Benjamin Kruse

Oct 3, 2012

Business PACs spend to defend GOP frosh

The campaign finance reports released last week show that political action committees large and small have been funneling lots of money into legislative races.

Sep 19, 2012

Both parties eye pickups in District 36 contest

Over the past decade, Senate District 47 — stretching around north metro area cities like Champlin, Coon Rapids and Brooklyn Park — has been a place where moderate Democrats could prosper despite the district’s slight GOP tilt.

Apr 6, 2012

Senate racino push at apparent dead end

The perennial bill to install slots in the state’s two racetracks was yanked from its first hearing in the Senate Education Committee amid fear that the committee’s conservative members would kill it early in the session.

Mar 7, 2012

Right-to-work schism dominates GOP amendment debate

For Republican Sen. Dave Thompson, time is running short. The freshman from Lakeville has spent the last six months readying a ballot initiative that would enshrine so-called “right-to-work” language in the state’s Constitution.

Feb 13, 2012

Kruse, O’Driscoll introduce school trust overhaul

A bipartisan group of state legislators announced legislation that would remove the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from its role in managing school trust lands. The move reflects simmering disappointment with the amount of money the agency is generating from timber and mining operations on the lands.

Jan 19, 2012

GOP eyes constitutional amendment on state spending in 2012

By most accounts, a constitutional amendment to make it harder to raise taxes was a key sweetener offered by House Republican leaders last summer in their efforts to entice the chamber’s most conservative members into voting for the budget deal that ended Minnesota’s historic government shutdown.

Oct 28, 2011

Kelly, Kriesel take big risk in amendment battle

It was bound to happen. Last week, for the first time, Republican Rep. Tim Kelly found himself confronted by a constituent angry about his vote against the GOP-backed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Minnesota.

Oct 26, 2011

‘The Late Debate with Jack and Ben’ attracts a small but loyal audience of Capitol conservatives

“The Late Debate with Jack and Ben” got off to an inauspicious start. At the beginning of the debut broadcast in April, one of the microphones didn’t work for the initial eight minutes. The first words uttered over the air were, “Do you hear me?”

Nov 23, 2010

Meet the freshmen: Senate GOP, part II

As the Minnesota Legislature prepares for a transition that will see 60 freshmen join the rolls of the state Senate and House, PIM continues with our series of post-election portraits of the 2011 class. In this latest edition, we look at seven more members of the incoming Senate Republican majority.

Oct 8, 2010

Republicans believe they have a chance to defeat incumbent Foley

Prior to the 2004 election cycle, Sen. Leo Foley was the only DFLer representing Senate District 47. But that year Democrats took over both House seats, and they have been able to keep hold of all three posts in the suburban district ever since.

Aug 20, 2010

More committee shakeups in Senate?

Chaudhary's primary loss made him the body's fifth departing chair

Jun 2, 2010

IP sees chance at legislative inroads

As Minnesota’s Republican Party was giddily tweeting the news that the party had fielded candidates for all 201 seats in the state Legislature for the first time in 30 years, the Independence Party of Minnesota was quietly celebrating its own milestone: 16 candidates for the Legislature in 2010, seven in Senate districts and nine in House districts.