Congressional Candidate Forum

The People's Press has coverage of last night's CD1 forum, and there will be a more in-depth story (and video) to follow. 

The forum and the fundraiser were a success thanks to all who volunteered to help out.

Steele GOP to host fundraiser and forum

On Tuesday, April 13th, at 6:30 you can come meet the GOP hopefuls for the 1st Congressional District in a small group setting.  'Congress A La Mode' will be a fundraiser for the Steele County GOP and your chance to meet the candidates in person and see who they are and what they stand for.  The requested donation is $5, which includes an ice cream social.

At 7:30, there will be a candidate forum, where questions on the issues of the day will be asked of each candidate.  Some questions have been set in advance, and some will be submitted by the audience.  The candidate forum is free and open to the public, but will be limited to the first 100 people.

Both events will be held on the second floor of the Four Seasons Building in Owatonna, map here .

With the endorsement up for grabs this Saturday at the district convention, this may be your last chance to see the candidates before the endorsed candidate is elected.

Steele County votes for Emmer

Results for the gubernatorial straw poll

Emmer 50
Seifert 45
Hann 11
Haas 2
Herwig, Davis and Carney 0

Blank ballots or none of the above votes 5

Mike Parry wins!

Republican Mike Parry has won the special election to replace retiring Sen Dick Day in SD 26.  Despite a tough three way race, Parry garnered a won by a higher margin (13%) than the last election (Day by 9%).  This shows that despite popular rhetoric, Steele County is not turning blue.

Congratulations, Mike!

Governor Pawlenty to visit Owatonna

As Mike Parry said at the last candidate forum, the number one thing he hears from people in SD 26 is jobs, jobs, jobs.  Mike will join the governor to hear directly from local business owners and leaders Wednesday night.

Michele Bachmann endorses Mike Parry

From Minnpost-

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has endorsed Republican state Senate candidate Mike Parry in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Dick Day.

Said Bachmann:

“Mike is a strong fiscal conservative who will be a powerful voice for lower taxes, limited government and economic opportunity in St. Paul. As a small business owner, Mike understands the need to set priorities and hold government accountable for results. The people of Waseca, Steele and Rice counties will be well served by this steadfast champion of conservative values who will stand up to the big spending, big taxing liberals in the legislature.”

Come meet Tom Emmer

Tom Emmer, candidate for governor, will be visiting Waseca and Owatonna on Monday, the 18th.  Come on out and meet Tom and ask him what he thinks about the issues facing Minnesota.  Tom will be at;

Waseca Godfathers Pizza from 4:00 to 5:30 and

Owatonna Torey's Restruant from 6:00 to 7:00

Afterwords, Tom will hopefully be stopping by the Steele County GOP meeting, which is at 7pm at the Farm Bureau Office in Owatonna.  All Republicans are welcome to attend this meeting.

Conservative Coffee

9:20 Fireside Coffee is busy this morning!  1CD Congressional candidate Jim Hagedorn is here talking with local conservatives, and Secretary of State candidate Dan Severson just showed up as well.

10:01 Dan Severson says there is no reason we should call an election certified until all the military votes are counted.  I agree completely!

Mike Parry TV ad

Here is the ad playing on local TV for Mike, if you are like me and have satellite than you need to watch it here.

Mike Parry meet and greet

Update-here is the link to the People's Press story about the meet and greet, and you can watch video of the event here.

8:25 I'm at Central park Coffee in Owatonna, getting set up for a practice run at live blogging.

8:35 Mike Parry is here and talking with local residents

8:41 question from the audience, 'doesn't a 15% reduction in state spending mean payroll cuts?'  Mike says yes, and that will be the hard part of cutting

8:44 comment from the audience 'my son's company is mandating 30% pay reductions for everyone, why don't government employees have to do the same?

8:46 Mike says we need to pay based on performance, that is how he has been successful as a businessman and that needs to be brought into government


8:49 Claire Kennedy from the People's Press is here with camera and video camera, so I will link to the story and video from their site when it is available

8:53 question from the audience, 'do you support Dick's idea to bring in Racino?'  answer from Mike- ' I'm all in favor of it!  We have Diamond Joe Casino in northern Iowa getting Minnesota residents and Minnesota tax dollars to come across the border'

8:55 comment about the clean water legacy act, Mike responds 'that bill cost us an employee.  I own a Godfather's Pizza, and that additional tax meant that we had to back off on one employee to keep our prices from going up'

9:01 Mike comments about the ongoing school teachers negotiations in Faribault, and how the kids will be penalized if the school district doesn't agree to terms quickly.  Comment from the audience that the law says school districts lose money if negotiations go too long, but 'why don't unions get a penalty at all?'

Mike Parry for Senate

Here is a collection of the news coverage of Mike Parry, the endorsed candidate for the special election in SD 26 to replace Sen Dick Day.

Waseca County News

Faribault Daily News

StarTribune

WCCO

Republican Party of Minnesota on Facebook

And of course you need to check out Mike's campaign website.  Volunteers and donations are needed to keep SD 26 in conservative hands.  Door knocking, literature drops and phone calling are being done daily, so if you can donate some tie or money, both would be greatly appreciated.