Gov. Mark Dayton is getting national attention for the way he handled what normally would have been a routine signing of an executive order authorizing Minnesota’s enrollment in a federal health care plan. He opened the press conference to the public and when protesters arrived he let them stay. Not only that, he let some…

Andrew Gelman at the well respected FiveThirtyEight political data blog recently explored the old saying “All Politics is Local.” This is often considered a veritable commandment in political circles, but Gelman offers a new take. Gelman’s bold-face conclusion is: “Politics is less local than it used to be.” To the degree this saying was true,…

I heard from a new blogger in Chisago County, Minnesota, running a site called Fiefdom Politics. She seems to focus on local and regional issues in the southern part of Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. I can’t promise I’ll do this every time I hear from someone but there are so few blogs focusing on northern…

Minnesota has retained its 8 Congressional seats after the release of today’s U.S. Census numbers. It was literally the last state “on the bubble” for losing a seat, just narrowly edging out Missouri. Minnesota gained population but not at the national average rate. Texas is the big winner, gaining four (!) seats, mostly in Hispanic…

John Lundy of the Duluth News Tribune had Sunday’s front page profile of incoming U.S. Rep-elect Chip Cravaack (R-MN8). Cravaack is an impressive political candidate who caught fire at the right time and managed to avoid almost all negatives during a first-time run against an 18-term incumbent. He’s known as a good neighbor down in…