DFL wins twice in St. Cloud

DFL press release:

Minnesota DFL candidates won two more holiday elections by picking up a state Senate seat and retaining a state House seat. Senate-elect Tarryl Clark soundly defeated Republican local personality Dan “the Ox” Ochsner in SD15, and Representative-elect Larry Haws scored an overwhelming victory over Republican write-in challenger Kay Ek in HD15B. Like Sen. Terri Bonoff’s victory in Nov., DFL candidates once again won in traditionally conservative districts.

“We’re very pleased with the two special elections,” said State DFL Chair Brian Melendez. “Voters in the St. Cloud area should be proud sending these two intelligent, passionate, and wonderful people to the State Capitol, and we’re glad to have them on our team.

“Both Tarryl and Larry ran great campaigns, and they know the hearts and minds of central Minnesotans. They listened to the community, and the community’s voice will be heard loud and clear in St. Paul.

“The election results shouldn’t surprise anyone,” said Melendez. “The policies of the governor and the Republican Party are not resonating with Minnesotans. People are tired of Republicans playing games with the budget and driving a wedge through this state. We will keep talking about the issues that are most important to Minnesotans: education, health care, jobs, and transportation.”

So despite Governor Pawlenty's best attempts to stack the deck (holding the election while St. Cloud State students are on break) the DFL wins a Senate seat that has been Republican.

Republican Ek Bounced From Ballot

The Minnesota Supreme Court today ruled that Republican Sue Ek did not establish residency in time for next week's special legislative election in St. Cloud (15B)and can not be listed on the ballot. Link to the ruling is here.

The court did not make any ruling about replacing Ek on the ballot.

Reaction
This is what DFL Chair Brian Melendez had to say:
“Today the Supreme Court of Minnesota confirmed what the facts have already shown: Sue Ek doesn’t live in St. Cloud, and wasn’t telling the truth when she ran for elected office saying that she did.

“From day one, the Republicans have been playing political games with the people of St. Cloud. Gov. Pawlenty scheduled the special election two days after Christmas, which would ensure low voter turnout, and disfranchise the students of St. Cloud State University. Then the Republicans advanced a candidate who didn’t even live in the district. The Supreme Court wasn’t fooled. The voters won’t be fooled either.

“The voters have a clear choice in Larry Haws. Haws has proven himself with over 32 years of public service to the people of the St. Cloud area. He is honest, trustworthy and the best choice to represent the Granite City at the State Capitol.”

The War On Error

It only took overwhelming evidence, but President Bush has admitted the intelligence that he used to justify the invasion of Iraq was wrong. This is what the Prez had to say today:

"And it is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As President, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq -- and I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities." You can watch the speech here.

Notice that he takes no responsibility for not questioning that intelligence despite warnings from the CIA that the intelligence was flimsy.

"Given Saddam's history and the lessons of September the 11th, my decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision. Saddam was a threat -- and the American people and the world is better off because he is no longer in power. (Applause.) We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator; it is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in its place."

Ah... that's it. It was all about removing Saddam and bringing democracy to Iraq. Somehow I don't recall that reasoning from any Bush's speeches running up to the invasion of Iraq. I seem to remember Dick Cheney talking about "mushroom clouds".

DFL Wins Middle In Minnetonka

Newly Elected State Senator Terri Bonoff
•"Uniting The Middle" campaign resonates with voters

Click here to download or listen to podcast

Terri Bonoff ran as a moderate and as a DFLer. She won a special election in a district that leans heavily Republican. Listen as she tells "Inside Minnesota Politics with Peter Idusogie" why she was successful.

Is this an indication of how the 2006 elections will go? Maybe, maybe not. Republicans were able to hang on to a central Minnesota Senate seat in a three way race. Listen as Peter says what can be learned from these two different races.