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Ventura to announce plans Monday
Jesse Ventura will announce his plans for the U.S. Senate race Monday night. It had appeared that the Ventura for Senate fever was dying down, but I doubt Jesse’s going to get all dressed up Monday night for nothing. Meantime, Good Morning America did a segment on Al Franken this morning that showed the whole…
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Cummins announces run for Congress against Oberstar
Mike Cummins, a Pine City home efficiency developer, called me Friday night to confirm that he’ll be seeking the GOP endorsement for the Eighth Congressional District seat held by Jim Oberstar. Cummins was gone most of the week touring a solar array in Canada as part of his job in helping people make their homes…
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More on the northern GOP’s Congressional conundrum
The 8th CD Republicans meet this weekend in McGregor to endorse a candidate for Congress. A source has told me that a Pine County man named Mike Cummins will be nominated for that endorsement, but that there remains discontent within GOP circles for the long delay in finding a candidate and the relative obscurity of…
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Maryland files for 7B House seat
Daniel L. Maryland of Duluth has filed to run for State Representative in District 7B as a DFLer. He is the fourth Democrat to file and the fifth to announce. Who is he? He doesn’t have a website and I’m not finding much on Google right now. I can tell you that Maryland was a…
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No DFL endorsement in shortened House 7B primary
The word from Duluth is that there will be no DFL endorsement in the House 7B primary. This wasn’t shocking news. Rep. Mike Jaros’s surprise retirement last month didn’t leave enough time for an endorsement to hold much weight in the light of the ongoing candidate filing period. To the primary we go! Still just…
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Lack of consensus in GOP pick for 8th CD
Last night I reported that a source told me Mike Cummins is a leading contender for the GOP endorsement and nomination for the Eighth Congressional District seat held by Jim Oberstar. But this is news to some top Republicans in the district, according to another anonymous source. (Incidentally, my proclivity for anonymous sources here is…
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Ventura Watch, continued
It would now seem former Gov. Jesse Ventura is pulling back the reins on speculation about his potential run for the U.S. Senate. I’m moving back to the opinion that he’s using this for publicity value. While I can envision a scenario where Ventura could win, I can’t envision a scenario where he completes a…
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SOURCE: Cummins to challenge Oberstar
A reader named “Scoop” says this weekend Republicans will endorse Mike Cummins for the Eighth Congressional District seat held by the venerable U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar (DFL-Chisholm). I have not had much luck learning more about Mr. Cummins, but will keep trying. I’m sure we will know the whole story in coming days. Oberstar’s opponent…
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Oberstar’s opponent?
There may be some news today about Rep. Jim Oberstar’s Republican opponent this fall. An anonymous tip came in that I am checking out. Remember, the Eight CD GOP declared that their candidate this year had to remain unnamed this spring while he/she/it weighed the benefits of running. But we were told that this candidate…
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The Ventura watch
A reader heard Jesse Ventura on (N)PR today and tells me he sounds exactly like a candidate. I hate to be the one to say it, but he’s a legitimate threat to win this race. Fiscal conservative. Anti-war. Perpetually angry. It’s getting to be an angry year. It would play out like this. At first,…
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Another 7B update: Brandon Clokey plans serious challenge
Throughout the discussion of who will succeed Mike Jaros as District 7B representative, I’ve noted the fact that one person had announced their candidacy for the DFL nomination long before Jaros’s announced retirement. Brandon Clokey, a Duluth small businessman and political newcomer, announced his run for this office back in January. And today, his campaign…
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More on Reinert in House 7B race
I continue to monitor the House 7B race, which has become vastly more exciting after last month’s surprise retirement by longtime State Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth). Currently there are four DFLers and one Republican running, with the potential for more to jump in before the filing deadline of July 15. A source tells me that…
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The ‘Wall-E’ election
Frank Rich of the New York Times has a great column today about the Pixar movie “Wall-E” that effectively sums up my present opinion of the summer’s best movie and the state of the presidential election. Check out “Wall-E. “It’s a much more important movie than the previews would indicate. Related posts: No related posts.
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Derbis enters 7B race in West Duluth
The race for State Representative in West Duluth’s House District 7B keeps getting more interesting. John Derbis, a UM-Duluth student and longtime DFL activist, announced his candidacy today at the Boys and Girls Club in West Duluth. Durbis, 23, lives in West Duluth. His campaign presents this biography: (Derbis) … was born in Minneapolis and…
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Corrections to Franken parade post
Please note the corrections to the Al Franken Iron Range parade post from earlier in the day. My bad. Related posts: No related posts.