The headline and the title are correct. MN joins CA, HI and CT (I thought there was one more?) in the Republican year of 2010 in changing its governor from GOP to Democratic. Tom Emmer (R) conceded in a classy press conference on the front steps of his house. The State Canvassing Board moved quickly to certify Dayton's win. Mark Dayton held a press conference mid-afternoon and got back to planning both his transition and his administration.
The last day details, as always, below the fold...
CROSS POSTED AT Minnesota Progressive Project
OVERNIGHT TUESDAY
Tom Hauser of KSTP-TV channel 5 (ABC) around 10pm Tuesday posted a story in which he said, based on 3 different MN GOP sources, candidate Tom Emmer would concede Wednesday morning. I missed it but Kossack Slapshoe took the bit in his/her teeth and ran with it in a late night diary here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT
I had a diary pretty much ready to go and gave the media sources one last sweep on Wednesday morning and came across the report at MinnPost. Wrecked the flow of the diary but hey, news is news.
The MN Supreme Court opinion on Emmer's petition from a couple weeks ago was released Tuesday afternoon (the decision: "No, Tom" had been made 90 minutes after oral arguments). The Emmer legal squad was hoping for something they could use to pursue further legal maneuvers but the Court gave them a brick wall. Dr. Ned Foley, election law professor at Ohio State, said the opinion was a flat rejection of the Emmer position on all points, so that must have rung through the halls of Team Emmer rather sharply that night.
Emmer's team had also withdrawn most of their ballots challenges (frivolous and legitimate) so that Wednesday morning the State Canvassing Board was only facing about 180 challenged ballots and would likely knock those off by mid-afternoon. They convened at 9:00am to start doing just that.
Emmer chief counsel Eric Magnuson stood just after the opening gavel and informed the Board as per many media reports that Mr. Emmer would have a major announcement at 10:30am that would impact the work of the Board. (He didn't give it away.) The Board took him at his word and moved to adjourn for 2 hours.
ON A FRONT PORCH IN DELANO
The media went out Highway 55 to Delano (about 45 miles WNW of downtown Minneapolis) and set up shop in Emmer's front yard. At 10:30 Tom, his wife Jacquie, and most of their 7 children came out. Emmer was very gracious. While his family was bundled up in that fashion statement called "Minnesota Appropriate" (it was about 6 degrees) Tom went with the blazer-over-sweater look. He welcomed everyone and told them he could say with absolute confidence no one would be bitten by a Minnesota mosquito today.
Then he went into his prepared remarks. He mentioned several times how much he had learned in traveling the state during the campaign and that while wearing, he and his family had mostly enjoyed it. (He said Jacquie had so enjoyed riding in one particular parade in northern Minnesota she told him she wanted to move the whole family to that friendly town.)
Emmer had nice things to say about the election and said he had tried to run a positive campaign and not bad mouth his opponents. (What the MN GOP did and various "independent groups" did, well, he had no control over them.) He then said that nearly a million people had voted for him and his vision of government, but that had not been quite enough. He said that while reconciliation of ballots and voters (again!) and the state registered voter system had flaws (that pointed to the need (HAH) for voter ID laws) and that he had been urged to pursue such matters in court he would not do so and would not join anyone else's efforts either.
He said he had called and talked with Dayton about a half hour before coming out to talk with the media and commended Dayton on his win. He said Dayton was not elected to be governor of MN Democrats but of all Minnesotans.
He added one genuine regret he had was that MN would be deprived of the chance to have Jacquie be MN First Lady and he thought even Dayton would agree with him that will be a loss.
In Q & A he made no promises about future campaigns. When asked what he was going to do next for work he brought on a big laugh when he said he understood the Uptake had an opening for a cameraman and he might apply. (The Uptake is all volunteer of course.)
Word Alchemy went up with a BREAKING DIARY and a number of Kossacks stopped by to take a break from the meta-lamentations going on over the tax cut "deal or no deal" wars. Here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Eric Black at MinnPost also thought Emmer bowed out with style:
Tom Emmer went out with class: Yes, the last word choice of the last bullet point was indeed a reference to Repub Chair Tony Sutton’s unfortunate utterance that his party wasn’t going to "get rolled again." They didn’t get rolled last time, nor this time either. Sutton really needs to mind his words. The MNGOP leadership made several unfortunate overreaches, starting with Sutton’s Election Night rant that the election didn’t smell right. But Tom Emmer, the party’s titular leader, maintained his dignity throughout, claiming only that he was not interested in any stall tactics, only in making sure that the result was bullet-proof.
Other reflections from Eric here:
http://www.minnpost.com/...
SHOCK OF THE DAY
Oh and BTW the most shocking thing to come from the Emmer press conference was when he was thanking a few people for helping with his campaign. Shock #1 was when he called MN GOP chairman Tony Sutton (the Hutt) "an absolute gentleman", a title not seen in years occupying the same county as Sutton. (Maybe he meant Sutton was someone imbibed a certain Swedish vodka named Absolut?)
Shock #2 was when he thanked "Tony and Brigett Sutton" for their work and support. Tony and Brigett? You mean he's.....married? Whoooooboooyyyy! I never saw that one coming! (And if true, causes me to personally doubt, for the first time mind you, that women are the superior gender. I mean, Tony Sutton? Married? Its enough to make me drop all the lettuce and shredded cheese from my taco, let me tell you.)
