Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS -- State Rep. Tom Emmer has coasted to victory in Minnesota's Republican primary for governor. --snip-- Emmer faced his stiffest GOP opposition in April, winning his party's endorsement over a fellow House member a day after receiving Sarah Palin's endorsement.

Money is surging through the election battle between U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and her Democratic challenger, Tarryl Clark, who reported totals on Wednesday that eclipse previous state fundraising records for a U.S. House race. Clark, a state senator, said she had raised a whopping $910,000 since April in her effort to unseat Bachmann, the Stillwater Republican who has become a conservative favorite nationally. Bachmann countered Clark's news with an even bigger bombshell: She had piled up $1.7 million in the same three-month period. The tallies set a new high-water mark for Minnesota U.S. House races and offer further proof that...

All three leading Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates for governor hold firm leads over Republican endorsee Tom Emmer, a new statewide poll shows. The poll also showed Gov. Tim Pawlenty's popularity has sunk to a new low. In addition, it suggested Minnesotans are gloomy about the state of their state. A lopsided majority thinks the North Star state is headed in the wrong direction. Decision Resources Ltd., of Minneapolis, conducted the survey of 800 Minnesota adults May 28-June 2. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Among the three main DFL gubernatorial candidates, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton has...

Republican Tom Emmer, who secured the GOP nomination for governor with a little endorsement help from Sarah Palin, now is leading all of his possible Democratic opponents, according to a Survey USA poll conducted for KSTP-TV. Here's how KSTP breaks down the numbers: When Emmer's name was tested against the name of Democrat Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Emmer led 44 percent to 33 percent. Against Democrat Mark Dayton, the result was Emmer 42 percent, Dayton 34 percent. Against Democrat Matt Entenza, Emmer was favored 42-31. The report doesn't include a margin of error or survey date. The sample size was 588...

Election day is six months away, but for now it appears Democrats won't have an easy time winning the Minnesota governor's office for the first time in 24 years. Exclusive 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS-SurveyUSA poll results show Republican Tom Emmer as the early front-runner in three hypothetical races. His lead coincides with a surge in Minnesota voters who self-identify themselves as Republicans. Emmer captured the Republican endorsement for governor in convincing fashion. Now, in a hypothetical match-up against DFL-endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher and the favorite to win the Independence Party nomination, Tom Horner, Emmer has a convincing lead. According to...

On Thursday, former Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin endorsed State Representative Tom Emmer in the Republican primary for Minnesota’s Gubernatorial race. Taking to her Facebook page, Palin described the candidate as a “patriotic fiscally conservative ‘hockey dad.’” He also happens to be an individual who believes Arizona’s controversial new immigration law is a “wonderful first step.” Emmer’s description of the law, which grants Arizona police officers the authority to ask those suspected of being in the country illegally for proof of citizenship, was made during a debate Wednesday with another Republican hopeful on the Minnesota Public Radio program Midday...

GOP gubernatorial candidate Sam Rohrer has gained the endorsement of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN6) who has been called the second most dangerous woman in American. . . . . .Mrs. Bachmann met Rohrer in 1998 when Rohrer went to Minnesota to discuss federal mandates regarding schools. She says it was he who inspired her to run for office as a state senator.

Who's more likely to perform the politically Herculean feat of ousting GOP cable TV darling Michele Bachmann from her Sixth District congressional seat -- DFL insider Tarryl Clark or outsider Maureen Reed? That was the question under earnest discussion by a pair of party veterans March 13 at the Senate District 52 convention, held at Mahtomedi High School. I leaned in to listen. "I'm for Tarryl Clark because she's electable," said Mary Vogel of Marine on St. Croix. "We need someone who knows how to run a winning campaign, because she's done it. She's an experienced legislator, and a leader....

I recently attended not a Tea Party, but a local GOP meeting in the Minneapolis Metro Area, where local delegates were voted for to go to the state GOP convention, and a few candidates for governor (Seifert, Emmer, and Herwig) appeared. In addition to a couple of candidates for State Representative and State Senate -- we have some good up-and-comers. Go Norann Dillon and Sarah Anderson! Anyway, making a cameo appearance was Erik Paulsen, who led off with the following quip: He just heard from the Olympics, and they have announced that they are going to strip the Gold Medal...

Former Senator Norm Coleman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Political Reporter Tom Hauser Sunday he will not be running for governor in 2010. He made the official announcement on his Facebook page late Sunday night. He released the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS ahead of the announcement. "I love Minnesota and I love public service, but this is not the right time for me and my family to conduct a campaign for Governor. Timing is everything. The timing on this race is both a bit too soon and a bit too late. It is too soon after my last...

A conservative Minnesota congresswoman who has been an outspoken critic of Democratic health care plans will be the keynote speaker for a Republican dinner in Ohio. The Hamilton County GOP in Cincinnati says Rep. Michele Bachmann will speak at the annual fundraising event Feb. 26 called the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. The county party praised Bachmann in a statement Monday as leading the fight against big government. She organized a protest rally last month against health care legislation.

