Candidate Kendall Qualls Outraises Incumbent Dean Phillips, Again

Republican candidate for MN’s 3rd Congressional District Kendall Qualls has outraised incumbent Dean Phillips (DFL-MN-03) once again. According to the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) July pre-primary reports released last Thursday, Qualls accumulated significantly more campaign contributions and cash-on-hand than Phillips.

In total, Qualls raised over $106,000 more than Phillips, and has about $68,000 more cash-on-hand. Representative Phillips’s $250,000 debt from his previous campaign was also listed on the report.

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Minnesota Gov. Walz Says Republicans and Business Leaders Will Beg Him for a Gas Tax Next Year

  Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he expects businesses and Republican legislators to suggest a gas tax to him next year. The governor, a member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, made the remarks Friday during an interview with Mary Lahammer on Twin Cities Public TV. The Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus provided a video clip here. Hard pass. Again. ✋ pic.twitter.com/SU0QHuNGR2 — Minnesota Senate Republicans (@mnsrc) June 1, 2019 Walz said, ”I fully expect that the business community and Republicans legislators will suggest it to me.” The full interview is available here. (The gas tax discussion starts around 12 minutes and 6 seconds.) He said his proposal is not ideological but about needs. “That’s what the engineers tell us we need,” he said. It was obvious to him during negotiations that “Republicans weren’t going to do a single penny,” he said. When asked if he would revisit the tax next year, Walz made the remark about  opponents coming to him. The reaction was overwhelmingly skeptical on the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus’ Facebook video post here. In February, Center of the American Experiment criticized Walz’ planned tax hike of 20 cents per gallon of gas. So, even with a projected budget surplus…

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House DFL Tells Trump He’s ‘Threatening the Well-Being of Minnesotans’ in Letter

Nearly every DFL member of the Minnesota House signed their name to a letter sent to President Donald Trump Thursday urging him to “end this shutdown immediately.” “The ongoing federal government shutdown—now the longest in the history of our nation—is threatening the well-being of Minnesotans, putting our state tax dollars at risk and forcing Minnesotans to deal with declining federal services like the Transportation Security Administration,” the letter begins. Thursday’s letter was signed by 72 DFL state representatives, including House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park), and House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D-Golden Valley). The Minnesota House DFL claimed on Twitter that “in the spirit of bipartisanship” it “invited House Republicans to sign on but none did.” Today, members of the DFL House Majority sent this letter to President Trump respectfully requesting he re-open the government and end the shutdown. In the spirit of bipartisanship, we invited House Republicans to sign on but none did. https://t.co/VHACCmHNIl #mnleg — Minnesota House DFL (@mnhouseDFL) January 17, 2019 “As the president, and leader of our nation, we count on you to set the tone and consider the national interest over any one political goal,” the letter continues. “You can end this shutdown immediately, re-open…

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