Apportionment at Its Best

In Congressional elections representatives are elected to Congress from various districts of each state. There are a total of 435 seats in Congress. The number of districts a state has is dependent on the state's population and the way in which those districts are apportioned varies among states. In order to allocate for the shifting of populations among states and to make the representation in Congress fair, the process of redistricting occurs. Redistricting is a way to redistribute populations by redrawing district boundaries. This happens after each Census is taken.

The state of Minnesota's Constitution states that the responsibility of drawing the district lines is contingent on the state legislature. The Subcommittee on Redistricting comprises four members, two Democrats and two Republicans, who are appointed by the Legislative Coordinating Commission. Presently, Minnesota has eight Congressional districts, however, it is proposed that after the 2010 Census is tallied the number of Congressional districts may decrease to only seven.

The current boundaries of Minnesota's third Congressional district were agreed upon by Minnesota's state legislature in 2002. The district includes many of the most affluent suburbs of Minneapolis as well as various middle class neighborhoods in Hennepin County. Erik Paulsen is a resident of Eden Prairie, Minnesota which is one of the more wealthy cities in the district. If the state were to reapportion its district boundaries who knows how that could affect the representation of the people in the western suburbs.

Current boundaries of Minnesota's 3rd district

 

 2010 State Redistricting Profiles

Cash Talk, Trash Talk

Each election candidates raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns. So much money in fact that Supreme Court cases are needed to set regulations on how candidates can acquire funds. In 2002, President Bush passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act which set regulations on financing political campaigns, including the increase of soft money to the political party as a whole and of issue advocacy ads. In Minnesota, the dispute among how candidates may accept funds is also an issue. 

Prior to the November 2^nd elections, a federal judge in Minnesota ruled in favor of corporations disclosing campaign finances. In other words, sources of contributions must be released if the amount exceeds the company's general treasury revenue. Even before this decision, however, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill requiring candidate spending reports from corporations and unions. For quite some time corporations in Minnesota were not able to use revenue to help a candidate's campaign, but this turned out to be an intrusion of free speech. It seems to be that the only ones opposed to the law are those affiliated with the big businesses. Minnesota's Attorney General, Lori Swanson, stated, "An informed electorate is the cornerstone of our democracy. This ruling lets average voters know who is financing elections in Minnesota". Is it really such a horrible idea to know where all this money is coming from?

Judge won't block campaign finance law | StarTribune.com 

The Results Are In!

The people have spoken, the votes have been tallied, and new leaders have been chosen. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of US citizens flocked to the polls to vote. In Minnesota's third district a total of 274,093 votes were cast distributing among Erik Paulsen and Jim Meffert, as well as the Independent candidate and write in votes. Not surprisingly, the Republican incumbent, Erik Paulsen, won the House seat once again. However, Paulsen did not beat out the DFL candidate, Jim Meffert, by the large margin that most had expected. Paulsen took 161,178 votes while Meffert was not significantly behind with 100,240 votes. According to the earlier election forecasts one would have thought Paulsen to win the election by many more votes.

Undoubtedly, Jim Meffert put up a substantial fight against the Republican Erik Paulsen within the midst of a poor Democratic performance. The national outcome resulted in Democrats taking 189 House seats, while the Republicans increased their representation to 239 seats, a gain of more than sixty seats in the House! Such an upheaval has not occurred for over the past decade. Subsequently, this shift of political control in Congress is most likely going to lead to complications among the Democratic President and the Republican majority House. 




2010 Election Results from the Minnesota Secretary of State

If You Can’t Take the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen

It has been estimated that during elections Mickey Mouse, and other frivolous characters, receive around 20,000 votes for some office or another. Why does this happen? This may go without saying, but for voters to know who they are voting for candidates must advertise their name to the public. Furthermore, candidates will modify their campaigns to accommodate the political views of the residents in their district. 

In the House race for Minnesota's third district communication to voters is especially important to the challenger, Democratic candidate Jim Meffert. Meffert is going up against incumbent candidate Republican Erik Paulsen who has already held the seat for the past two years after winning the election in 2008. Because Meffert and Paulsen are not competing for an open House seat, this is not a very competitive race. Forecast polls indicate Paulsen having a significant lead on Meffert. Paulsen has a clear advantage over Meffert being the incumbent. Meffert, however, has failed to put together a strong campaign against Paulsen which will subsequently cause him to lose the House race.

