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A letter from Willmar attorney John Burns blames Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage for former state Sen. Dean Johnson’s loss in the 2006 election. The letter, published this week in the West Central Tribune, attacked the group and its two major contributors.
Burns writes:
More than half of that [Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage] organization’s funding came from one wealthy man, Robert P. Cummins of Deephaven, who contributed $155,000. When his contribution is combined with the $45,000 from Rodney Huisken of Chandler, Minn., the two provided about 70 percent of MCDM’s funding. MCDM targeted about two-thirds of its statewide independent expenditures against one candidate, Dean Johnson.
Johnson lost to Republican Joe Gimse of Willmar by 553 votes out of nearly 31,891 cast. Johnson, the former Senate majority leader who was from Willmar, was the most-prominent DFL incumbent to lose last year. He was targeted after his remarks to a group of religious leaders were made public about a conversation that he claimed he had with some Minnesota Supreme Court justices about gay marriage in Minnesota.
Burns also was involved in a shouting match during the campaign.
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10 Comments »
Comment posted February 16, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Dean and the DFL could have campaigned a bit harder too… Last summer I did a parade with Dean in his district. Unlike most parades where the DFL contingent was often a block long, there were all of 4 of us there- Dean, representative Al Junke, his daughter, and me. The Republicans had at least 10 times as many people- is it any surprise that Dean lost?
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 9:05 am
Dyna’s onto something That sounds like the reason Gary Laidig lost to Michele Bachmann.
I don’t think the Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage were what made the difference. The Outdoors PAC (Sportsman for Change) did….
Here are the issues that hurt Dean Johnson:
State government shutdown (Johnson could not avoid responsibility)
Sanding off the truth
Outdoors amendment
The DFL did some last minute advertising to try to play up his anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage credentials. I’m not sure that helped. A more effective message would have been to point out that the district would lose clout if Johnson lost. It may have been useful to point out the outside money sources for Sportsmen for Change and Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage prior to the election. Decent opposition research by the DFL during Dean’s campaign would have pointed this out.
But the DFL will use this with Stonewall to try to say that the gay marriage issue cost Dean Johnson his seat. The question will be will Stonewall fall for that nonsense?
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 9:13 am
Burns was wrong that Jeff Davis has connections to GOP That’s not true. Many in the party felt this group was counterproductive. Remember, they were the ones who did the truth trucks.
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 10:37 am
Yelling in the wind Over the year I kept pointing out that Johnson’s seat was going to be close and no one believed me. I think that the DFL was very overconfident about the seat. I mean he was the Senate Majority Leader who brought home the bacon to his home district, how can he lose? I hope this shows that no one is sacred.
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
Money for nothing – and (sanding off) the truth for free These groups could have contributed millions and not defeated Johnson had he not sanded off the truth for free.
Comment posted February 16, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
Dean and the DFL could have campaigned a bit harder too… Last summer I did a parade with Dean in his district. Unlike most parades where the DFL contingent was often a block long, there were all of 4 of us there- Dean, representative Al Junke, his daughter, and me. The Republicans had at least 10 times as many people- is it any surprise that Dean lost?
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 3:05 am
Dyna's onto something That sounds like the reason Gary Laidig lost to Michele Bachmann.
I don't think the Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage were what made the difference. The Outdoors PAC (Sportsman for Change) did….
Here are the issues that hurt Dean Johnson:
State government shutdown (Johnson could not avoid responsibility)
Sanding off the truth
Outdoors amendment
The DFL did some last minute advertising to try to play up his anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage credentials. I'm not sure that helped. A more effective message would have been to point out that the district would lose clout if Johnson lost. It may have been useful to point out the outside money sources for Sportsmen for Change and Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage prior to the election. Decent opposition research by the DFL during Dean's campaign would have pointed this out.
But the DFL will use this with Stonewall to try to say that the gay marriage issue cost Dean Johnson his seat. The question will be will Stonewall fall for that nonsense?
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 3:13 am
Burns was wrong that Jeff Davis has connections to GOP That's not true. Many in the party felt this group was counterproductive. Remember, they were the ones who did the truth trucks.
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 4:37 am
Yelling in the wind Over the year I kept pointing out that Johnson's seat was going to be close and no one believed me. I think that the DFL was very overconfident about the seat. I mean he was the Senate Majority Leader who brought home the bacon to his home district, how can he lose? I hope this shows that no one is sacred.
Comment posted February 17, 2007 @ 6:41 am
Money for nothing – and (sanding off) the truth for free These groups could have contributed millions and not defeated Johnson had he not sanded off the truth for free.
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