We Have a Race

The 3rd Congressional District is fortunate to have three intelligent and serious candidates for Jim Ramstad's House seat. Republican Erik Paulsen of Eden Prairie, Democrat Ashwin Madia of Maple Grove, and Independent David Dillon of Shorewood are all putting their best feet forward in this race. While Dillon's status as a 3rd party candidate severely hampers his ability to raise funds, all indications are that he is in this to win, just like Paulsen and Madia.

While this blog may endorse a candidate at a later date, for now the objective will be to get the right information into voters' hands. With that, here are a few links that you might want to check out in an effort to better educate you on this major race.

Paulsen's website
Madia's website
Dillon's website
WCCO recent interview with Madia and Paulsen (here and here)
MPR coverage (best balanced local politics coverage available, in my opinion)
Info on upcoming debate by the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce

Of course, there are numerous blogs covering this race as well. I hesitate to link to them because of the skewed coverage you would receive on the candidates. However, if you are willing to spend some time researching and understand that most blog authors are strongly biased, I'd encourage you to Google many of the local politics blogs.

Erik Paulsen Endorsed by Jim Ramstad

Erik Paulsen, State Representative from Eden Prairie, had a big weekend. First he was endorsed by the Republican Party. Then he was endorsed by Jim Ramstad.

“We have the right person to represent the Third District at this critical time in our nation’s history. Today, friends, it is my distinct privilege to pass the torch of leadership to a new generation… To a leader who has the integrity, energy, vision, experience and character… A leader who will serve the people of our district with distinction at this critical time in our nation’s history,” Ramstad said.

Paulsen definately has the endorsements that matter, with Ramstad giving the wholehearted endorsement and Ramstad's predecessor, Bill Frenzel, having already endorsed him. One had to wonder if Ramstad, who has grown disenchanted with the GOP in recent years, was going to hold anything back on the endorsement of his old aide, Paulsen. He didn't.

Paulsen is running against DFLer Ashwin Madia of Plymouth and Independent Dave Dillion of Shorewood.

Race for Ramstad's Seat Becomes Clearer

After a tight, eight ballot process yesterday at Wayzata Middle School, Senator Terri Bonoff stepped aside and cleared the way for Ashwin Madia be endorsed by the DFL for the 3rd district congressional seat. Madia was the least-known of the three initial DFL candidates, but gained steam after an early VoteVets endorsement and much campaigning in the 3rd CD.

Madia brings a dynamic to the race that previous DFL nominees have not had. He is a former Marine who spent time as a military lawyer in Iraq. He is young (30) and stays close to his talking points. Whereas Wendy Wilde and Deborah Watts were longshots who needed to be extreme in order to have a chance at competing, Madia will be able to fall back on his military experience to draw credibility to his candidacy. Here is this blog's quick and dirty take on his candidacy:

The Good: Madia's military experience brings an obvious strength to this race. He is succinct with his talking points and doesn't veer much from his script. Madia has good speaking skills and should perform well in debates. His youth could play will with a section of the 3rd district voters, and the fact that he spent time in Iraq could bring him much of the Veteran vote. He has proven that he can get union endorsements, something which plays well in parts of the 3rd but maybe not well in others. He doesn't have the disadvantage of his opponent, Representative Erik Paulsen, when it comes to previous voting records causing questions. Madia is starting his political career from scratch, outside of a stint as Student Body President at the U in the late 90's.

The Bad: Madia is an unknown to anyone outside of DFL circles in the 3rd. Whereas a Jim Hovland or Terri Bonoff were active in the community for a period of time prior to running for congress, many independents' first impression of Madia will be when he is asking for their vote for a huge job. He is not a typical 3rd CD resident -- he is 30, single, and really hasn't lived here much. He attended High School in Osseo, and moved back to the district to run for this race. Outside of defense issues, which he has an advantage on, there is no indication his experience prepares him more for other federal issues as much as Representative Paulsen's experience at the Capitol has.

