Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Bates, Mann win at-large school board primary.
While Minneapolitans were relatively lackadaisical in their voting habits this primary election—total numbers of voters dropped by about 30 percent from the 2008 elections by Patch's count—one part of a precinct in Southwest Minneapolis registered precisely zero votes in Tuesday's balloting. Of course, such an outcome might be expected—fishes and lake creatures can't vote. Ward 10, Precinct 3B is entirely made up of the eastern waters of Lake Calhoun, plus a tiny snippet of parkland adjoining the lake. Elsewhere in the city, though, real news was happening. Over 24,000 people showed up to vote, pushing at-large school board candidates Carla Bates and Doug Mann over the line and into the running for the November election. Because school …
Incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison is up against two fellow DFLers Tuesday.
Minnesotans will be hitting the polls Tuesday to help narrow the field of local and state candidates before November's general election. That's right. Tuesday, Aug. 14 is Minnesota Primary Day. And among the names on the ballot will be those vying for Congressman Keith Ellison's (D-MN) U.S. House of Representatives seat. Ellison is up against fellow DFLers Gary Boisclair and Gregg Iverson, while Chris Fields is the lone Republican candidate. There are no Independence Party candidates. Voters will be asked to select one candidate in total from either the DFL or Republican parties. The candidate with the most votes within his party will move on to the general election ballot in November. Patch sent out a questionnaire to each candidate and …
Monday, August 13, 2012
TV advertisements for some 5th District challengers brought controversy to already heated topics, like abortion.
Rep. Keith Ellison, and his challengers Gary Boisclair and Chris Fields hit the airwaves this week, airing TV ads and answering interview questions to distinguish themselves in the congressional race. On Aug. 9, Ellison sat down with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. On Ellison's Facebook page, he wrote: Repped the 5th District on The Colbert Report last night. Talked anti-Muslim witch hunts, my chances of being Mitt Romney’s running mate, and whether or not Minneapolis is in the United States. Two days earlier, Boisclair, Ellison's competitor, aired TV advertisements that gained attention for their graphic depictions of abortion. On Aug. 7, Boisclair said on Facebook: Maybe I shouldn't show theses tv ads...after all, its ludicrous to …
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Opponents accuse Gary Boisclair of running for office to take advantage of rules that require stations to carry candidate ads—however disturbing the imagery.
A candidate mounting a primary challenge against 5th District Rep. Keith Ellison has begun running controversial television ads with graphic images of dead children and purported aborted fetuses. Patch reported in November that Gary Boisclair had released an anti-Islam ad. That ad was followed in December by an anti-abortion ad. No television station aired the ads at the time, but the Tea Party supporter looked forward to seeing them on TV during the 45-day period before the primary when rules require stations to carry candidate ads—however disturbing the imagery. The candidate saw his plan fulfilled this week. Boisclair is running in the DFL primary on a traditionally conservative platform. The Minnesota Independent accuses him of …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Boisclair is challenging fellow Democrat and incumbent Rep. Keith Ellison.
Name : Mr. Gary E. Boisclair Age : 44 Place of residence : Purgitsville, West Virginia Attended college : Yes College : University of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, MN Degree : B.A. Philosophy, B.A. French Year of graduation : 1991 University : University of St. Thomas Aquinas Degree : Education Year of graduation : 1998 Job titles held : Furniture Sales/Delivery, Restaurant Manager, Interior/Exterior Painter, Grade 3 Teacher, General, Grade 7 & 8 Teacher, Math, Religion, Pro-Life Lobbyist, Missionary. Employers :Casual Living, Edina; Country Kitchen, Buffalo, MN; Merriam Park Painters, St. Paul; Heritage Painting, St. Paul; Normandale French Immersion Elementary, Edina; Our Savior Lutheran School, Honolulu, HI; Maryknoll School, Honolulu, …
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Fields is lone Republican; Boisclair and Iverson set up DFL primary.
Three men filed by Tuesday's deadline to challenge U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who represents Minnesota's Fifth District in Congress. Chris Fields is the lone Republican candidate. He won the endorsement at the Fifth District GOP convention over Lynne Torgerson, who after lambasting "Ron Paul libertarians" at the convention announced that she would end her campaign. Michael Katch, who had earlier indicated he was a Republican candidate, did not file. On the DFL side, Gary Boisclair and Gregg A. Iverson joined Ellison in filing as candidates. Boisclair, who has posted graphic campaign ads online, listed a West Virginia address as his residence, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State website. Ellison, Fields and Iverson all listed …
Monday, January 2, 2012
The Muslim congressman allowed a journalist to follow him for a day.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to serve in the U.S. House, was featured in CNN's "My Faith" 2011 Year in Review last week. In September, CNN journalist Chris Welch followed Ellison for a day, documenting how the representative practices his faith. Ellison said he doesn't see his faith as something that makes his job harder, but rather just an aspect of who he is: “Faith really should be a bridge, not a wall," Ellison told CNN. "Because at the end of the day we should be focusing on what you believe, not what your religion is.” Ellison Praises Education Funding Also last week, Rep. Ellison congratulated the state for receiving substantial federal education funding, which included a "Race to the Top" grant. In a …
Friday, December 30, 2011
The ad shows images of aborted babies.
(WARNING: The video above contains graphic images.) *** Fifth District DFL challenger Gary Boisclair is back with another graphic ad—this time targeting Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-MN) views on abortion. Boisclair is running in the DFL primary on a traditionally conservative platform. Some accuse him of launching the primary to exploit a loophole that allows the airing of graphic anti-abortion ads. Boisclair, himself, concedes “that’s one of the one of the sub-goals of the mission.” Ironically, the ad begins with Boisclair saying, “This is beautiful, beautiful beyond words,” as photos of mothers and babies flash onto the screen. The ad then segues to photos of aborted babies. “This is ugly, ugly beyond description,” he says. “Who would do this…
Monday, November 28, 2011
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction folded last week.
After it was announced last week that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—a congressional super committee constructed to address the nation's budgetary problems—was no more, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) joined other Minnesota politicians in criticizing the committee's shortcomings. Ellison was most critical of the committee's lack of focus on jobs. In a joint statement released with Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus with Ellison, the Minnesota representative said: "After manufacturing this crisis over the summer, Republicans insisted on protecting tax giveaways for millionaires and billionaires and eliminating the Medicare guarantee. Republicans seem more committed to protecting the one …
Monday, November 14, 2011
The 5th District rep and his DFL challenger faced tough video reviews.
Disputed Figures on Income Inequality Minnesota Public Radio said U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN) was only half-right when he cited statistics about income disparities during a widely-viewed YouTube Town Hall video last week. Ellison contrasted rising income for the top 1 percent of earners with flat growth for the bottom 90 percent. MPR PoliGraph fact-checkers said Ellison's breakdown masked income growth for some within the bottom 90 percent. But a commenter disputed MPR's analysis, saying that fact-checkers were confusing individual and household income statistics. In a week's time, Ellison's video registered more than 380,000 views on YouTube. Ellison Speaks on LGBT People, Jobs and Veterans Ellison made several public appearances …
Mike E
12:32 am on Thursday, August 23, 2012
FYI, a bit of research would show that ward 10-3B does not even have a polling location. more ›