BRIEF INTERLUDE AT THE BOARD
The Canvassing Board re-convened on schedule and Eric Magnuson presented them with Tom Emmer's letter of concession and waiving his claim to a Recount. The Board tussled for a few minutes on whether to certify Dayton's win at the original margin of +8770, or for the sake of accuracy (and to fend off some off-beat lawsuit) to certify the margin after the Recount totals. They finally went with the original +8770 but added an official addendum to reflect the Recount raised this margin to +9080.
As the meeting broke up Associate Justice Paul Anderson offered a public apology to Eric Magnuson about the tone of his remarks last Friday regarding professional ethics.
"That is why I did what I did. It was not because I had any doubts about your professional standards – in fact, it was just the opposite.
"If my comments were a bit harsh, I apologize," said Anderson.
Magnuson said something like "I know you didn't mean me" and they both shook hands. Pretty gentlemanly.
THE GOVERNOR-ELECT SPEAKS
Mid-afternoon Mark Dayton met the media in a new capacity. Mind you, he was Mark Dayton, a serious man who has faced serious personal issues and mastered them. He now faces a state with serious issues and did his best to set a sober tone. The man will never be a poet when he thanked Emmer for his concession like this:
"I salute Rep. Emmer, who by his concession this morning re-affirmed the essential principle that in our democracy there can be a close election, which is re-examined and recounted carefully, yet then, all accept its result — so that our democracy can continue to function. This is a profoundly important legacy of your campaign, Rep. Emmer, for which all of us owe you our respect and our gratitude."
That first sentence is something most editors would bring into the shop for some serious bandsaw, lathe, joiner and sanding work....if it could be diagrammed first.
His open hand to a legislature controlled in both houses by the GOP went like this:
"You were elected on your platforms and principles; I was elected on mine. I believe the collective wisdom of the electorate is that they want part of what each of us offers — and they want us to work together to solve the state's budget crisis; put them back to work; put government to work for them; and for all of us to work together to build a Better Minnesota."
Keep those diagrams and shop tools sharpened.
But he is nothing else if not earnest and dogged. I like to think he will do fine.
More from his speech:
http://www.minnpost.com/...
GRACE NOTES
>Minnesota's First Lady Mary Pawlenty has invited Dayton to the Governor's mansion so she can show him the non-public, residential part of the house before he moves in. (Dayton has 2 sons but he and his wife divorced about 20 years ago.) Very sweet.
>Stake in the Heart of the "Dark Scenario" (stall the installation of Dayton for months so Pawlenty is held over to work with an all-GOP legislature). From Emmer's concession:
"I don’t believe a delay in seating the next governor will move our state forward. Now is the time for all of us to come together."
"It’s time for us today to be gracious," said Emmer. "The next governor of Minnesota will be Mark Dayton."
>A VERY Minnesota Winter Invitation. During the concession Emmer invited Dayton to come by his house for ice skating on the hockey rink the Emmers have in their back yard anytime there was ice.
> From the rabidly pro-GOP website Minnesota Democrats Exposed (started by MN GOP #2 leader Michael Brodkorb; this is a website that looks favorably on Hinderaker for crying out loud!), some unexpected grace notes:
Hector Says:
December 8th, 2010 at 7:16 AM
I think it’s time, and the right time for Tom Emmer.
I congratulate Tom Emmer on his well fought, issues oriented campaign. And I compliment Tom on the public spirited actions he has taken during the recount process.
And Focused 2010 said this to another, much more crazed blogger at MDE:
Focused on 2010 Says:
December 8th, 2010 at 10:52 AM
I’m sure you will be looking back and whining about this election for years to come Walter but take my word for it, it is not productive. Emmer has no chance of winning this election and is doing the right thing.
If he kept trying different legal tactics he would only hurt the Republican party and destroy any future he may have in politics. He now has 4 years to get his crap together and organize a campaign that isn’t focused on reducing wages of wait staff.
> At 2:45 this afternoon there will be a joint press conference between outgoing governor Pawlenty and incoming governor Dayton. It will be the first time the 2 have shared the same stage. There will be a conversation off camera on transition issues. (Tim-eh is anxious to get out of town and start campaigning for President. The PPP poll from the other day that showed Klobuchar sitting pretty right now for a Senate re-election bid also noted that in Minnesota Pawlenty trails Mitt Romney for presidential preference.)
> From the Star Tribune monster blog of 963 comments on the concession:
NOW can we fire Sutton? Failure after failure. Let's put some qualified people in his place. Or at least people who aren't overflowing with incompetence.
posted by heffay on Dec. 8, 10 at 10:45 AM
Take notes Norm Coleman. This is what is called class.
posted by ca2642 on Dec. 8, 10 at 10:48 AM |
>The always insightful Jay Weiner on what it all might mean for the future in a wrap up story here:
http://www.minnpost.com/...
____________
Another Recount. Another diary series. And by all the holies only 25 diaries and only 6 weeks after election day and we are done. Whew! Dodged a bullet there!
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Dedicated
to the 2.1 million Minnesotans who cast their votes for governor this time,
and to the 30,000 poll workers across 87 counties in 4136 precincts
who counted the ballots of the People,
and opened the ballots of the absentees
and recounted the ballots
and challenged the ballots
and ruled on the ballots
and argued over the ballots in court
and inspected the challenged ballots
and issued opinions on the ballots
so that the People would rule themselves.
I doff (DOFF!) my hat!
Well done, good and faithful servants.
From yust southeast of Lake Wobegon,
Shalom.