Common Cause Minnesota had filed the complaints alleging that advertising by the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council on an anti-gay marriage amendment in 2010 constituted lobbying. The board ruled that the ads were too vague to trigger the registration requirement for lobbyists.
As Minnesota faces a likely recount between gubernatorial candidates Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer, memories surface of the prolonged recount in the state’s 2008 U.S. Senate race between Sen. Al Franken and Norm Coleman. As in 2008, a delayed decision on the governor’s race would have wide repercussions at both the local and national levels. The state legislature, which flipped to the GOP on Tuesday, could quickly pass conservative bills while a Democratic governor waits in limbo. All the while, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty finds himself in a unique posturing position before his probable bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Reports filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board this week indicate that independent expenditure group Minnesota’s Future has shifted its behavior after a complaint was filed with the board last month by the Minnesota chapter of Common Cause. That complaint alleged that Minnesota’s Future had failed to detail the full extent of donor information required by law in their last finance report.
A poll released by Public Policy Polling on Saturday found DFLer Mark Dayton with a slight lead over Republican Tom Emmer at 43 percent to 40 percent. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner got 15 percent. The poll sampled a large number of Minnesotans — 2,058 — and therefore had a margin of error or just 2.2 percent.
DFLers buoyed by a string of polls showing Mark Dayton pulling ahead by a healthy margin got a dose of reality with a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll released Thursday night. It has DFLer Mark Dayton up by 1 point over Republican Tom Emmer in the race for governor. Independence party candidate Tom Horner got 13 percent, with 6 percent undecided.
Rep. Tim Walz expanded his lead over Republican challenger Randy Demmer, according to a KAAL-TV/SurveyUSA poll released on Wednesday. The poll found Walz breaking the 50 percent mark, with Demmer getting 41 percent. The poll also found that among voters in the First Congressional District, DFLer Mark Dayton narrowly leads Republican Tom Emmer in the race for governor.
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.
A poll by St. Cloud State University has DFLer Mark Dayton leading Republican Tom Emmer 37 to 27 percent in the governor’s race. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner is at 18 percent, his best showing among recent polls. According to the poll, 15 percent of respondents are undecided.
Democrat Mark Dayton holds a significant lead in the gubernatorial campaign, according to a new Star Tribune poll released over the weekend. Dayton beats Republican Tom Emmer 41-34 percent in the poll with a week left before Election Day.
With a week before the election, major daily newspapers and high-profile officials are making their picks for Nov. 2. Democratic state Sen. Tarryl Clark and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz both grabbed endorsements from the state’s largest newspaper on Sunday, while Independence Party candidate for governor Tom Horner gained the support of the Pioneer Press. Walz also got the nod from Republican former Gov. Arne Carlson over the weekend, while GOP candidate Chip Cravaack picked up the endorsement of the Duluth paper.
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