Al Quie

Nov 5, 2014

The moderates won on Tuesday

Of those who show up at the polls, swing voters, not the party base, determine elections in our new political system.

Jul 8, 2014

The Capitol Note: Frantic House race spawns legal challenges, more allegations of violence

The legal challenges and allegations in the race between Rep. Phyllis Kahn and her primary challenger, Mohamud Noor, have reached new heights in the feverish race for Minneapolis' House District 60B.

Jul 7, 2014

Former Gov. Quie bucks party, endorses Abeler and Seifert

Former Republican Gov. Al Quie, in a very Al Quie move, has now thrown his weight between two candidates running primary elections against the GOP's endorsed candidates in statewide races.

Jun 26, 2014

The Capitol Note: Both parties expect bump from Obama visit

Well, the national midterm election and state and local elections were held on Tuesday and the moderates among the people won. The media take on the results, however, is that ...

Nov 8, 2013

Judicial retention bill faces uncertain future

The 2014 legislative session could set the stage for a high-profile battle over how Minnesota picks its judges. A broad coalition is renewing a push to pass a ballot initiative that would move the state to a judicial retention election system.

May 13, 2011

Elements of 2005 shutdown present in this year’s standoff

Six years ago GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature deadlocked over a $466 million budget deficit. The DFL-controlled Senate wanted to raise nearly $1 billion by increasing income taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. Pawlenty dismissed the move as “profoundly stupid.”

May 6, 2011

House passes GOP caucus map, but history says courts will ultimately draw the lines

Tempers flared and debates grew heated around the Capitol over the past week as Republicans in the House put their controversial legislative redistricting map on the table. The map carves up a new political landscape that pits 26 incumbents against one another - 20 in the House and six in the Senate - and all but one of the matchups put a DFLer, or two, in peril.

Dec 17, 2010

Teachers union may get schooled

A ferocious pushback by Education Minnesota cast the 70,000-member statewide teacher's union in the role of session bogeyman. The union and its head, Tom Dooher, fought the bill to a standstill in the end; it lost by a tight 68-65 margin in the House, and did not reach the floor in the Senate.

Dec 8, 2010

Horner ponders his future

Tom Horner took a bigger risk than most when he embarked on his run for governor of Minnesota. The former Republican pundit and strategist turned Independence Party candidate alienated many of his old political allies when he switched party affiliation to challenge to GOP candidate Tom Emmer and DFLer Mark Dayton.

Dec 7, 2010

Horner: GOP ban shows party polarization

Tom Horner alienated many of his old political allies in the Republican Party when he switched to the Independence Party to run for the governor's office. His estrangement from the Republican Party was made even clearer over the weekend, when GOP delegates voted for a ban on 18 high-profile Republicans who supported him. Horner says move reflects a party that is polarized and extreme.

Dec 6, 2010

MN GOP bans 18 Republicans who supported Horner

On a 59 to 55 vote, delegates at the Republican Party State Central Committee Saturday approved a 2-year party ban on 18 prominent Republicans who publicly supported Horner in the election. The vote stops the Republicans from being delegates or attending the Republican National Convention.

Oct 27, 2010

Quie backs Demmer in CD 1 race

Former Republican governors Al Quie and Arne Carlson both agree that they want Independence Party candidate Tom Horner in the governor's office next year, but they don't see eye-to-eye on who should sit in Congress represnting southern Minnesota.