Southern Minnesota Republicans had some choice words about adult parties and drugs.

“Rochester has put together a gang-bang package,” said Sen. David Senjem, R-Rochester, of a reception put together by the city last week for Rochester Day at the State Capitol during Senate announcements on Monday.

Hosting an adult party doesn’t seem at all like the modest city of Rochester.

“I just think that this is so much foo foo dust that that’s coming out with all of these numbers,” said Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna referring to the estimates by Rep. James Oberstar for how much money Minnesota could see from the federal stimulus package.

Foo foo dust is slang for crack cocaine. Is that Day’s nice way of saying Oberstar is smoking crack if he thinks his numbers are correct?

h/t Bluestem Prairie.

Voters who have trouble filling in an oval on a ballot get no sympathy from state Sen. Dick Day and state Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, leaving Kiffmeyer’s successor as Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, to preach love, constitutional protection and enfranchisement for tremorous or otherwise-impaired citizens. For all three the issue is personal:

Day: “I personally don’t care if they’re disenfranchised or not and most of the people that I talk to don’t really care.”

Kiffmeyer: “My personal feeling sometimes is that I don’t know that I owe it to you to figure out your confusing ballot.”

Ritchie: “My grandmother, sharp as a tack until the day she died, shook. She could not fill in a circle. … I’ve heard from many people who’ve been disparaging — if you cannot fill in a circle, that breaks my heart when I think about my grandmother.”

Full quotes and video of Day and Ritchie after the jump.

In addition to offering prescient comments about ferreting out wrongly-accepted absentee ballots in the Senate recount, Kiffmeyer spoke to the St. Paul Legal Ledger on the topic of sloppy voters:

Kiffmeyer has little sympathy for voters whose cast ballots were not clearly marked. “My personal feeling sometimes is that I don’t know that I owe it to you to figure out your confusing ballot,” she said. “Maybe you’re just confused. And how am I going to figure out your confusion?”

Minnesota law, however, requires that election officials in a recount situation delve into the “intent of the voter” – as Kiffmeyer acknowledges – if intent can be clearly determined. “But if it is so confusing that you’re really taking kind of a blind guess, then OK, it’s undecided,” Kiffmeyer said. “It’s no vote for anybody.”

Day and Ritchie were captured on video by The Uptake during a state Senate committee hearing Friday. Here’s the clip, followed by transcriptions of their comments courtesy of MN Progressive Project:

Day:

“If the stupidity is such, that there’s Ys and arrows and Xs, and whatever, why isn’t it that we can put it in a machine, and if the machine can’t read what somebody is trying to vote for, I personally don’t care if they’re disenfranchised or not and most of the people that I talk to don’t really care because if you’re educated and you can’t fill an oval in, … would it better if the machine can’t read it, that’s it. We just don’t sit around and spend, and go through five or ten thousand ballots that somebody might wanted vote for somebody … I don’t know. That seems to me just a huge waste of time, so explain to me why I’m wrong here on that.”

Ritchie:

“Madame Chair, Senator Day, the founders of our nation and the writers of the Minnesota Constitution did not require that the citizens only be able to vote if they can comply with the demands of the machine manufacturers. My grandmother, sharp as a tack until the day she died, shook. She could not fill in a circle. So, if the proposal is that if you can’t comply with the conditions of the manufacturer of machines, wonderful machines that give us great accuracy and great, very timely results in most respects, then you don’t get to vote, then that’s a dramatic change from the founders of the nation and the writers of the Minnesota Constitution. It is a proposal that I’ve heard from many people who’ve been disparaging — if you cannot fill in a circle, that breaks my heart when I think about my grandmother, and that somebody’s saying she should not be allowed to vote because the machine manufactured by a company in Taiwan cannot read her vote.”

The accolades began with committee Chairman Steve Murphy. “I think the governor made the best possible choice that he could make,” gushed the Red Wing DFLer. “I believe you’re one of the best commissioners that he’s ever appointed.”

The top Republican on the committee, Michael Jungbauer, praised Sorel for his communication skills. “What I’ve really seen since you’ve been here is that coming together as a team,” said the East Bethel Republican. “I’m really excited to have you on board.”

This was a far cry from the scene at the Capitol just under a year ago when Democrats ousted Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau as the state’s top transportation official. Molnau had been under fierce criticism since the Aug. 1, 2007, collapse of the 35-W Bridge and was kicked to the curb by a 44-22 party-line vote.

Sorel didn’t receive praise from everyone on the committee, however. “I’ve been on this committee 18 years, I believe,” said Sen. Dick Day, a Republican from Owatonna. “I’ve never met the commissioner. So I don’t think his communication [skills] are all that great — in dealing with me anyway.”

Despite this sour note, the committee voted unanimously (Day included) to back Sorel’s confirmation.

Al Franken will comfortably advance from today’s primary election to take on Norm Coleman in the U. S. Senate race. With more than 80 percent of the results in, Franken is carrying 67 percent of the vote in the seven-candidate field. His most credible challenger, attorney Priscilla Lord Faris, is currently garnering support from 29 percent of voters.

