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Some people say that in tough times, we just need to keep our heads down and our sights low — but I disagree. In tough times, we need to think big, reevaluate how we do things and make plans for a better future. Read More »
I hope that the Snow Days dance went well at Prior Lake High School last night. I almost got a chance to attend. That’s because the Senate District 35 DFL Convention took place at Prior Lake High all day yesterday. The convention ended just as the dance was about to begin. Students were literally decorating the cafeteria around us as the delegate votes wrapped up Read More »
During the drive tonight to Kanabec County and the DFL dinner in Mora, my mind wandered to another time I took the same route. Two and a half years ago, Megan and I drove this road on the way to the funeral of Greg Jolsted, or “Jolly” as he was know by his friends. Greg was a construction worker on the 35W bridge who died when the bridge collapsed. The church that day was filled with people from Mora who were grief stricken to have lost someone so important to their town. Read More »
If you want to feel good about our future, I wish you could have seen the faces of the third graders at Richard Green Central Park Community School this morning. I went to their classes today as part of “I Know I Can,” a day once a year when 200 volunteers go into our schools to read to our kids and to talk about planning for their future. The idea is to help the next generation develop their reading skills and begin thinking about their future. Read More »
This campaign has not been based on endorsements. We've been spending our time talking to voters and activists. It's a tremendous honor having the support of Mayor Ness and City Councilors Anderson, Hartman, and Boyle. I've followed their work closely as they tackled head-on the same type of challenges I've had in my job. Great things are going on in Duluth right now thanks to their leadership. I'm really looking forward to working with them so Duluth finally has the support they deserve from the Governors office. Read More »
As you probably know, over the past few days the first major attack of the governor’s race has hit the mailboxes of likely DFL caucus attendees all over the state — in the form of a letter attacking Mayor Rybak for defending Minneapolis taxpayers. If you’re like a lot of DFlers, one of the letters is probably addressed to you. This attack is despicable and baseless, and we can only assume that it’s intended to convince Minnesotans to stay home on caucus night, especially if they’re thinking of supporting R.T. Read More »
Have you ever walked into a voting booth in November not liking your choices? Do you know anyone who stayed away from the polls because they didn't find a candidate who excited them? Plenty of people have, and that's one reason why the people we want to lead us sometimes lose. The sad fact is that by the time people realize they don't like their choice it's often too late. Decisions about who gets on that ballot happen months earlier. That's what's happening in the Minnesota Governor's race in JUST TWO WEEKS. Read More »
The Czech Memorial Highway brought us in to New Prague, onto a Main Street that my Czech relatives helped build. Two doors down from the building where my grandparents had their general store is Patty’s Place, where we walked into a warm, personal, and almost family event. It was a full house. Read More »
The drive from Austin to Mankato go through miles and miles of rich farm land, punctuated with small towns, where the grain elevator and the ag-related businesses show how farm and town are dependent on each other. Read More »
Pigging out on sandwiches from Piggy Blues on Main Street as we leave Austin on our way to Mankato. Piggy Blues is next door to the Coffee House on Main, which was the site of our latest event. Joe Brown brought students from his AP Government class. They asked great questions, and I’m incredibly proud to have Joe’s support. Read More »
Our trip has survived in spite of a typical Minnesota 1-2 punch: snow and cold. We beat the cold in Northern Minnesota, and now we’re beating the snow across the southern part of the state. Read More »
After Grand Rapids, we headed over to the Range to eat lunch at Zimmy’s. Had a porketta sandwich with meat from Fraboni’s (thanks to Linda, the owner, for making sure we had a great lunch!). Met Larry Lehtinen of Magnetation, a promising start-up business showing ways to re-capture the iron content from the tailings. Good example of how innovation can create jobs. Read More »
I shook a lot of hands of people with incredibly good-looking food on their plates. My next tour of Northern Minnesota is going to be led by my stomach. I plan on stopping again at Brewed Awakenings in Grand Rapids. Read More »
We began, as any true Minnesotans should when they are in Bemidji, by having our picture taken at sunrise with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. We couldn’t understand what Paul said, but I think it was that 9 times out of 10, the tallest voters vote for me. Those of you who know me realize I’m a chronic campaigner who can’t stop shaking hands. We had the car version of that this morning. On the way to the coffee shop we saw a car with Klobuchar and Franken bumper stickers, and wanted to chase them down the street when they passed us by. But thankfully, they turned around and were part of a great group at the Cabin Coffee Shop. Read More »
It was great to be back on the campus at Moorhead, where I was just a few weeks ago. We had another great turnout of students from MSU-Moorhead and Concordia, as well as some great party activists. I was really impressed by how substantive the questions are that people asked here and throughout the day, especially about schools and jobs. It’s clear that Minnesotans have thought a lot about what needs to be fixed, and are clear what’s happening now isn’t working like it should. A question I got here at MSU is similar to one that was also asked to me by a woman who works at Crystal Sugar: how to we make sure that schools in every part of Minnesota are successful? Read More »
One of the reasons the main street of Alexandria is so interesting is because it has a lot of entrepreneurs running their own small business. One of the best is the Traveler’s Inn on Broadway, where we just left a crowd Read More »
It was even better to get upstairs to a great meeting filled with students, community leaders like Larry Haws and Bob Johnson, party activists, and even my old friends Tom Zuponz and Barb Glander (running for Governor is the best way to connect with old friends since Facebook!). We talked a lot about jobs, which is no surprise because I’m going to be talking a lot about them. Health care is one of the biggest employers in the area. We talked about how some of the successful programs we’ve had to partner hospitals with training programs in Minneapolis have helped hundreds of people advance in their careers. That’s the kind of work we want to do statewide, and it could really help St. Cloud. Read More »
Welcome to my new website, and to my blog. And welcome to my campaign for Governor, while I’m at it. Two weeks ago today, I filed the papers to run for Governor. Since then the support that my campaign has received from across the state this week has been humbling and heartwarming. Read More »