Conclusion: Madia is in effective campaigner and will work hard to make himself visible. His lack of any track record and minimal exposure as a citizen in the 3rd CD prior to this run may turn skeptics off. His ideology is unclear -- we know he was a Republican in the past but some of his views in debates were the most liberal of the three candidates. Still, with Democrats having the momentum this year, Republicans need to take Madia seriously. All three DFLers who started the race, Hovland, Bonoff, and Madia, were stronger than any candidate the DFL has put up in the 3rd for a few years. I say this race will be won by less than 5 points. By whom? It is too early to tell.

CD3 Congressional Election Preview: What Color is Our District?

This year promises to be one of the most exciting campaign seasons we have seen, and will probably have one of the highest voter turnouts in recent memory in the 3rd Congressional District. With contested Presidential, Senate, and Congressional seats, there is much reason to vote.

The 3rd has always been slightly Red. Several decades of representation in Washington have been served by moderate Republicans like Jim Ramstad and Bill Frenzel. While recent numbers show that the 3rd is still red, it is red by a sliver. Although the Democrats have fully controlled the House and the Senate since the last election cycle, bad economic news usually manifests in the Presidential vote. And then there is Iraq. The bottom line -- if ever a Democrat had a chance to pick up this seat, for the short or long term, it is this year.

How much vote is out there to swing? I'm no statistician, but I'll try to make a case. In 2006, a year when Republicans couldn't buy a vote and the world was Blue, Mark Kennedy pulled 41% of the 3rd CD vote. With the name recognition and flawless campaign Klobuchar had, I'd say that 41% was pretty close to the rock-bottom Republican base. That equated to 118,000 votes.

Likewise, Wendy Wilde and Deborah Watts each pulled 35% against Ramstad in 2006 and 2004. The 35% by Watts in 2004 was in a year that wasn't yet at the Democratic period of electoral domination, so I'm pegging that as the low end of what they can pull. That 35% equated to roughly 100,000 votes.

With that imperfect logic established, that means that this district leans Republican, but only by about 6%. And that also leaves a healthy 24% of voters up for grabs.

In 2000, a year that had contested Presidential and Senate elections in the district, just under 345,000 votes were cast in the 3rd. Since Obamamania and the intensity of local races may get more out to vote, I'm going to say there are 350,000 votes out to be had. That would equate to voter turnout of about 79%, which is very very good. If we (again imperfectly) apply our "base" ratios to this race, that means Paulsen would start with about 144,000 votes, and the Democratic nominee about 123,000. Of the remaining 83,000, the Democratic nominee would need to swing 63% of them to win; Paulsen would need to pull 38% to win.

There is no huge student population to get out to vote in the 3rd, but the Democratic nominee could swing some votes based on their characteristic. Terri Bonoff could appeal to the female voter, a sizeable block. Ashwin Madia could pull some of the Veteran and Immigrant vote.

The bottom line: This is still a red district, but only by a sliver. A very strong showing from a Democrat could make this seat Blue for the first time in generations.

3rd Congressional District Update

We are entering an interesting two weeks on the local Congressional District scene. Each of the next two weekends will have a host of local Senate District DFL caucus activity. In those caucuses, delegates are earned toward the endorsement. It is very conceivable that after the 16th, we'll have a good idea of who is running in the general election.



Here is our summary on the candidates:



Erik Paulsen (R) - Eden Prairie: Paulsen is the Republican candidate for the seat. He is a longtime State Representative and a former Ramstad staffer. His voting record indicates that he is further to the right than Ramstad, but his campaign messages have painted a more moderate picture. Paulsen is known to be a student of the issues, well-prepared, and more measured than passionate. He has a strong start to his fundraising effort.



Terri Bonoff (D) - Minnetonka: Bonoff is a two-term State Senator from Minnetonka. She took the seat in a special election, where she upset the Republican candidate in a mostly red district. Her reputation at the capitol is as a fighter for children and education. Bonoff secured many of the prominent DFL endorsements through her campaign, such as that of Walter Mondale. While some view her as the establishment candidate, it is important to note that until her 2005 legislative run she was a citizen activitist with no public office.