Dean Barkley will be joining Franken and Coleman on the ballot as the Independence Party candidate. The former Senator, having served briefly after the death of Paul Wellstone, is routing the seven-candidate field with more than 60 percent of the vote.

In House races, only Reps. Michele Bachmann and Keith Ellison faced primary opposition. Both incumbents are earning support from more than 80 percent of voters in results so far reported by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.

A pair of House districts featured primary battles to determine who will take on the incumbent. In the most intriguing showdown, GOP-endorsed challenger Brian Davis currently leads state Sen. Dick Day by a 62-38 margin in the First Congressional District and will advance easily. Less interesting is the contest in the Seventh Congressional District, where Glen Menze and Alan Roebke are battling to see who will run against nine-term incumbent Collin Peterson.

There were a handful of intriguing state-legislative contests taking place today. It appears to be a split decision for the override six. Two-term incumbent Neil Peterson is paying the price for his vote to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill earlier this year, losing to GOP-endorsed challenger Jan Schneider by a 57-43 margin. Rep. Jim Abeler, however, is headed to the general election, carrying 64 percent of the vote.

Minneapolis Rep. Willie Dominguez is finished serving at the Capitol after just one term. He was trounced by challenger Bobby Joe Champion, who garnered the DFL endorsement. Meanwhile veteran Reps. Phyllis Kahn and Joe Mullery have handily beaten back intra-party challengers.

Finally it looks unlikely that Rep. Mark Olson — who was kicked out of the Republican caucus and denied endorsement after being arrested for domestic assault — will be headed to the state senate. He’s currently trailing Alison Krueger in a contest to see who will represent the GOP in the general election.

(Photo courtesy of cursedthing)

There’s a primary election today in Minnesota. You can be forgiven for not having noticed. With the temporary Republican takeover of the Twin Cities and a U.S. Senate race that’s been billed as a two-candidate duel for months, it’s easy to overlook the September balloting. But there are some intriguing questions to consider in looking at tomorrow’s results:

1. How comfortably will Al Franken advance out of the Democratic primary? There’s little doubt that the DFL-endorsed candidate will ultimately emerge from the six-candidate scuffle. His most serious challenger is Priscilla Lord Faris, an attorney and former Sunfish Lake City Council member, who filed at the last minute after citing concerns over Franken’s viability. But Lord Faris has run a schizophrenic campaign, initially running TV spots attacking Franken, but then pulling the ads (only to see Sen. Norm Coleman adopt the footage for his own attacks). The other challengers are the usual cast of gadflies, including perennial candidates Ole Savior and Dick Franson. Coleman faces just one challenger on the Republican side: fugitive arsonist Jack Shepard. Anything less than a Franken romp could indicate lingering questions about his candidacy among the DFL faithful.

2. Who will survive the Independence Party scrum? Jesse Ventura ultimately proved more interested in press attention than running a political campaign, but there are seven contenders for the IP crown. Three notables stand out from the pack. Dean Barkley enjoys the greatest name recognition, having served as director of the Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning during the Ventura administration and briefly as a U.S. senator following the death of Paul Wellstone. He also has the backing of the former Governor. Jack Uldrich is an author and former IP chairman. Southeastern Minnesota farmer Stephen Williams earned the party’s endorsement prior to the emergence of his two chief rivals. Whoever survives Tuesday’s primary will face the formidable task of siphoning off attention from the much anticipated Coleman-Franken showdown.

3. Does Dick Day have a chance in hell? Almost certainly not. But the eccentric state legislator from Owatonna could benefit from low turnout. He’s raised no money (almost literally), but enjoys widespread name recognition in the First Congressional District and is popular with the far right. Conversely, Brian Davis has raised a formidable war chest and enjoys the GOP’s official backing, but is a political neophyte. The winner gets the opportunity to take on Rep. Tim Walz.

4. Who will survive to get throttled by Collin Peterson? The suspense is agonizing. Alan Roebke is a convicted felon who doesn’t have enough money to pay for gas to campaign in the sprawling Seventh Congressional District. Glen Menze is the GOP-endorsed candidate and a veteran of the 2000 campaign, when he lost to Peterson by a mere 40 percentage points. The powerful chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, who is seeking his tenth term, would have to be caught in a compromising position with livestock to lose this election.

5. How many times will Republicans chant “Drill, Baby, Drill!” at Michele Bachmann’s victory party? Poor Bachmann. She’s been eclipsed by Sarah Palin as the designated GOP pinup girl for oil drilling. But the freshman legislator should be able to take solace in a thumping primary victory. Her challenger, St. John’s University psychology professor Aubrey Immelman, walked the entire district during the campaign — but will almost certainly be spared a similar trek to Washington. Elwyn Tinklenberg, running as a Blue Dog Democrat, and the Independence Party’s Bob Anderson await Bachmann in the general election.

