Report on the State Central Committee meeting in Bloomington - April 16, 2011

The State Central Committee convened on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the Ramada Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. The primary purpose of the meeting was to hear reports from the MN GOP officers, to elect a State Chair, Deputy Chair and Secretary-Treasurer, as well as the election of a National Committeeman and National Committeewoman.

State Chair Tony Sutton appointed Linda Presthus as Credentials Committee Chair, Margaret Cavanaugh as Nominating Committee Chair, and Steve Perkins as Rules Committee Chair.

The rules committee had met on Wednesday, March 30, and the proposed rules were sent to all delegates and alternateson Friday, April 1.

The Nominating Committee met on the evening of Friday, April 15 to interview all candidates and bring their names forth to the convention floor.

The positions of State Chair, Deputy Chair and Secretary-Treasurer are somewhat self-explanatory. Incumbent State Chair Tony Sutten, Deputy Chair Michael Broadkorb and Secretary-Treasurer David Sturrock were re-elected.

There were many candidates for the positions of National Committeeman and National Committeewoman. But what does a Republican National Committeeman or Committeewoman do? This position serves two official roles: Represents the MN GOP on the Republican National Committee (RNC) and serves on the fourteen-member Minnesota Republic Party's Executive Committee. The RNC oversees administration of the national party, elects party leadership (including the Chairman of the RNC) and approves the RNC budget. The State party's executive committee oversees administration of the State Party, subject to decisions of the State Central Committee and the State Convention.

The specific duties of the Committeeman/woman are few -- but with an aggressive, activist Republican in this position, the potential impact is great for the State of MN.

Those running for National Committeeman and the final votes were:
Jeff Johnson = 186
Tom Emmer = 154
Phil Herwig = 2

Those running for National Committeewoman and the final votes were:
Pat Anderson = 180
Janet Beihoffer = 137
Mary Igo = 17
Pamela Punt = 6

Through-out the day, the delegates and alternates heard from MN and U.S. legislators. For the First 100 Days in the Minnesota House, the following actions were taken by House Republicans:

• Budget cuts income taxes and provides relief to all Minnesotans


• Stopping the tax and spend cycle and focuses the budget on where the problem lies ... state spending.


• Froze state employee salaries, will reduce the state employees 15% by 2015, will improve service and transform government for the 21st century


• Passed school choice, giving students stuck in chronically low-performing schools a chance for a quality education


• Reviewed "integration aid" programs and found money being wasted on kindness retreats, six-step hip-hop programs, art consultants and jobs such as "equity coach" and "newcomers teacher" paying upwards of $100,000 and by eliminating the wasteful program, saved more than $100 million


• Helped refocus education efforts on basic per-pupil funding that benefits all children throughout the state


• Passed legislation that will create a new teacher evaluation system based on student academic achievement and locally determined factors


• Replaced the teacher seniority-based retention process with a new evaluation system that will no longer punish new, innovative teachers in favor of length of service


• Repealed Governor Dayton's enrollment of Minnesota in ObamaCare and took powerful steps to protect our citizens from a government takeover of healthcare


• Passed the Health Care Freedom Act with tax deductions to individuals to purchase their health care, eliminate costly insurance coverage mandates, and allows Minnesotans to purchas health insurance products across state lines


• Supports and will legislate for Voter ID to ensure the integrity of MN elections


• Put the brakes on light rail expansion the state cannot afford to build or operate


• Made MN more business friendly by phasing out the statewide business property tax


• Cut the budget for constitutional officers and the legislature, cut the number of committees by 1/3, cut legislators' per diem and ended out-of-state travel reimbursements


• Eliminated state-funded Medical Assistance for legal "non-citizens"

It was an exciting meeting!

Report on the 9th Judicial District Convention - Bemidji, MN - April 9, 2011

Judicial District 9 consists of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, and Roseau.

The 9th Judicial District Convention was held in Bemidji, MN on April 9, 2011.

Chair Ron Niemala called the meeting to order at 10:00 am which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and an Invocation.

The Chair then appointed Convention Chairs, with Terry Stone as Rules Chair and Pat Ritter as Credentials Chair. He then appointed Shane B. (not sure of last name) as Parliamentarian and Darrell Carter as Sergeant-of-Arms.

The preliminary and final Credentials Report showed 21 delegates and nine alternates present. Eight of the alternates were seated, creating a voting strength of 29.

The Convention Rules were adopted, and the general meeting proceeded with reports from the Secretary, Treasurer, Deputy Chair and Chair.

