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The 2012 election season is heating up and Patch is bringing you coverage of the candidates and issues for local, state and U.S. races.Like us on Facebook | Get our newsletter | Follow us on Twitter | Start a blog In case you missed recent candidate forums, you can see what the candidates said online and on cable rebroadcasts. SCHOOL DISTRICT 196 FORUM Editor’s Note: The following information is from the District 196 website. Candidates for Minnesota Senate Districts 51 and 57 and House of Representatives Districts 51A, 51B, 57A and 57B participated in a candidate forum on education Oct. 9 at Black Hawk Middle School. The forum was cosponsored by the District 196 Special Education Advisory Council and Early Childhood Family …
Like us on Facebook | Get our newsletter | Follow us on Twitter | Start a blog At 8 p.m. Oct. 3, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will square off at the University of Denver for the first presidential debate of the season. Domestic policy is the topic of the evening. Moderator Jim Lehrer, executive director of PBS News Hour, will oversee six 15-minute segments—the first three segments focusing on the economy and the last three focusing on health care, the role of government and governing. Throughout the debate, Patch will be moderating a live blog where users can share their thoughts in…
More than two-thirds of influential Republicans from around the Twin Cities Patch areas believe Mitt Romney can pull off an upset win in Minnesota in 2012. First, the survey shows, the presumed nominee has to reach out to Ron Paul Republicans. Ninety-six conservatives from Twin Cities Patch areas—from St. Michael to Woodbury, Fridley to Northfield—were surveyed last week in Patch’s inaugural Twin Cities Red poll, which focused on November’s biggest race. Forty responses were collected. When asked if they felt Mitt Romney could pick up a win over President Barack Obama in the fall, two-thirds …
Editor's Note: Prof. Dale Carpenter sent in this note in response to a poll and discussion on Patch about Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's choice of a title for a constitution amendment on the 2012 ballot that would ban same-sex marriage. One thing the news outlets have been missing is that it's actually the legal responsibility of the secretary of state, not the legislature, to determine the ballot title. That has been the case since 1919, when the Secretary of State was given authority to choose an "appropriate title" for amendments passed by the legislature. The idea is that the…
Late last week, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced the title that will introduce the same-sex marriage amendment on the November ballot. He chose the words, "Limiting the status of marriage to opposite sex couples." According to the Star Tribune, amendment supporters wanted the title, "Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman." Chuck Darrell, a spokesman for Minnesota for Marriage, the amendment proponents, told the Star Tribune that Ritchie's language choice "is a perfect example of why we need the marriage amendment—you can't trust politicians to allow the law. …
It was all over in the span of 30 seconds. Sam Richards, 20, was one of at least two protesters at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's rally in Eagan on Wednesday. He watched as fellow protester Nick Espinosa dumped glitter on Romney at the beginning of the speech and was hauled out by security. And then it was his turn. "My nerves went away, I did it, and then I was being dragged out," said Richards, who identified himself as an Occupy Minnesota protester. "It was all said and done in 30 seconds." Richards was the second of two protesters to hit Romney with a "glitter bomb"—a …
Speaking from Freightmasters in Eagan on Wednesday, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney targeted President Obama and the economy in a 15-minute speech. Romney is fresh off his victory in the Florida primary, where he dealt a decisive blow to fellow Republican presidential rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Romney took 46 percent of the primary votes, compared with 32 percent for Gingrich and 13 percent for Santorum. Ron Paul took 7 percent of the vote. The energy and momentum Romney gained in Florida was apparent on Wednesday in Eagan, where a handful of political insiders, …