6. Will alleged wife beater Mark Olson represent the GOP in November? In the most intriguing grass fire of the primary campaign, Rep. Mark Olson — who was kicked out of the Republican caucus after being arrested for domestic abuse — won the local GOP chapter’s backing for a state senate seat. This incited state party officials to denounce the endorsement, with Sen. Coleman even bizarrely entering the fray and GOP flak Michael Brodkorb trashing the candidate. The heavy handed tactics of GOP poohbahs seems to have backfired, however, with local activists rallying to Olson’s defense. We’ll find out tomorrow as he squares off against Alison Krueger in the primary. The winner will face Democrat Lisa Fobbe.

7. What will happen to the Override Six? The six Republicans who flouted party dictates by voting to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of the transportation bill last spring have faced stiff reprisals from their party. The GOP stripped the turncoats of their leadership positions and several were denied endorsement by local party activists. Will voters also punish them at the ballot box? We’ll get a partial answer tomorrow. Rep. Neil Peterson, who was denied the GOP endorsement in 41B, will take on Jan Schneider. And Rep. Jim Abeler will face a similar task in battling Don Huizenga for the right to appear on the November ballot.

8. Will Minneapolis pols Joe Mullery, Willie Dominguez and Phylis Kahn survive? All three legislators face seemingly formidable primary opposition. Six-term Rep. Mullery, who represents the North Side, was denied the DFL endorsement in favor of activist Peggy Flanagan. But after Flanagan dropped out owing to personal issues, park board member and Dairy Queen owner Jon Olson entered the fray in 58A. Rep. Willie Dominguez just completed his first term and will face off against attorney Bobby Joe Champion. The challenger secured the DFL endorsement and has been strongly backed by U. S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who formerly held the North Side post. Rep. Kahn has seemingly been serving in the legislature since the advent of electricity (1972, actually), cultivating a reputation for eccentricity and eliciting visceral hatred from conservatives. The DFL’er has survived many electoral challenges through the years, but this year she faces Joel Rainville, whose family has exerted an out-sized influence on Minneapolis politics for decades.

In the poll of likely general election voters, Walz has a 57 to 22 percent lead over Day with 21 percent undecided, and a 60 to 20 percent lead over Davis with 21 percent undecided.

The poll was conducted May 17 through 19. Minnesota’s 1st District is being targeted by Republicans as a possible pickup in November.

In today’s case, that Something Bigger is the Iowa Caucuses, set for this evening, which will officially kick off the 2008 presidential race.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t local news to be read until the caucuses actually start:

CD3:  Attorney and Iraq vet Ashwin Madia was endorsed by the DFL Veterans’ Caucus yesterday. “It’s important to remember that ’supporting our troops’ doesn’t end when their deployment does,” he said in a statement. “We have a deep moral obligation to stand by those who have served our country with honor as they work to successfully transition back into civilian life.”  Madia faces State Sen. Terri Bonoff of Minnetonka and Mayor Jim Hovland of Edina for the DFL endorsement, to be decided later this year.  Bonoff is generally seen as the frontrunner, with the support of several DFL legislators and the influential local American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) unit.

CD1:  Mayo Clinic physician Brian Davis announces today that he raised over $156,000 in 2007 for his bid to unseat first-term DFL incumbent Tim Walz.  Although this total does not match up well with Walz’s fundraising success — as of the third quarter of 2007, Walz had over $711,000 in cash on hand — it does match up well with Davis’ GOP rivals.  State Sen. Dick Day reported total receipts of around $157k through Q3 2007, while State Rep. Randy Demmer reported around $150k raised through the same period.  While it is likely that Davis’ total leaves him in 3rd place in the money chase, it should be enough to wage a viable campaign for the Republican endorsement.

HD61B:  Affordable housing advocate and community activist Jeff Hayden announced on the Minneapolis Issues Forum that he will run for the House seat being vacated by four-term State Rep. Neva Walker (h/t MN Blue).  The district covers a large swath of Minneapolis, and should not see any credible conservative candidates.

SD25:  The special election to replace State Sen. Tom Neuville, who was recently appointed to the bench by Gov. Pawlenty, takes place today.  DFLer and high school teacher Kevin Dahle faces off against Republican businessman and former State Rep. Ray Cox.

Brian Davis also chose Tuesday to publicize a high-profile endorsement for his campaign, that of former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz.  In a Davis campaign press release, Boschwitz said Davis would be “absolutely unique in Congress in dealing with the nation’s most pressing problems,” a reference to Davis’ medical background.  However, as in the case of Meyer, the effect of this endorsement is, at best, unclear:  The last time Boschwitz appeared on a statewide ballot was 1996, almost six election cycles ago, and that was in a loss to Paul Wellstone.

On the other hand, he has raised large sums of money for President Bush in both of his campaigns for the White House, reaching Pioneer and Ranger thresholds in 2000 and 2004.  Only if Boschwitz is willing to put his still-considerable fundraising and behind-the-scenes clout to work on Davis’ behalf will this endorsement mean more than a photo-op and a good media day.