil Rights formed in response to civil rights violations that happened at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul last year. The group hopes to prevent future civil rights abuse and hold elected officials accountable for all types of civil rights in St. Paul and Ramsey County.
I, Grace Kelly, am fully endorsing 
