Last night I caught up with Katie Rodriguez, who's running for the State House of Representatives in district 32B (Maple Grove). A public finance expert and involved community member, she's brought a ton of energy to recent DFL campaign efforts in the west Metro, and this cycle she's taken the leap into running her own.
Bottom line: K-Rod rocks. She has a tough row to hoe -- Maple Grove has historically not been fertile ground for DFLers at the state level, and her opponent is incumbent Rep. Kurt Zellers, who will probably have the House Republican Caucus working hard for him in September. But Team Rodriguez has officially completed their "first pass" through targeted voters in their doorknocking efforts, having visited 11,000 households across the district so far.
There's already been a few political games being played -- in a recent Facebook post, she noted that "the MN GOP sent a Freedom of Information [request] to my previous employers to snoop around" ... in cases like this, it's almost too bad that FOIA requests don't force the requestor to publish all information they receive, so Katie's previous employers could send back great stuff about her expertise in public budget management and ensure that those missives were published in their entirety by the GOP.
In any case, the party opposite is clearly taking her challenge seriously. Nevertheless, Katie told me the response she's been getting from voters has been great, and that's good news both for her campaign and for Maple Grove.
The link to her campaign site is above -- if you're in the area, I strongly encourage you to get connected to and involved with Katie's campaign.
A source in the House of Representatives indicates that both GOP gubernatorial endorsee Tom Emmer and Minority Leader Kurt Zellers are "off the board" -- meaning they're nowhere to be found on at least one vote so far today, with one more coming up momentarily.
This comes after a tempest in the conservative blogosphere's twitterpot recently when House Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher was absent yesterday.
What's good for the goose, and all that. Either we can debate what all legislators are doing and why they may miss a vote here and there, or this is just more partisan attacks when what's needed is a wholesale, big-picture approach to the pending budget fiasco.
Back when Michael Brodkorb was running for the Deputy Chair position in the Republican Party of Minnesota, he bragged about how electing him would save the GOP substantial dough:
By the time the June election arrives, the (GOP) State Party will have spent over $100,000, $90,000 of which is salary, as well as other expenses, including meals, for part-time employment for the current Deputy Chair. To put this in context, the same amount of money over the course of the two-year term could have paid for numerous full time field staff, or provided much needed direct financial resources to local candidates across Minnesota.
I strongly believe we must dramatically reduce the compensation levels of the State Party officers. Therefore, if elected, I will not take a salary as Deputy Chair. (BrodkorbForDeputyChair.com)
So, how can Brodkorb afford to forego that GOPer paid salary of $90K? By going on the taxpayer's dime, and taking the taxpayer-paid position of Senate GOPer Communications Director. Hey - that's YOUR tax dollars at work!
Shortly after Brodkorb got elected, I posted this:
If you look at color-coded maps of Maple Grove from recent elections, it doesn't exactly look like fertile ground for progressive DFLers.
That isn't stopping David Hoden and Katie Rodriguez.
Hoden and Rodriguez are taking on entrenched incumbents in the area's two State House districts (32A and 32B, respectively). Hoden faces Republican Joyce Peppin, who won 66% of the vote in 2008 in a district that sent 57% of its votes for John McCain in last year's presidential race. Rodriguez is taking on Kurt Zellers in 32B, which was an even split in the presidential race, but gave Norm Coleman a 12-point margin and reelected Zellers with 53% of the vote.
On the face of the numbers, it seems like Rodriguez has a better shot at flipping her district than Hoden does his. Rodriguez is a well-known DFL activist in the area, and has done a lot over the past four years to expand the DFL base in the northwest Metro. Hoden, however, appears to be taking a slightly different tack: I've spoken to several folks in the area, and while Rodriguez brings solid party credentials to her race, Hoden sounds like he knows and is well-known by everyone who's anyone in his community -- church, the school system, the small business community.
With both campaigns having kicked off in the past week, it seems we could be in for a very interesting ride in the march toward 91 veto-proof votes in the State House.
It's been a tough day for the GOPers. Fortunately for Kurt Zellers, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - who turned down Federal Stimulus - got caught gettin' some international stimulus:
Chris Cillizza
washingtonpost.com Political Blogger
Wednesday, June 24, 2009; 3:30 PM
Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) admitted in a press conference in Washington today that he had an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina and that he will resign his position as president of the Republican Governors Assocation. (Washington Post)
Yep - a "Family Values" republiCon, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, wasn't "hiking the Appalachian Trail" as aides first claimed; he was down in Argentina - "catching up on foreign affairs".
Which is good for Zellers; that diverts attention away from his history of campaign finance screwups. Well, and the video Dusty Trice found and posted today - the video of Zeller trashing former Governor Arne Carlson just last May. Let's look!
A cynical non-voter recently engaged me and told me that there really is no major difference between a Republican and a Democrat. And in a sense, it is hard to argue with that on the national level sometimes. But in my mind, there are huge differences on the local and state level.
Last night's House Minority Leader election of Kurt Zellers proves there is a huge difference. Simply by looking at the two house party leader's websites instantly shows you straight forward differences between the newly elected Zellers and Majority Leader Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher's website states:
"Most Minnesotans agree on the basic elements that make Minnesota strong - a thriving economy, excellent schools, health care that is affordable, safe communities and a clean environment.
Over the past two years we have made significant progress on these bread and butter issues by securing bipartisan support and cooperation. We recommitted Minnesota to quality education, made critical health care reforms, passed a nation leading renewable energy standard and provided needed property tax relief to Minnesota homeowners."
So MAK seems to be concerned about what the average person cares about: a strong economy, healthcare, schools, and safety. Things a lot of people, including me, consider basic rights. And not only that, she is willing to work in a bipartisan manner and make concessions to get what we need. That was demonstrated very clearly in the DFLers actions on the budget this session.
On the other side of the aisle, new Minority Leader Kurt Zellers seems to have a very different agenda. If you look at his website, you will notice he is not in the house to improve Minnesotan's standard of life. He does not want to make Minnesota a great place to live and raise a family. And he certainly doesn't want to work with others to make it a better place. His first mission is "battling Democrats." So right off the bat, forget bipartisanship. He is not in St. Paul to get things done, he is there to fight. Seems like a pretty stark difference between the two parties right there.
Zellers is in the house to "keep your taxes from rising" and that seems to be it. So to those cynical voters who don't think there is a difference, think about this. Can you seriously tell me there is no difference between a political party willing to do what it takes to make sure we are taking care of the those who cannot take care of themselves, bridges are not going to collapse, the next generation is going to have educational opportunities to make our state better, and the air we breath and water we drink will continue to be safe for generations to come? Compared to a political party simply concerned with how much money wealthy people get to keep in their bank accounts?
There is no question, these are major, future impacting differences. Do we follow leaders who look to a better future, or do we follow leaders looking to keep a buck in their pocket at the cost of a better future?