The following officers (all incumbents) were then elected:
Ron Niemala as Chair
Terry Stone as Deputy Chair
Grace Shook as Secretary
Paul Ritter as Treasurer

A discussion ensued concerning issues that need to be addressed by the MN legislature. all of the Judiciary changes proposed are currently within the MN GOP Party Platform. Some of the talking points were as follows:

The Judiciary, at this juncture of time, is only accountable to itself. The MN Constitution gives specific oversight to the legislative branch of government to oversee the judiciary. These changes are also about the "checks and balances" in government and the making of each branch of government "equal" rather than one branch more powerful than another.

The judiciary writes its' ow rules (cannons) and self-policies itself. This is essentially the "fox watching the hen house." To maintain a check on the judiciary, it is necessary that the legislative branch of government "oversee" and "keep in check" a judiciary run wild. It is for this reason that we have opposed the following changes to how the judiciary operates, elects and funds its operations. There exists a "de-facto" bias and retaliation within the judiciary whenever a challenge is made at the seat of a sitting "incumbent" judge by a challenger. Retaliations comes in the form of courtroom discrimination against the attorney who chose to challenge the judge on the bench. Impartiality is out the door. The judiciary has, due to retirements and appointments, effectively created a system whereby judges choose their successors, without having to stand for election, by retiring early and having the Governor appoint a replacement, thus avoiding an election. This is a violation of the constitutional rights of the voters of the State of Minnesota, failing to have judges elected rather than appointed.

We need the following to be done:
A. Remove the word "incumbent" from all judicial ballots.
B. Provide that each District Judge stand for election only in the county that he or she serves.
C. Enact a statutory code of ethics for judges and lawyers and an independent board to administer it in order to removed this conflict of interest from the Supreme Court of Minnesota.
D. Require that the Governor fills judicial vacancies with people who will serve out the remaining term of the office and then stand for election.

For more than six years we have endeavored to set a framework that would set in place a "guarantee" that the voters of Minnesota would always have the "right" to vote on judges going into office, not just as retention elections. The opportunity to effectively accomplish this is here NOW. If we wait, will there arise another opportunity to pass such all-important legislation? Do we want to allow the judiciary to continue to ignore the State Constitution and the rights of the people in the manner that it operates from the bench and within the confines of chambers? The time is now to put into place "oversight" of the Judicial Branch of government that the legislature has abrogated for too long.

There are bills that are being introduced in the House and Senate to address these issues. Stay informed and support our Republican representatives who are working to right thing wrong.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 am.

Report on the 7th CD Convention - Redwood Falls, MN - March 18 and 19, 2011

The 7th Congressional District Republican Party held their 2011 Convention in Redwood Fall, MN on March 19, 2011.

7 CD covers the western portion of Minnesota and includes the following counties: Kittson, Roseau, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Beltrami, Polk, Pennington, Red Lake, Norman, Mahnomen, Clearwater, Clay, Becker, Wilkin, Otter tail, Traverse, Grant, Douglas, Todd, Big Stone, Stevens, Pope, part of Stearns, Lac Qui Parle, Swift, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Chippewa, Yellow Medicine, Renville, McLeod, Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood and Sibley.

The 2008-2010 7th CD Executive Committee were: Craig Bishop, Chairman; Betty Staebler, Deputy Chairwoman; John Nething, Treasurer; Doug Lindgren, State Executive Committee Vice Chairman; Mike Lokken, Secretary; and Vice-Chairs Ray Rivera, Don Hoversten, Marv Kading, Arles Kumpula, Brian Kohout, and Scott Dutcher.

The night before the convention, a banquet was held at the Redwood Falls Community Center and was well attended. The dinner was catered by Morgan's from Redwood Falls and was delicious.

Former United States Senator Rudolph Ely "Rudy" Boschwitz was a speaker. Boschwitz served in the United States Senate from December 1978 to January 1991, but was then defeated by Paul Wellstone.

To everyone's delight that evening, Boschwitz regaled the attendees with humerous stories about President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the U.S.S.R. .

The keynote speaker during the banquet was former MN House Minority Leader Marty Seifert.

The next day at the convention in the Community Center, there were 264 Delegates/Alternates allotted with 194 actually seated which created a quorum. Marijo Vik was the delegate from Norman County and was in attendance.

The call to order came at 9:00 a.m., followed by an invocation, the posting of the colors, Pledge of Allegiance led by Betty Staebler and singing of the National Athem led by the Baumann Brothers.

Gary Revier, Mayor of Redwood Falls, welcomed everyone to Redwood Falls for the convention.

The convention call was read, with Chris Swedzinski (MN House of Representatives who represents District 21A) and Paul Torkelson (MN House of Representatives representing District 21B) elected as Convention Chairs. The following appointments were then made: David Nething, Sergeant at Arms and Chief Teller; Leonard Runck, Parliamentarian; and Raymond Rivera, Secretary.

Tony Sutton, Republican Party Chairman, addressed the delegates. Throughout the morning, various candidates for the 7th CD Executive Committee as well as for the Republican National Committeeman and Committeewoman addressed the convention, asking for their votes.

