Local

MnIndy video: Coleman’s staff ejects reporter from press conference

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign staff ejected a Minnesota Independent reporter from a press conference at campaign headquarters Wednesday afternoon. The MnIndy reporter made it as far as the inside of a small press conference room at a drab office park in St. Paul when a staffer asked who he represented and on that basis said the reporter would have to leave. In response to protests that MnIndy is a news outlet like others in the room, the staffer replied, “Right, and it’s funded by George Soros,” and escorted the reporter out. It’s the fourth time the senator’s campaign has denied access to local independent media at a media availability. Video (think “Blair Witch Project,” set in a boring office interior) after the jump. Spoiler alert: Norm’s door is extremely squeaky.

Does politicking since Nov. 4 smear officials, process? Election judges say no

Charges are flying that post-election lawsuits, press releases, talking points, and media (un)availabilities are smearing — or worse, interfering in — Minnesota’s election process, and sliming — or worse, intentionally intimidating — the state’s election officials. Setting aside for the moment the current and serious question of whether intimidation tactics are in play, it’s worth hearing out two Minnesota Independent commenters, self-identified election judges both, who say they don’t feel slimed by basic calls for review, recount and investigation.

2010 governor’s race: Pawlenty, Rybak gain rivals — not counting each other

Already by Tuesday, two men had tiptoed onto Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s turf this week. The city’s revitalization chief, Bob Miller, says he’ll run for the mayor’s job next year, the Southwest Journal reports. And on Monday Gov. Tim Pawlenty made a move on the green-jobs territory that Rybak — joined by another guv-wanna-be, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — has spent years staking out. Meanwhile, as Pawlenty gears up for a potential presidential bid in 2012, a different Minneapolis official threw his hat in the ring for governor: State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL).

University of Minnesota imposes hiring freeze

The U of M puts the brakes on hiring.

On an afternoon already ruined by the worst kind of freezing sleet, University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks announced a system-wide hiring freeze for all non-essential positions. Bruininks told university faculty and staff by e-mail that the “pause” in hiring is in anticipation of poor state budget [...]

‘That one!’: Theater proves no respite from lingering campaign season

Blowing off “Almanac” last Friday and going to the Guthrie Theater instead seemed like a good way to put an end to an exhausting political campaign season. We got rush tickets to the penultimate performance of Arthur Miller’s play “A View from the Bridge,” ready to be transported to working-class Brooklyn purely for the escapism, without a thought to exit poll demographics. At first, it seemed to be working. Then one line at the play’s climactic scene brought it all back, unwelcome and unbidden.

Lines everywhere: Minneapolis turning out huge numbers

The polls in downtown and south Minneapolis are overflowing with voters — even after the early morning rush.

Inside, photos and notes from a morning spent touring Minneapolis polling places.

Election Day morning, University of Minnesota campus: mobbed but orderly

Polling places were mobbed around the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis early this morning. In a residential neighborhood near campus, a line of 300 people at Marcy Open School stretched out the door and around the corner. Poll workers had planned for the crowd: For the first time in memory (if not ever), four porta-potties lined [...]

With demand halved, oversupply of election judges seems unsurprising

Inspired by a new Pioneer Press article and Minnesota GOP chair Ron Carey’s mastery of basic math, I decided to try again to understand why Ramsey County officials consider their oversupply of election judges remarkable. Wouldn’t they expect to have more willing judges than they need after they cut the number of available positions in half?
Here’s MPR’s [...]

More DonorGate ads by Coleman, Franken

The hottest Senate race in the country is getting a whole lot hotter due to multiple lawsuits alleging that an associate of Sen. Norm Coleman, Nasser Kazeminy, funneled money to Coleman’s wife through an insurance company she works for. The allegations spurred the Coleman campaign to cry foul and attack Al Franken in an ad [...]

TPT makes public plea to Paulsen: Stop using ‘Almanac’ clips in ad

Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) is making rumblings about “taking appropriate legal action” after its frustrated attempts to have state Rep. Erik Paulsen stop using video from TPT’s “Almanac” program in an ad attacking his 3rd Congressional District Democratic rival, Ashwin Madia. Paulsen’s FEC filings list ad production by Upgrade Films, the same D.C. outfit whose use of Pawlenty campaign video in a state GOP TV ad cost the governor’s 2002 campaign a $100,000 fine.