True North

My friend Steve Taylor reminds us of a few important details at Enlighten New Brighton. Rae Hart Anderson has decided to run again for the state senate. She has a number of signs up in the district. Anderson is not the Republican candidate for the office. She sought the endorsement of the SD50 BPOU but was soundly rejected, for good reason.

Gina Bauman is the Republican candidate for this open seat. As Steve points out:

Gina Bauman is the GOP endorsed candidate and is the only true conservative in the race. Gina earned the endorsement at the SD50 GOP Endorsement Convention with about 90% of the vote. She has solid conservative credentials as a twice-elected member of the New Brighton City Council where she has diligently advanced fiscally responsible, limited government policies. While she is best known for her demonstrated knowledge of fiscal matters, she also impressed convention delegates with her strong stands on the need for government accountability, personal responsibility, and pro-family values that resulted in the impressive show of support for endorsement.

In 2006-2007, a change in representation came to SD43. More than a change in name only, SD43 Sen. Terri Bonoff and HD43B Rep. John Benson radically changed how SD43 was represented on tax issues, according to data reported by the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. (The data for Benson is not missing in 2008, his score was zero in that year!) The question for voters in 2010 is: did constituent views really change that much, or has there been a disconnect between Bonoff and Benson and their Plymouth and Minnetonka districts?

In contrast, HD43A Rep. Sarah Anderson's tax votes have shown continuity with her predecessor, current Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson. Have her constituents' views been represented in her votes on tax legislation?

Mike Kaszuba of the Star Tribune has been doing an excellent job following the ongoing saga of Satveer Chaudhary, who represents Senate District 50 and is now in the fight of his political life. He picks up the story here and his reportage provides some news that ought to disturb anyone who is involved in politics:

William Krueger, the Senate District 50 DFL chair, said he has had multiple anonymous death threats through telephone calls and an e-mail over the past month and had informally asked Ramsey County sheriff's deputies to patrol his home. He said the threats were "very explicit" and involved "me and my family," and said he's been concerned enough to take his family to an undisclosed location on weekends.