Minnesota Independent

Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Photo: IowaPolitics.com, Flickr

Pawlenty in the middle: Nate Silver graphs the 2012 contenders

By Andy Birkey | 02.04.11 | 11:42 am

Nate Silver of the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight graphed the potential 2012 presidential contenders based on their insider/outsider status and their position on a moderate-to-conservative scale. Not surprisingly, Rep. Michele Bachmann took the conservative extreme. Tim Pawlenty, on the other hand, was rated smack in the middle of the graph. Silver notes that he had trouble ranking the enigma that is Minnesota’s former governor.

Gov. Mark Dayton. Photo: Kathy Easthagen, Minnesota Independent

Dayton’s chance of winning at 85 percent, says NY Times’ Nate Silver

By Paul Schmelzer | 10.27.10 | 11:22 am

Following two polls this week that show Mark Dayton ahead of Tom Emmer by 7 and 10 percentage points in the governor’s race, there’s more bad news for the Republican: New York Times statistics guru Nate Silver puts Emmer’s chances at winning at 14.9 percent, his worst showing all year.

Pawlenty not popular with Southern Republicans

By Andy Birkey | 04.12.10 | 9:30 am

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference, held in New Orleans this weekend, conducted a straw poll to gauge support among Republican activists for various potential candidates for president in 2012. Gov.…

Survey: Passing health reform improves Dems’ electoral chances

By Paul Schmelzer | 11.23.09 | 4:57 pm

“If my vote sends me back to Mankato West to teach geography, so be it,” said Rep. Tim Walz Saturday of the House health care reform bill. “Not getting health care care reform passed is what will send me back.”…

Coleman legal bills pile up

By Paul Demko | 04.15.09 | 7:18 am

Back in December Norm Coleman said he would seek clearance from the Federal Elections Commission to use campaign funds to cover personal legal bills. But he never followed through. In the meantime the former senator continues to rack up astronomical legal bills as he pursues the U.S. Senate contest.

The morning after: Coleman’s legal prospects look grim

By Paul Demko | 04.14.09 | 9:05 am

Yesterday’s ruling by a three-judge panel declaring Al Franken the victor by 312 votes in the U.S. Senate contest leaves Norm Coleman on precarious legal ground. The former senator has vowed to appeal the decision to the…

Echoes of Bachmann: Coleman says God wants him to serve

By Paul Schmelzer | 02.09.09 | 9:25 am

It worked for Rep. Michele Bachmann. In 2006, the Stillwater Republican told worshipers at her church that “Twenty-two months ago, [God] called me to run for United States Congress.” She was elected — and then re-elected. On Friday, former Sen. Norm Coleman made similar statements about his own calling to be back in the Senate.

Does the possible inclusion of 4,800 ballots improve Coleman’s prospects?

By Paul Demko | 02.04.09 | 12:02 pm

Norm Coleman’s campaign received a boost yesterday when the three-judge panel hearing his election contest ruled that 4,800 rejected absentee ballots will be considered for inclusion. Coleman’s lawyers had argued that…

The ballad of the missing ballots

By Paul Demko | 12.04.08 | 12:03 pm

What happened to the missing ballots in Southeast Minneapolis? That’s the question of the day in the U.S. Senate recount. Yesterday it was disclosed that 133 fewer ballots were tabulated in precinct 1 of Ward 3 during the recount than on election day. There were 2,028 votes recorded during the initial count, but only 1,896 ballots were included in the recount. The change resulted in a loss of 36 votes for Al Franken in the heavily Democratic precinct.

Recount Day 3: Franken, Coleman push ballot challenges past 1,500

By Chris Steller | 11.21.08 | 9:16 pm

What seemed a far-fetched math geek dream only hours ago came true tonight: On Day Three of Minnesota’s U.S. Senate recount, the Al Franken and Norm Coleman campaigns again increased the number of challenged ballots by more than 40 percent over the previous day, to 1,525. That number dwarves by a factor of 13 the current 115-vote gap between Franken and Coleman, and suggests the challenged-ballot count will continue to grow exponentially, as MnIndy predicted Friday morning.