State Official’s Speeches to Liberal Groups Criticized While Kiffmeyer’s Record Ignored

In an article about Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s proposed automatic voter registration legislation, Star Tribune writer Dane Smith noted Republican concerns about Ritchie’s partisanship. In the article, Smith quoted a Republican Party official who charged that Ritchie had crossed a line by speaking to a liberal organization. The official also said Ritchie’s record was poor compared with Republican predecessor Mary Kiffmeyer’s efforts to avoid the appearance of  partisanship. 

But Kiffmeyer also addressed and attended partisan events during her tenure in office, and she had a record of taking strong conservative positions.

In the article, Smith quoted Michael Brodkorb, the GOP chairman in the 38th District, and a former campaign consultant for former U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn., and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.  Brodkorb, who also writes a weblog, was critical of Ritchie. Citing Ritchie’s decision to speak to People for the American Way, Brodkorb was quoted as saying, “Democrats would scream bloody murder if Kiffmeyer went to such rabidly partisan groups.”

But Kiffmeyer did attend a number of partisan political events during her time in office. In 2000, the Star Tribune reported that Kiffmeyer attended a rally for the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life  on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.  In 2001, Kiffmeyer organized a $100-per-plate fund-raiser featuring then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican from Florida, though the event was evidently canceled because of the attacks on Sept. 11 of that year.

In June 2004, Kiffmeyer addressed a campaign event headlined by first lady Laura Bush.  Later that year, Kiffmeyer came under fire for organizing a group of primarily Republican volunteer election observers, prompting a sharp rebuke from former Secretary of State Joan Growe, a DFLer, who was quoted in City Pages as saying, “while I was serving, I didn’t ever see a circumstance under which I needed to have partisan people — or independent people, if they are — go in and observe what the election administrators were doing. I have observed elections in many foreign countries as a polling observer, but I’ve never thought it necessary to authorize people from the secretary of state’s office to observe elections in Minnesota.”

Kiffmeyer also has a connection to Brodkorb; she asked Brodkorb to attend and observe a transition meeting between herself and Mark Ritchie before leaving office. 

Brodkorb declined to be interviewed for this article.