The Treasurer presented his report for the period from January 1 through December 31, 2010 which showed a beginning balance of $10,455.52, Total Income of $22,985.15, Total Expenses of $33,138.99 which left an Ending Balance of $301.68

Four proposed Seventh Congressional District Constitutional Amendments were considered: # 2011-01 adding a Preamble - passed after debate and several changes; #2011 - 02 concerning Article X - Consitution and Bylaws Committee members - passed without changes; # 2011-03 Article VIII - State Central Delegates - failed to make it to the floor; #2011-04 regarding Article V - added wording on Senate District vacancies - failed to make it to the floor.

Election of 7th Congressional District Officers took place in the afternoon.

• Chair: Incumbent Craig Bishop and Pete Balega. Bishop won with 118 votes.
• Deputy Chair: Incumbent Betty Staebler and Barb Chervestad. Chervestad won with 127 votes.
• Treasurer: John Nething ran unopposed.
• Secretary: Mike Lokken ran unopposed.
• State Executive Committee Vice Chairman: Doug Lindgren ran unopposed
• Vice Chairs: (Eight people running for six positions)

The convention was adjourned at 3:15 pm.

2011 7th Congressional District Convention

As announced by Craig Bishop, Chair of the Seventh Congressional District Republican Party, the 2011 7th CD Convention will be held on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Redwood Area Community Center, 901 East Cook Street, Redwood Falls, MN.

The 7th CD Convention shall be composed of the Delegates and Alternates elected at the 2010 BPOU Conventions designated as lying within the boundaries of the Seventh Congressional District.

The Convention shall be held for the purpose of:
1) Election of Seventh Congressional District Officers
2) Consideration of changes to the Seventh Congressional District Constitution and Bylaws.
3) Any other item that might properly come before this convention.

Anyone running for an Executive Officer position must appear before the nominating Committee, which meets Friday night. Call Rollie Nissen at 320-894-5112 or Scott Dutcher at 320-524-2094 for more information.

Special guest Marty Seifert will speak at the Friday evening banquet.

Registration will open at 8:00 a.m., one hour prior to the start of the convention on Saturday, and will close at 9:30 a.m. You can check http://www.mncd7gop.com/ for more information or contact Registration Chair, Barb Kranz, at 23887 471st Avenue, Gaylord, MN 55334.

Chair Craig Bishop can be reached at 320-582-0138.

2011 Norman County Republican Convention

The Norman County Basic Political Organization Unit (BPOU) of the Minnesota Republican Party held their 2011 Convention in Ada, MN on February 26, 2011. The convention was held in the meeting room of the Law Endorcement Center annex to the Norman County courthouse at 1:30 pm.

Chairman Arlen Sillerud opened the meeting with brief remarks and the Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Dave Ingraham gave the invocation.

The featured speaker was Juanita Rasmussen, Norman County Crime Victim Advocate, who presented "The Future of Our Children in Norman County." Rasmussen told the delegates and alternate delegates present about bullying in our schools and programs that make everyone of aware of what bullying is and how to combat it. The other topic of discussion was prescription drug abuse, which is now the number one "drug of choice." Rasmussen urged everyone to talk to their lawmakers about support of drug center programs, mental health options for youth and the need to keep school counselors. When making cuts, the legislators should keep the "bigger picture" in mind.

Craig Bishop, Chairman of MN Congressional District 7 of the Republican Party, addressed the group and offered any help he could provide the our BPOU. He also asked for everyone's vote during upcoming elections on March 19

The convention voted to dispense with the reading of the convention call, as well as the 2010 convention minutes.

Marijo Vik, delegate from Hegne township, was elected as temporary chair. The current secretary, Myron Moteberg, was elected as temporary secretary. The chair appointed Arlen Sillerud as Parliamentarian, as well as Duane Hoven and Nathan Redland as Tellers.

For the Credential Report, Sillerud declared that a quorum was present.

Treasurer Hoven reported on the BPOU finances, with a current balance in checking of $537.18.

Election of Officers followed with Marijo Vik selected as Chair, Nathan Redland as Vice-Chair and Duane Hoven as Treasurer. No Secretary was selected but the Executive Board was given the task of appointing a Secretary.

Marijo Vik was elected as State Central Delegate with Richard Hamre chosen as Alternate Delegate.

Upcoming conventions include the 7th Distriction Convention schedule for March 18 and 19, 2011 in Redwood Falls, MN and the State Central Convention scheduled for April 19, 2011 (site to be announced.)

The BPOU wishes to thank Arlen Sillerud and Myron Moteberg for their years of service, hard work and support of the MN Republicans and wish them well.

Thanks also to the new officers, delegates and alternates for your continued support.