As mentioned in a previous post, Meffert has raised significantly less money than Paulsen. As a result, Meffert has not been able to afford television ads. This makes it quite difficult for Meffert to obtain any name recognition or for the people of the third district to get to know his political ideals. Meffert weak campaign will also make it difficult if he wishes to run for an office in the future.

In the Words of Jim Calhoun, “Get Some Facts”

Since 1776, when the United States officially became a country, various minority groups have fought for the right to vote. Out of respect for those that put themselves at risk so that individuals like me can have the opportunity to vote, every eligible US citizen should do so. We should not, however, enter the voting booth being politically naïve. As November 2^nd nears it is imperative that voters are familiar with where candidates stand on political issues. The candidates of Minnesota's third district, as expected, have taken positions that reflect the platform of the political parties that endorses them.

Based on his voting record and public statements, the positions that Republican incumbent, Erik Paulsen, can be inferred to follow a strong Republican ideology. For instance, Paulsen is considered to be a pro-life advocate on abortion issues. Paulsen does not support the use of government funds to stimulate the economy or a publicly-administered health insurance program. In addition, Paulsen is a supporter of military action in Afghanistan.

Contrasting with the Republican candidate, Jim Meffert, the DFL candidate follows a Democratic ideology. In opposition to Paulsen, Meffert is pro-choice when it comes to abortion practices and is in support of using government funds to improve the national economy, as well as implementing regulations on energy usage. He also supports the Obama health care option as well as same-sex marriage.

Regardless of one's political views, voters should have an idea of the political views of the candidates that they vote for. Not only will this help to advance the individual's political ideals, but it will help the political ignorance of today's American citizens. 

*Source from Project Vote Smart

“I Voted”

What is red and sticky and shows up around that same time in November every couple years? The ever fashionable "I Voted" sticker of course! Each time a person casts a ballot he or she is presented with a sticker to proclaim taking advantage of Constitutional suffrage. Elections would cease to exist if nobody voted. So, how do people decide who to vote for anyways? In Minnesota's third district party identification plays a large part in how people vote.

Demographics in the third district are quite partial. Over eighty percent of the district's residences are white and over twenty-five percent make between $100,000 and $200,000 a year. According to these statistics it is not surprising that a Republican has held the Congressional seat since 1961. The New York Times Race Rating expects a "solid Republican" win along with the FiveThirtyEight Model predicting a 100 percent chance of Paulsen taking the Congressional seat once again¹.

These statistics also play a large role in a candidate's political ideology. Candidates are most responsive to the concerns of the people who are voting. In this particular district, where people are wealthier and predominantly white, candidates will have a better chance if they follow a more Republican ideological platform.

These facts are once again supportive of the strong lead Paulsen has over Meffert in the polls.





Statistics taken from http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/house/minnesota/3

Ignorance…of Television Ads…Is Bliss?

Media these days can be characterized in numerous forms, from the old fashioned newspaper ads to the contemporary television commercials. But with the development of the internet political campaigns have created a media frenzy. Not only do candidates have their own personal campaign websites, but blogs (ironically), videos, and forums on the internet have communicated other opinions.

The candidates for Minnesota's third congressional district, Erik Paulsen (R) and Jim Meffert (D), have both established their own campaign websites. Information on the websites includes the general political platforms of the candidates comprising ways in which they can better Congress. Links to articles and videos supporting the candidate are also scattered about on both websites. Naturally, political campaign websites are squeaky clean, using layman's terms and highlighting every possible virtuous aspect of a candidate. Websites are an easy, affordable way for candidates to convey their political message while increasing name recognition.

However, Paulsen and Meffert are not so equal when it comes to television ads. Because of Meffert's low budget, he has not been able to afford television ads, while Paulsen has invested roughly one million dollars in television ads, as stated by an article in the Minneapolis newspaper, the Star Tribune. In addition, a Twin Cities' local news station ran a news reel about this topic stating that because Meffert is new to the political realm he has yet to compete in the "TV ad wars". While Paulsen is shelling out thousands after thousands of dollars, Meffert is remaining economical and abstaining from the demise of a negative campaign.



Without the means to run a television ad campaign, Meffert has lesser of a chance to increase his name recognition. On the other hand, perhaps Meffert's lack of television campaign ads is not such a weakness, but rather a mindful tactic.