Majority rules

Source: Wikimedia.org

As Scott, my old political mentor and impetus for this blog, always used to tell me, "It's all about the gavels." Put another way, "the majority rules."

The partisan split in the 134-seat Minnesota House of Representatives is currently 73 DFL to 61 Republican. This makes the DFL the "majority party" by twelve members. Because an even split would be 67 members each, the Republican Party is seven seats from gaining majority status in the upcoming election.

The majority party gets the better offices, establishes the session rules, appoints the committee chairs, sets the agendas, schedules the hearings, determines which bills get heard in committee and how fast they pass out of committee (if at all), decides which bills are heard on the floor, and generally determines the political realities at the Legislature.

It's much more fun to be in the majority. The majority party gets the gavels. When one party has the majority in the House, Senate, and Governor's office, it's called "single-party rule." The DFL is the single-party ruler now, which has given Minnesota the MNSure debacle, a $77 million Senate Legislative Office Building, the controversial $1.6 billion special-interest Southwest LRT train, crumbling roads and bridges, and a persistent education achievement gap.

When vetting candidates, local parties must weigh "electability" against ideology. Both are important, but if you don't have the gavels, as Scott would say, your caucus gets to spend much of the session keeping its agenda on life support until the next election.

Our candidate for House in District 44B, Ryan Rutzick, is the most "electable" candidate we have endorsed in years. Rutzick is young, energetic, photogenic, and charismatic. He can work a parade crowd and deliver a stump speech like few I have ever seen in my ten-plus years of campaign volunteering.

Ryan Rutzick (source: campaign)

Rutzick is running for a rare open seat, which is being vacated by the retiring four-term Rep. John Benson (DFL). The conservative Republicans on the "B-side" of 44 have been trying to elect a conservative Republican to unseat the incumbent ever since Republican Rep. Ron Abrams, a moderate, left the House for the Hennepin County bench in 2006.

Various political organizations and pundits have included 44B as a competitive and therefore crucial election. If seven seats flip to the "R" side of the aisle, the House Republican caucus will be the majority caucus. (The Senate is not up for election this year, and the governor's race is being called a matter of turnout by both parties.)

Judging by his endorsements, Ryan Rutzick is a moderate Republican, in the mold of moderates like Abrams and others who were swept out of office in the conservative wave of the early 2000s:

• Senate District 44 Republicans
• Rep. Erik Paulsen, U.S. Congressman (MN-3), who previously represented Eden Prairie in the Minnesota House
• Former U.S. Congressman Jim Ramstad
• Tom Horner, former Independence Party candidate for governor
• Arne Carlson, former Republican Governor of Minnesota
• Star Tribune editorial board
• Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
• TwinWest Chamber of Commerce
• National Federation of Independent Businesses
• Minnesota Medical Association MEDPAC

Rutzick's campaign has also attracted independent expenditures from the state GOP (not a given) and the Minnesota Jobs Coalition.

To put the brakes on the runaway train of liberal one-party rule in Saint Paul, first we have to get elected.

In this district, a pragmatic problem-solver like Rutzick may be what the House Republicans need to get elected, get the majority, get the gavels.

Grand old party in the park

The Republicans of Minnesota SD44 put on their annual picnic in the park Thursday evening, complete with barbecue, catching up with old friends, and candidates, candidates, candidates — more great candidates than I can remember at a single SD44 picnic. The candidates who will face a primary election next Tuesday asked for the full support of the party faithful in attendance, who endorsed them at the state convention earlier this year in Rochester.

Republican-endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate Mike McFadden was relaxed and smiling after meeting voters at Farmfest this week in Morgan, Minn. McFadden talked about his farm family roots and listening to farmers talk about government over-regulation and high taxes. Unfortunately, I didn't notice McFadden's colorful campaign-graphic decorated pickup truck until it was leaving the parking lot, so I wasn't able to take a photo of it for the blog.