Minnesota Republicans were told Saturday that they are members of a brand-new party and that Rep. Marty Seifert is their early favorite to be the state's brand-new governor. Seifert, of Marshall, who came into the race as a front-runner and has one of the most active campaigns, won 37 percent of the first-choice votes in a non-binding straw poll. Rep. Tom Emmer of Delano came in second, former state auditor Pat Anderson third and Sen. David Hann of Eden Prairie a close fourth. The poll won't bind delegates in next year's endorsement fight, but it gave winners bragging rights and...

A majority of Minnesotans don't want to see Gov. Tim Pawlenty run for president in 2012, but nearly as many say they would give him a look if he were nominated, according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll. The poll shows that only 30 percent of adults want to see the two-term governor make a try for the White House three years from now, while 55 percent do not. But in a mixed message for Pawlenty, 25 percent of Minnesotans said there was a "good chance" they would vote for him if he became the GOP nominee, while another 25...

Minnesota's Republican governor used to make soaring speeches about defusing climate change. Now he's making jokes, and some environmentalists are wondering whether his gone-missing support amounts to "bait and switch" politics. Gov. Tim Pawlenty is stoking frustration among Democratic state lawmakers and prominent climate thinkers for becoming "totally silent" on two major efforts to stem greenhouse gas emissions in Minnesota and in a strip of states stretching from Canada to Kansas. The turnaround is striking because it was the governor who powerfully promoted the initiatives. Now, chafed participants believe Pawlenty is abandoning climate action to mend his conservative credentials before...

There's a new leader at the top of the Minnesota Republican Party. State Republicans chose Tony Sutton, a Twin Cities businessman and active GOP party member as its leader at a gathering in Brooklyn Center Saturday. Sutton replaces Ron Carey, who is stepping down from the post. Sutton served on numerous campaigns and Republican committees on both state and national levels. He most recently served as secretary-treasurer of the Minnesota Republican Party. He is also the CEO of Minnesota-based Baja Sol Restaurant Group. Radio talk show host Dave Thompson and former state Sen. Carrie Ruud also sought the post. The...

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R MN6) is hosting 2 townhalls this week to take on the liberal fabrication that is Global Warming. (SHORT VIDEO AT LINK) St. Cloud/Woodbury, MN, Apr 9 - Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to host forums on Climate Change & Cap and Trade Special Guest: Chris Horner , Senior Fellow and Author, Competitive Enterprise Institute Thursday, April 9, 2009: 1:15-2:30 pm St. Cloud State University Atwood Memorial Center, Cascade Room 4:30-5:45 pm Woodbury Central Park Community Center, Room B 8595 Central Park Place (off Valley Creek Road and Radio Drive) I’ll be attending the St. Cloud event. Chances are...

If you're not a Minnesota, you probably haven't seen the blizzard of TV commercials emanating from Norm Coleman's and Al Franken's campaigns for the US Senate. Trust me, these ads are bare-knuckled. The first one is an attack ad by Coleman. The second is a rebuttal ad by Al Franken. And the third is a rebuttal by Coleman to Franken's rebuttal. Watch them in the exact order below... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJUxtfSdaX0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hZxxEKmJaY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nETYU-znTA

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Comedian Al Franken grabbed the Democratic nomination Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, setting up a showdown with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman that had been years in the making. Franken, who gained fame as a "Saturday Night Live" cast member, easily beat six other candidates chasing the Democratic nod. Coleman trounced his only opponent, an expatriate living in Italy. Minnesota voters joined those in six other states and the District of Columbia in deciding general election matchups. Nominations for House, Senate and governor were on the line, along with the fate of another TV celebrity: Kevin...

Get ready folks, in just a few hours we are about to watch heads exploding from the hate filled moonbat left. Leading that charge might just be Portland's own Jack Bogdanski. Remember he is the creepy guy who bought, hook line and sinker, the story about Governor Palin faking her pregnancy (Que Twilight Zone music now). I checked out some of Jack's comments from his hate filled anti-Palin thread and found a few of these morsels that were posted on Sunday, August 31st. Check them out and get yourself a little chuckle. Doris, don't worry. By this time Tuesday, she...

enate candidate Al Franken's satirical and explicit take on virtual sex and other topics, published in Playboy magazine eight years ago, is drawing concern instead of laughter from some Minnesota Democrats. Rep. Betty McCollum, who supported the comedian's rival Mike Ciresi until he dropped out of the race for the party's nomination for the Senate, complained Thursday that she and other Minnesota Democrats will be on the same November ballot as a candidate "who has pornographic writings that are indefensible." "Do they spend all of their time defending him, or do they spend their time talking about issues that are...