Ashwin Madia (D) - Brooklyn Center: Madia is an attorney in Minneapolis and new to the local political scene. He is a former Marine with Iraq experience. It is tough to find alot of information on him other than what his campaign is disseminating. He brings youth (he is 30) to the race and is a polished debater. He is also running an impressively organized campaign. The fact that he moved from Minneapolis to the 3rd CD only after Ramstad announced his retirement may raise questions with some.



Jim Hovland (D) - Edina: The Mayor of Edina was a Republican for many years, but officially switched parties at the time of his Congressional announcement. He is an law firm partner and visible in the Edina area serving on several commissions, including the one focusing on the 494 transportation corridor. The buzz is that he could have some momentum but his campaign has been a bit disorganized in the important delegate race.



We would like to see a Paulsen - Hovland race, as we think it would give the voters of the 3rd a contest most closely mirroring the district ideology. Hovland is relatively moderate, maybe to the left of Ramstad, while Paulsen is further right, closer to Bill Frenzel (Ramstad's predecesser). We will keep you posted on DFL developments as they occur.

Five Questions in the Race for Ramstad's Seat

The race for Jim Ramstad’s 3rd Congressional District House Seat should get more interesting in the next four to six weeks. As Minnesota wraps up its role in Super Tuesday (February 5), focus will shift from Presidential politics to local politics. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the 3rd District will have a wide-open race for voters to participate in. While the Democrats have gotten out of the blocks with three serious candidates, the Republicans have yet for anyone to officially enter the race, although it is said that Erik Paulsen, State Representative from Eden Prairie, is committed to the race and raising funds.

As this gets more interesting, here are my five questions as it pertains to this race. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Is Jim Ramstad Officially Out? He has announced his retirement and reiterated it at least once. However, more than one pundit watching the 3rd District just gets the feeling that he is not at peace with his decision. Call it collective intuition, but until he emphatically denies any interest in returning or endorses another candidate, there is going to be a buzz that he may not yet be out. Republican leadership in Washington would just as soon have a more conservative vote coming from the district, but if it is between a moderate Republican vote and a Democratic vote, they would jump at the chance of having Jim back.

When Will We See Activity on the Republican side? The answer to this may very well hinge on the answer to the first question. To-date, we know that Erik Paulsen is raising funds and working the Republican network for support. We also know that, while he hasn’t yet formally announced, Paulsen is scheduled to be on TPT’s Almanac in two weeks as a Republican candidate. While Paulsen has a history of effectively serving his Eden Prairie Constituents, he is hardly the only effective Republican public servant in the area and we would be surprised if there isn’t at least some behind-the-scenes activity from other potential candidates attempting to gauge if they could make a run.

If Paulsen Is The Only Republican Candidate, How Much Of a Money Advantage Does That Give Him? While the three Democrat candidates, Terri Bonoff, Ashwin Madia, and Jim Hovland split an estimated $400,000 of available funds in the most recent quarter (Hovland’s numbers aren’t yet in so we’re estimating), the rumor is that Paulsen collected that much himself. While you could argue that it is encouraging for Democrats to raise as much as Republicans in this historically right-leaning district, the spending side of the equation gives Paulsen a huge advantage if he has a non-competitive caucus and primary season. Campaign rules allow people to give once for the primary and once for the general, whether or not the candidate actually had to spend any money to get the nomination.

This Could Become a Blue Seat In 2008, But Could It Ever Be A “Safe” Blue Seat? There is no doubt that with the national anti-Bush sentiment, unhappiness with the Iraq situation, and strength of Democrat Presidential candidates giving the party a wave to ride, this could be a year that we see the 3rd District go Democrat. But could it ever be a “safe” seat for the Democrats like it has been for the Republicans? History would tell us that the 3rd likes a moderate Republican, but Ramstad didn’t lose much face in the district when his votes swayed to the left. Regardless of the temporary political environment, the 3rd likes a Congressperson who thinks for themself but is a “limited Government” person at heart. For that reason, this seat would be difficult for a Democrat to hold long-term unless he or she was extremely moderate, and we’re talking at least a 40 on the National Review’s 1-100 point scale (100 being the most conservative).

