Thanks to all who attended and volunteered at our BPOU Conventon March 21 in Robbinsdale. We elected a new Chair, A- and B-side Chairs, Vice Chairs, along with 5th CD State Central and Full Committee delegates/alternates. Guest speakers included CD-3 U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, 3rd CD Officers, and candidates for State Party. Volunteer awards were given to Red Bartholomew and Todd Hesemann by outgoing SD-45 Chair Ray Narveson.

Congratulations to all elected!

If you're interested in helping with our subcommittees, please contact us for more information. We welcome your input!

Over 70 attended our February 19 Chili & Chat, with guest speakers Rep. Marty Seifert and Sen. David Hann (SD42). They discussed current legislation and the vastly different approaches each party brings to solve the state budget deficit. So far, Democrats have offered little if no solutions to cut spending and waste. Rep. Seifert detailed the extent of waste and fraudulent behavior with Minnesota welfare EBT cards, and a bill introduced to address it:

A message from 5th Congressional District Chair, Carleton Crawford:

Thanks to everyone that came out to help this year to volunteer in any way. The election was difficult, but it looks like your efforts will allow us to retain a Republican Senator from Minnesota (due to the re-count the race—and our work—isn't quite over yet).

Due to a late completion of election judge duties I was unable to make the festivities at the Bloomington Sheraton last night (Thanks to Bob Olson, Barry Hickethier, Shirley Carlson and James Turnham for putting the 5th CD Hospitality Room together). There are a lot of individuals I would have liked to thank in person for the extraordinary dedication they showed to our party and our candidates.

It's always difficult to see the good when so many of the results are poor, but a lot of good did happen. First, I was extremely impressed with the talent shown by our local candidates (most of them running for the first time). It's always a challenge to run for office, but especially in a year with so many difficulties for our side. Second, after a slow start we showed that the 5th CD can compete with any other region of the state with respect to volunteer effort. The amount of activity in the 5th CD this last month was amazing.

Finally, there is a long list of people  that put in a massive amount of time throughout the year, and deserve recognition. Many have been helping us for years, and many provided new leadership that we desperately needed. But at this time I'd like to point out three individuals:

Red Bartholomew (SD 45): Long before Republicans had finally decided to unify behind their candidates Red spent 6 hours at the 5th CD phone bank every Saturday since April making voter I.D. calls, drastically improving the quality our data for the area he called, and making our Get-out-the-vote efforts much more effective.

Nik Ludwig (SD 58): The Minneapolis City Republican Committee had been struggling for several years since its founder (Lyall Schwazkopf) retired. Nik took over as chair of the City Committee this spring. The committee is now stable, has enthusiastic membership, and is able to provide credible support to its endorsed candidates.

Mary Belfry (SD60): Mary, as part of the East Hennepin McCain organization (Jim Patterson, Chair), created the most dynamic, aggressive and effective Republican volunteer recruitment Minneapolis has had in recent memory. Volunteers were plucked out of neighborhood festivals, Nicollet Mall lunchtime crowds, Vikings games, and even Orchestra Hall. In an era when it's easy for statewide campaigns to overlook the 5th CD and Minneapolis in particular, Mary has shown how important taking Minneapolis seriously can be to achieving victory.

Thank you for all of your efforts this year. It was good working with you. We have an awful lot of work to do to get where we want to be, but hopefully we've set the groundwork for success in the years to come.

Carleton Crawford

Thanks to our candidates, volunteers and supporters! SD-45 again had high voter turnout. From the Secretary of State:

45-A

Karen Nolte:  8,054 (41.20%)
Sandra Peterseon: 11,447 (58.56%)
Write-in: 46 (0.24%)

45-B

Gregg Prest: 7,334 (34.78$)
Lyndon Carlson: 13,718 (65.05%)
Write-in: 36 (0.17%)

ISD Robbinsdale 281 Referendum Question 1:
YES: 30,083 (55.12%)
NO: 24,490%)

ISD Robbinsdale 281 Referendum Question 2:
YES: 28,552 (52.42%)
NO: 25,913%)

City of Crystal:

Mayor: Renae Bowman
Council Member Wart 3: Janet Moore
Council Member Ward 4: Gary Grimes
Council Member Section 1: David Anderson

City of New Hope:

Mayor: Kathi Hemken
Council Member: John Elder
Council Member Special Election: Andy Hoffe

CD-3:

Erik Paulsen: 179,031 (48.48%)
Ashwin Madia: 150,861 (40.85%)
David Dillon: 38,937 (10.56%)

CD-5:

Barb Davis White: 70,612 (21.97%)
Keith Ellison: 227,949 (70.92%)
Bill McGaughey: 22,207 (6.91%)

A taxpayer voting for a Democrat is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.

Hat tip to Vice Chair Dale Bartholomew.  :-)