Minnesota Lawyer

Minnesota's 5th District representative handily wins elections, but his views are frequently out of sync with the chattering class inside the Beltway where he is often tolerated as a curiosity.

Many who keep a scorecard on partisan battles regard Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to be a left-wing firebrand. Be it his presiding over an election recount that flipped the result from Republican incumbent Norm Coleman to DFL challenger Al Franken, or his outspoken and combative opposition to the proposed voter ID amendment, Ritchie is regarded as public enemy No. 1 by a hefty segment of Minnesota Republicans.

When Larry Pogemiller was Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate between 2007 and 2011, he had a competent staff and the resources of state government at his disposal. But on a semi-regular basis, Pogemiller would make a phone call or have a hallway conversation with a numbers-crunching independent consultant named Jeff Van Wychen.

What’s the problem? That’s what Tom Baumann was searching for on his visits to various agencies and units of government. But getting the kind of specific, helpful feedback necessary to answer that question usually required him to offer up situational prompts and examples.

Linda Berglin was not ready to rest on her laurels. By 2011, she had logged 38 years in the Minnesota Legislature, a time spent wielding her formidable knowledge of state budgets on behalf of poor and working people.

In football, you ride in a parade to celebrate your victory. In politics, you clamber on to the flatbed of that trussed-up truck over and over again and wave to the people as part of a ritual for trying to attain victory.

It’s hard to put a price tag on an unfinished product. That’s the dilemma facing Minnesota taxpayers interested in knowing how much the voter ID amendment to the state constitution will cost before they cast their ballot on the matter this November.

Through the years, Linda Berglin may have taken on the look of an aunt who gives you a peck on the cheek at family reunions, but if you got in her way, you discovered that she legislated like a linebacker — and one who kept coming at you with the stamina of a marathon runner.

Many people who encounter first-term state Sen. John Harrington outside the Capitol still call him Chief, the title he held in the St. Paul Police Department from 2004 to 2010, capping his 33-year tenure on the force.

Forgive the mafia reference, but the best descriptor of the role attorney David Lillehaug currently plays in the Minnesota DFL Party is consigliere — a highly trusted adviser, wizened counselor and brass-tacks troubleshooter for those at the levers of power within the organization.