Does It Really Matter? As we’ve written before, there is a very good chance that Minnesota loses a congressional seat in 2010. That means that the new Congressperson would serve one term before potentially having to run against a popular incumbent from a neighboring district.

3rd Congressional District Fundraising

The Oct-Dec 07 fundraising numbers are in, and two DFL candidates posted very strong fundraising. State Sen. Terri Bonoff and Attorney Ashwin Madia both raised in excess of $100,000.

No reports are yet available from the other two known candidates, DFLer Jim Hovland and the GOP's Erik Paulsen.

This confirms that there will be no shortage of Democratic money making its way into this race. It also confirms that the Republicans can't wait too long before a candidate or candidates become visible, or Congressman Ramstad officially changes his mind and gets back into the race.

This blog maintains its belief that a strong Independent candidate, particularly one who could be partially self-financed, could have a real chance in this district. This is especially true if the party bases decide to nominate candidates who are off-center on the issues. We hope more people come forward to get into this race, as it would be good for the voters for this race to open up even more.

Ramstad Reconsidering?

A story covered in Roll Call this week and hitting the blogosphere circuit today is that of Jim Ramstad reconsidering his retirement.

We think Jim Ramstad is an excellent Congressman, one who represents the profile of the 3rd district nearly perfectly. We also think there will be a more natural time to step down -- in 4 years when redistricting, and the likely loss of one of Minnesota's 8 seats, may mean the person representing the 3rd has to go head-to-head with another popular incumbent.

While we would be thrilled if Ramstad decided not to retire, the most important thing is that his decision is clear soon. It will only be fair to Erik Paulsen and the other Republican prospects to know if Ramstad is in this race or not.

3rd Congressional District Candidate Update

Since we just finished one election, why not turn our attention to the next one? I have a feeling that the next 357 days will give any political junkie their fill of news and analysis, and Minnesota will be in the middle of everything.

In addition to the historic Presidential election and what has the makings of a lively Senate race (Norm Coleman vs. Ciresi or Franken or Pallmeyer), our own 3rd Congressional District race is being listed as a toss-up by many. Ever since Jim Ramstad announced his retirement, names of potential replacements have been swirling about. Ramstad did the opposite of Martin Sabo in 2006, who gave the 5th CD short notice on his retirement, causing a mad scramble. Ramstad provided over a year of notice, something I believe will result in a more thorough vetting process.

While at least a couple dozen names have been mentioned for the 3rd CD, by my count there are only 3 official candidates in the race, with 1 unofficial but very likely candidate:

Terri Bonoff, DFL, is a State Senator from Minnetonka with a business background. She was probably considered the early front-runner, but things have evened out with recent events.

Ashwin Madia, DFL, is a Minneapolis lawyer with ties to the 3rd CD. As it stands today, he is the only Iraq Veteran in the race.

Jim Hovland, DFL, is the Mayor of Edina and Partner in a local law firm. He is a centrist who considered himself a Republican in the past. Just entered the race this week.

Erik Paulsen, R, is a State Representative from Eden Prairie with a business background. He has not formally announced but has an exploratory committee (something you don't do unless you are serious.) He is considered a more traditional Republican than Ramstad.

I'm sure others will emerge, but the diversity of candidates on many fronts (age, military, gender, backgrounds, ideology) is encouraging for a productive, interesting race. This is a terribly brief and vague summary of each candidate, but I'll have a year to elaborate.

