Posts tagged Minnesota

Ballot Watch: Same-​​Sex Marriage

31
8 months ago
by Monotreme in

Source: arti​cle​-​3​.com

This is Bal­lot Watch. Today is the ninth in the series of arti­cles on the upcom­ing bal­lot ini­tia­tives and some key local elec­tions. Some of these will cover top­ics in com­mon with mul­ti­ple states, while oth­ers will look at a state level.

Today we take a step back from the geography-​​based Bal­lot Watches and cover our last issue-​​based Bal­lot Watch: same-​​sex marriage.

Four states are con­sid­er­ing bal­lot ini­tia­tives or voter-​​driven con­sti­tu­tional amend­ments that would impact same-​​sex mar­riage: Maine, Mary­land, Min­nesota, and Wash­ing­ton. I’ll run down the data on each of these in turn, but first some his­tor­i­cal per­spec­tive bol­stered with lon­gi­tu­di­nal national polling data (that is, polling data taken over time, some from 35 years ago). (more…)

What’s in a Name?

2
10 months ago
by dcpetterson in
English: Mark Ritchie, Secretary of State, giv...

Unlikely Media Star Mark Ritchie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here in Fly­over Coun­try, we’re used to being ignored by the élite media on the coasts. That could change, for a few weeks any­way. This Novem­ber, Min­nesota will join the list of states that have had votes on whether to enact a con­sti­tu­tional amend­ment ban­ning same-​​sex mar­riage. Min­nesota may become the first state to defeat such an amend­ment, and this may be par­tially due to the actions of the Min­nesota Sec­re­tary of State, an unas­sum­ing politi­cian in what is often con­sid­ered — by the rest of the coun­try — as a bor­ing state.

I live in Min­nesota. It’s a place of stun­ning con­trasts. It may be the only state where you can reg­u­larly see peo­ple walk­ing around in shorts and a parka. Min­nesota has a long pro­gres­sive his­tory. It also has an active social con­ser­v­a­tive move­ment, includ­ing ded­i­cated oppo­nents of abor­tion in both major polit­i­cal par­ties. It’s a state where hunt­ing is a favorite leisure activ­ity, and so has strong opin­ions on both sides of gun con­trol /​ gun rights issues. It’s a state with one of the nation’s most lib­eral U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tives [Keith Elli­son (D-​​Minneapolis), a co-​​chair of the House Pro­gres­sive Cau­cus], whose dis­trict is lit­er­ally adja­cent to a dis­trict with one of the nation’s most con­ser­v­a­tive Rep­re­sen­ta­tives [Michele Bach­mann (R-​​Stillwater), founder of the House Tea Party Caucus].

So, in 2010, we elected con­ser­v­a­tive Repub­li­can Tea-​​Party types to majori­ties in both the state Sen­ate and the state House, but a lib­eral Demo­c­rat — Mark Day­ton — as Gov­er­nor. We also elected a Demo­c­ra­tic Sec­re­tary of State, Mark Ritchie. He’s got­ten involved in the process related to the upcom­ing vote on an anti-​​same-​​sex-​​marriage amend­ment, and his actions could affect the suc­cess or fail­ure of that amend­ment. (more…)

Ron Paul’s Secret Victories

3
1 year ago
by Michael Weiss in

Who won Col­orado and Min­nesota this week? If you look at the tal­lies of cau­cus votes, the answer is “Rick San­to­rum”. But those two states have non-​​binding cau­cuses, so the answer may not be as obvi­ous as it seems. There are two sep­a­rate, but loosely-​​related activ­i­ties at play here.

In terms of the momen­tum story, which dri­ves much of the dis­cus­sion in the media, the cau­cus votes are the ones that mat­ter. San­to­rum won that story.

But there’s a sec­ond story, one that is much qui­eter, but more mean­ing­ful in terms of the ulti­mate nom­i­na­tion. (more…)

Santorum Trifecta

138
1 year ago
by Michael Weiss in

Well, this was unex­pected. While there was lit­tle doubt that for­mer Sen­a­tor Rick San­to­rum (R-​​PA) would win Mis­souri, and all zero of its eli­gi­ble del­e­gates, Min­nesota looked like a tossup just yes­ter­day. And Col­orado? That was a sure win for for­mer Mass­a­chu­setts Gov­er­nor Mitt Rom­ney just a cou­ple of days ago.

And then… (more…)

Primary Caucuses: Colorado and Minnesota

35
1 year ago
by Michael Weiss in

Today, in addi­tion to the Mis­souri Beauty Con­test, the states of Col­orado and Min­nesota hold their non-​​binding cau­cuses for 36 and 40 del­e­gates, respectively.

The states are com­ing thick and fast now, and the polling firms find them­selves stretched thin try­ing to get the nec­es­sary breadth and fre­quency in each state, given the rapidly-​​changing for­tunes of the remain­ing four can­di­dates. (more…)

2 years ago

The Polit­i­cal Platy­pus: Matt Dean’s Mother

The Platy­pus is amused, but not sur­prised, at a lit­tle anti-​​intellectual dustup in Min­nesota, one of the nicest states in the Union.

Appar­ently, best­selling author Neil Gaiman took a $45,000 speak­ers fee from the peo­ple of Still­wa­ter, who used state money to pay it.

Min­nesota House Speaker Matt Dean (R-​​Dellwood) called Mr. Gaiman a “pencil-​​necked lit­tle weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota.”

He later issued a non-​​apology apol­ogy, say­ing his mother told him to apol­o­gize for call­ing Mr. Gaiman names but he still thought the fee excessive.

Of course, the fee was donated to char­ity, as is Mr. Gaiman’s usual prac­tice, but still.

Appar­ently, pub­lic arts fund­ing is only to be used for things that Mr. Dean likes.

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