No doubt in spite of trying, the Republican-endorsed candidate for Minnesota Governor, SD44's own Jeff Johnson, failed to be in two places at once. So his top campaign surrogate, Johnson's wife Sondi, conveyed Jeff's greetings and heartfelt thanks for SD44's loyal support of his campaign. (There was no sign of the family bulldog and Jeff's political alter ego, Chester.)

Randy Gilbert, the Republican-endorsed candidate for state auditor and the only candidate who is actually an auditor, was very happy to report receiving positive press and support from regular folks on the Iron Range (including Gilbert, Minn.!), a traditional DFL stronghold.

HD44A Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) and candidate for House District 44B Ryan Rutzick  stressed the need to win back control of the state House (the Senate is not up for reelection this cycle), and how close Republicans are to do just that (a few thousand more votes than in 2012 to flip a handful of seats from DFL to R).

Currently in her fourth term in the House, Anderson among friends is as approachable and humble as any mom in Plymouth, but in off-the-cuff remarks about, well, pick the issue, it's soon clear that she is a principled legislator and formidable adversary on the floor of the House or the campaign trail. Rutzick is an energetic (Anderson called him "Type-A") businessman with early fundraising success (including money in the bank and no debt). Unlike Rutzick, the three unendorsed DFL candidates for HD44B are fighting to survive next week's primary election.

Patti Meier, GOP Senate District 44 chair, urged the well-fed activists at the picnic to sign any one or all of the several sign-up sheets for various campaign activities and fundraisers, including parades, the peripatetic tasks of literature dropping and door knocking, and phone calling. (I described the last of these in my previous post.)

Gala co-chairs Sheri Auclair and Jennifer Rowe were pleased to announce that the SD44 event of the season on October 10 at the Medina Country Club will be hosted by talk radio hosts Jack Tomczack and Benjamin Kruze.

Home opener

Ryan Rutzick

With the rolling back of the tarps to reveal the grassroots of the Minnesota political parties at the precinct caucuses, we named our starting lineups (precinct officers and delegates to the BPOU convention) and debated party platform planks. Last Saturday at Wayzata High School, Senate District 44 Republicans met at their convention to endorse candidates, elect delegates to the Third Congressional District and state conventions, and generally perpetuate the American experiment of self-government.

Delegates endorsed incumbent HD44A Rep. Sarah Anderson for reelection, while small business owner Ryan Rutzick won the endorsement for the open seat in HD44B. Anderson is the well-loved and respected, hard-working four-term representative from Plymouth. Newcomer Rutzick introduced himself and his family with enthusiasm and a commanding public presence. He seems to have the energy, determination, and communication skills to connect with voters and finish the campaign season marathon that will begin in earnest after the legislature adjourns sine die in April or so.

Meanwhile, Kelsey Johnson (@kelsaljohnson) reported via Twitter that our counterparts in the DFL apparently adjourned their convention without endorsing any of the three candidates vying to succeed the retiring Rep. John Benson in HD44B. Johnson also reported that the Dems endorsed Audrey Britton to again challenge Sarah Anderson in HD44A.

I am happy to report that my Plymouth precinct had a full delegation present, but not so happy to report that none of our fellow House District 44B precincts did. Many candidates for Congressional district and state convention delegate from "the B side" revealed their support for Jeff Johnson for governor, while others said they were undecided. (The Johnson campaign was the only campaign to circulate a "slate," which is a list of delegates pledged to endorse him at the state convention.) Most delegate candidates seemed to be still vetting the U.S. Senate candidates, but most who mentioned a name said they were supporting or "leaning toward" fourth-term Minnesota Sen. Julianne Ortman (SD47). Sen. Ortman mingled with delegates Saturday morning as they registered for the convention, grabbed a Caribou coffee and a doughnut, and made their way to their seats.

The ever-present Rep. Erik Paulsen (CD3) greeted delegates as usual — it seems he never misses an SD44 convention, and like his predecessor Jim Ramstad, is always accompanied by his orange-shirted campaign staff. Paulsen will stand for his endorsement vote at the Third Congressional District Convention on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at Maple Grove Senior High School.