Power Shift: Minnesota Likely to Lose Congressional Seat

A discussion over at www.mnpublius.com prompted me to look into how the upcoming census reapportionment could impact Minnesota, which in turn could have an effect on candidates willing to run for the 3rd CD seat. Among other sources, I typically appreciate Kiplinger's clarity and willingness to go out on a limb, so I quote from the most recent Kiplinger Washington Letter:

"The nation's midsection can count on losing influence as Iowa, Minn, Mo., Ill., and Mich. each lose a seat in 2012 elections for the House of Representatives, based on smaller populations. Ohio will lose two seats. In the East, N.Y. will also shed two seats. Power will flow to the South and the West. The big winner: Texas, gaining four seats. Fla. and Ariz. will add two apeice, Ga., Wash., and Ore., are going to pick up one House seat each. But Calif., for the first time in its history, won't gain any seats because of outmigration and a curb on counting illegal immigrants."

While it is all speculation at this point, if the reapportionment occured today, it would likely fall as Kiplingers predicts. With the possibility of incumbency not meaning alot in just four short years (as incumbents are forced to run again each other, possibly in primaries, in 2012), I wonder if it tips that scales to the "defer" category for anyone considering a run for Ramstad's seat.

Lining up for Ramstad's seat: Where are the grass-roots candidates?

This will be my final posting for a while on the Ramstad retirement and subsequent race for the MN-03 Congressional seat. In the spirit of this being a more local blog, I want to move back to focusing on more local events, particularly the Minnetonka School Board election and referendum.

But first, I want to make a call for grass-roots candidates to emerge for the congressional seat. The early list of prospective candidates is full of what I'm sure are good quality people. They are people with a demonstrated interest in public service and who are well-regarded in the community and have the respect of many. The best possible person for the CD3 House seat might very well be on this early list. I’ll post the respective links to MN Publius (who I think has done the best analysis of reviewing the candidate field and will probably continue to be the leaders in breaking news on this topic), but will also summarize the list here. Candidates being discussed include:

Republican:
http://mnpublius.com/2007/09/3rd-cd-rankings-the-republicans/#more-3907

Erik Paulsen, State Representative
Brian Sullivan, Republican National Committee State Commiteeman
Geoff Michel, State Senator
Rich Stanek, Hennepin County Sheriff and former state legislator
Joyce Peppin, State Representative
Warren Limmer, State Senator
David Hann, State Senator
Kurt Zellers, State Representative
Jeff Johnson, former State Rep and AG Candidate

Democrat:
http://mnpublius.com/3rd-cd-report/

Andy Luger, Prosecutor
Buck Humphrey
Melissa Hortman, State Representative
Terri Bonoff, State Senator
Steve Kelley, former State Senator
Steve Simon, State Representative

A scan of this and other lists that contain largely the same names yields one major conclusion: Unless you are already an elected official, you have a major uphill battle to get any visibility in this race. Humphrey is one exception but he has an incredible last name, and somebody like Kelly Doran (who has financial resources and profile from his Senator/Governor in the past) would be another. Andy Luger is a prosecutor, which doesn’t qualify as private sector but he is definately from outside the domain of sitting elected officials. Brian Sullivan’s experience originally was from the private sector, where he has been highly successful, but he is now closely associated with the Republican party establishment. It is already evident that many political handicappers are viewing Ramstad’s open seat as a promotion for a sitting politician more than an opportunity for a leader from the masses to step up and represent the 3rd.

We have what might be a once-per-generation opportunity to send someone new to Washington. Do we need to assume that the cream of the crop comes only from a small group of people who are already in public office? What about our business leaders? Community activists? Nonprofit executives? Those who have demonstrated the ability to make the world a better place in other ways? They have to be out there. The 3rd district is large, and full of talented and inspired individuals.

I can give you two examples of successful grass-roots leaders who Minnesota sent to Washington in this era. One was Paul Wellstone. While he had run for some public offices prior to being elected Senator, his rising was one from college professor to US Senator. He was hardly someone who “worked his way up” into a position of power. His was an example of Minnesotans selecting someone from the masses to represent them, and represent he did.

