Politics

The two leaders of evangelical ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCR) have chastised President Obama twice in the past two weeks for appearing at public school assemblies in Chicago while he was a U.S. senator. Bradlee Dean and Jake McMillian complain that Obama used high schools to campaign. But they praise their [...]

Is the honeymoon over already for Gov. Tim Pawlenty? The Republican has largely been receiving accolades from the national media as he’s bolstered his profile with cable television appearances and laid the groundwork for a potential 2012 presidential bid. But influential Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza takes Pawlenty down a few pegs in a post [...]

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is urging the Internal Revenue Service to fix problems with its enforcement of laws against churches endorsing political candidates. In January, a Minnesota District Court judge ruled that the IRS did not have the proper procedures in place to investigate Living Word Christian Center, an investigation [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty travels to Iowa this weekend to headline a Republican fundraiser, simply the latest evidence that he’s seriously eyeing a 2012 run for president. But according to the latest poll looking at potential GOP presidential contenders, Pawlenty continues to lag well behind his likely rivals. Only 32 percent of Republicans polled would “seriously [...]

Gov. Pawlenty’s new Freedom First political action committee held its first local fundraiser tonight at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. About 250 people — the same size crowd Pawlenty drew at the PAC’s considerably more affordable pretzel reception in Washington, D.C. last month – paid $1,000 each to attend a reception on the hotel’s third [...]

Is state Rep. Laura Brod still mulling a bid for governor? The Republican from New Prague previously dropped out of the race, citing health concerns, but has long been rumored to be eyeing a return to the contest.
Earlier today, though, Politics in Minnesota reported that Brod is definitely out of the contest and speculated that [...]

They went there to ensure that nobody was wrongfully turned away from a Minneapolis polling place infamous for electoral mishaps. They ended up across the street, with police threatening arrest if they set foot inside again.

The introduction of instant-runoff voting (IRV) added uncertainty to city council races in Minneapolis. But when all the votes are (finally) counted, it appears likely that every incumbent who ran for re-election will prevail.

Minneapolis’ first try at instant-runoff voting went well, judging by a low number of spoiled ballots. But the number of ballots cast was also low, spoiling the system’s otherwise successful debut.

St. Paul voters narrowly chose to adopt instant-runoff voting on Tuesday. But opponents of the ballot measure plan to challenge the validity of the result.