January 13, 2010Minnesota State Capitol
By Marty Owings
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the current Speaker of the House and a DFL Candidate for Governor has been fined $9000 by the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board for violations it says intentionally skirted regulations.
Kelliher, through her campaign, directed contributions to the state party, money which was then used to purchase a voter database and that is what brought the fine. The state DFL committee was also fined $15,000 for its role in the violation.
Kelliher issued a statement that said in part, "Our campaign accepts the board's findings. I have made certain that our campaign has systems in place that make sure no mistake like this will happen again." Kelliher's statement falls short of admitting that her campaign violated the law and Brian Melendez, the DFL Party Chairman, characterized it as an "inadvertent error."
I sought comment for this story from Speaker Kelliher, but had not heard back from her or her representatives as of publication. More to come on this story.
In other Capitol news, speculation continues to swirl around Norm Coleman and whether he will enter the race for Governor. A few people, such as Sarah Janecek at Politics in Minneota have speculated that Coleman will likely enter the race and that Laura Brod would be his running mate. A few insiders, who wished to remain anonymous, say the stronger bet for Coleman's running mate might be State Representative and current gubenatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Emmer has made a strong showing in polling and connects well with the GOP base. That would likely leave current GOP gubenatorial front-runner Marty Seifert out.
Seifert recently transfered $20,000 from his House campaign fund to his Gubenatorial campaign, a move which is perfectly legal according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. However, if Seifert leaves the Governor's race he can only return $5000 to his state House campaign, if he decides to keep his seat. There's a lot at stake for Seifert, because he's already committed to abiding by the GOP endorsement process and he gave up his role as House Minority leader when he announced his run.
Radio Free Nation 2010 - All Rights Reserved.
Kelliher issued a statement that said in part, "Our campaign accepts the board's findings. I have made certain that our campaign has systems in place that make sure no mistake like this will happen again." Kelliher's statement falls short of admitting that her campaign violated the law and Brian Melendez, the DFL Party Chairman, characterized it as an "inadvertent error."
I sought comment for this story from Speaker Kelliher, but had not heard back from her or her representatives as of publication. More to come on this story.
In other Capitol news, speculation continues to swirl around Norm Coleman and whether he will enter the race for Governor. A few people, such as Sarah Janecek at Politics in Minneota have speculated that Coleman will likely enter the race and that Laura Brod would be his running mate. A few insiders, who wished to remain anonymous, say the stronger bet for Coleman's running mate might be State Representative and current gubenatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Emmer has made a strong showing in polling and connects well with the GOP base. That would likely leave current GOP gubenatorial front-runner Marty Seifert out.
Seifert recently transfered $20,000 from his House campaign fund to his Gubenatorial campaign, a move which is perfectly legal according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. However, if Seifert leaves the Governor's race he can only return $5000 to his state House campaign, if he decides to keep his seat. There's a lot at stake for Seifert, because he's already committed to abiding by the GOP endorsement process and he gave up his role as House Minority leader when he announced his run.
Radio Free Nation 2010 - All Rights Reserved.
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