Another was Mark Kennedy. I’m not trying to compare Kennedy’s impact with Wellstone’s, but Mark Kennedy was a product of the private sector. A successful CFO of a local business, if I recall correctly. But I would suggest that he successfully represented his district in Washington, whether or not you agree with his alignment with George Bush. And don’t forget about Tim Walz, the MN CD1 Congressman who was elected in 2006 and seems to be off to a good start. He was an educator in Mankato up until his recent election.

Many other effective public servants in Washington also came from outside the state public office ranks, including Senator Bill Frist (Surgeon), Congressman Dave Price (Professor), Congressman Ron Kind (County Prosecutor) and Senator Tom Coburn (Businessman and Physician) just to name a few.

So as the preliminary lists of candidates gradually become short lists, I hope that the people of CD3 don’t limit their search to the list of existing public officials for that person to send to Washington. Don't get me wrong - many of the names of sitting State Senators and Representatives absolutely deserve to be in play. Jim Ramstad, however, gave the district the courtesy of a long, exhaustive vetting process for his replacement. Let's not immediately whittle this down to the race between a few heirs apparent.

Let’s make this about more than who can raise money the fastest and appeal to party bases. Sure, let’s send someone to Washington who has a pedigree. Not a pedigree of working their way up the political ladder, but a pedigree of successfully leading people and getting things done.

Another good article on Ramstad's retirement

The most informative article I've seen on the topic, after the initial MPR one which I linked to on the post below, is this one from The Hill:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/rep.-ramstad-puts-another-swing-district-up-for-grabs-2007-09-18.html

Congressman Ramstad Announces Retirement

This will be the final congressional term for Congressman Jim Ramstad. He announced today that he will not seek reelection in 2008. You can see the details of his press conference and much more information here:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/17/ramstad/?rsssource=1

We can now add the 2008 MN CD-3 race to the list of items that will be closely followed on this blog during the coming year. While the 3rd congressional district has been represented by Republicans for the past 46 years, many of the non-congressional elections in the district have been up for grabs lately. Congressional Quartely does a nice job of summarizing some recent elections here:

http://fe15.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070917/pl_cq_politics/minnesotagoprepramstadtoretireleavingseatupforgrabs

The biggest question right now seems to be this: Will the parties attempt to field a candidate in the mold of Jim Ramstad or Bill Frenzel (who held the seat prior to Ramstad), or will each party use this as their opportunity to put forth a candidate who aligns more closely with the party base? And if both major party candidates are extreme, is there room for a 3rd party entrant?

Much more to come, but I'll go on record saying this: Voters in CD3 have proven they like moderate candidates who represent the district, not the party. If the Republicans can find a truly moderate candidate in the mold of Ramstad, he or she will be very tough to beat. But a race between a moderate Democrat and a conservative Republican would be up for grabs in this district, especially in 2008.

Jim Ramstad's Town Hall Meeting

Jim Ramstad will begin his series of summer Town Hall meetings tomorrow, with a forum at the Minnetonka City Hall. The Forum will take place at noon, and there is a 2nd area forum in Mound at 7pm.

These Town Hall meetings are a great chance to see the Congressman and ask your questions. The typical format is Congressman Ramstad giving a 10-15 minute presentation on current capitol hill activities, and then opening up the remainder of the hour for Q&A. You get a combination of very specific questions along with some more general topics of discussion.

What Congressman Ramstad does by having these forums is somewhat unique. We might take it for granted, but it is not part of a Congressperson's job description to have these Town Hall forums. I don't know for sure, but I would guess it is a small fraction of our Representatives that even have these forums. In the case of Ramstad, he knows very well that there will be groups from Move On and other organized movements who are there to heckle him, but he still shows up and opens himself up to questions and criticism. I respect that.

It is good that we have a Congressman who values dialogue with constituents above staying safe in an office behind staffers. It is also good that during a month of highly publicized Congressional recess, our Congressman is using part of his vacation to make the rounds in his district.