Almanac: At the Capitol

Senate Republicans want Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to step aside and let a deputy oversee the Jan. 3 special election to fill Sen. Tom Neuville's seat. Minority Leader David Senjem said secretaries of states "live in glass houses and that glass has been broken." Sen. Chris Gerlach (R-Apple Valley), in his first press conference in a decade at the legislature, said he wants a fair and impartial election and he questioned Ritchie's ability to provide that not just because the secretary of state admitted to sharing a list with his campaign, but Gerlach said it was how Ritchie handled what happened after the allegations, that is changing his story. Gerlach says Ritchie is now "tainted." DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez said "this maneuver stinks of political desperation." He said Ritchie has been all about letting people vote and all he did was "misspeak" and having the secretary of state step aside for an election would create a "dangerous precedent." We'll get to hear much more from DFL and GOP party chairs when they square off live Friday night on Almanac.

And when it comes to elections, it looks like there could be a primary Dec. 18 or an endorsement battle on the DFL side. Mick McGuire the mayor of Montgomery announced his intention to run for Neuville's senate seat. Earlier today Anne Miller filed. And sources say another Dem is likely to get in soon too. It looks like Ray Cox will remain the lone Republican.

Gov. Pawlenty has set the date for the special election to fill Sen. Neuville's seat for Thursday Jan. 3. That is the day students return to class at St. Olaf and Carleton, so Democrats should be pleased it's at least not during the school break, which many of them were anticipating. But, I don't know how many students will vote on their first day of school. Gov. Pawlenty did tell me yesterday that he wanted to get this seat filled well before the session starts in February. If there's a primary it would be Dec. 18th. It's been interesting to me to hear the positives for former Rep. Ray Cox and his run to replace Neuville. His moderate views on gay rights seem to have won him some favor with Independents and even Dems. Many Democrats are telling me this seat isn't worth spending too much money on because of Cox's moderate appeal. But, he did lose his House seat, and I've got to think this is still in play for the DFL and they won't take a pass at an open seat in a potential swing district. Thanks to all my friends in the blogging world for the great links on breaking this story!

Speaking of friends on the web, I just got this tip on some DFLers that are likely to run:

Two people I have heard are thinking about running for the DFL are Jim Mladek and Tim Siebsen. Both of Montgomery and both have worked on eachothers campaigns in the past. Tim helping Jim in 2002 against Neuville and Jim helping Tim in 2006 against Laura Brod. I think either of these two would make a great Senator. The only problem is who will it be. They have a very close relasionship with each other.

Another update on another candidate who's officially in the race and has a website already: Anne Miller

12:32 pm

I think you're hearing it here first, former State Representative Ray Cox just told me, "yes, I do plan to run" for the seat Sen. Tom Neuville is expected to vacate today. Cox told me he had coffee this morning with Sen. Neuville and he encouraged Cox to attend Gov. Pawlenty's announcement at 1:00 in Faribault where the governor will appoint a new judge to the Rice County bench. Democrats I've talked with so far today say there isn't any clear frontrunner or candidate ready to jump into the race. Let me know if anyone knows some names. Of course, Cox lost his house seat last election to Democrat David Bly so this seat should be competitive. Cox says once you broaden the district out to the senate seat with more rural areas he thinks it gets more conservative. Republicans are hoping this special election goes the way of Sviggum's seat which opened up with another Pawlenty appointment and stayed in Republican hands despite a big effort from Democrats. Some Dems tell me they need to find more moderate candidates in these rural areas that fit the districts. But, it's still not a great time to be a Republican running for office. Also today, more big judicial news at 3:00 when Gov. Pawlenty makes an appointment to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

1:08 pm, It's official:

GOVERNOR PAWLENTY APPOINTS NEUVILLE TO THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT JUDGESHIP

Faribault – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Thomas M. Neuville to a Third Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in the city of Faribault in Rice County. The vacancy occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Gerald J. Wolf on September 14, 2007.

Neuville, of Northfield, is an attorney and partner with Grundhoefer, Neuville and Ludescher in Northfield, where he has practiced since 1976. He has served as the Dundas City Attorney since 1990, was the Lonsdale City Attorney from 1978 to 1980, a part-time contract assistant state public defender from 1985 to 1996, and a part-time contract assistant Rice County public defender from 1977 to 1985.

“Tom has experience with a wide variety of cases, has solid legal skills, a congenial style, and a strong commitment to his community,” Governor Pawlenty said.

Neuville is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where he serves on the Elder, Family, and Criminal Law Sections; and is a member of the Supreme Court committee established to review the rules of judicial standards. He was a member of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, Minnesota Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, has served on two judicial selection subcommittees, as well as a task force on criminal sentencing and prisons; and has been a lecturer at continuing legal education seminars on child support laws, and legislative changes to Minnesota’s sexual offender laws.

Neuville is serving his sixth term as a Minnesota state Senator, where he represents Senate District 25. He has been a member of the Senate since 1990, is the ranking minority member of the Public Safety Budget Division, and serves on the Business, Industry and Jobs; Finance; and Judiciary Committees. He is also a member of the Northfield Rotary Club, and the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce, where he served as president in 1986-87, and was named Northfield Businessperson of the year this year.

Neuville, 57, was born in Marinette, Wisconsin, and lives in Northfield with his wife, Marilynn. They have five children, Mark, John, Anne, Luke, and Meg, and two grandchildren, Sam, and Lucy.

1:54 pm

I just talked to Cox again, who's really excited after the press conference. He plans to make his run for state senate official Thursday morning surrounded by current senators he wants to serve with in the "upper chamber."

One of the largest studies on the effects of second-hand smoke was conducted by James Enstrom and Geoff Kabat, and published in 2003. Their study, conducted from 1960 through 1998, found "no significant associations for current or former exposure to environmental tobacco smoke." They concluded that, "the results did not support a causal relation between environmental tobacco and tobacco-related mortality. The association between exposure to second-hand smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed."

Unbelievably, the surgeon general did not even consider this large and recent study. Likewise, a study, published in 1998, and commissioned by the World Health Organization in Europe, made similar conclusions, but was not publicized when the results found no relationship between second-hand smoke and cancer or heart disease. Most studies on second-hand smoke find that the relative risk of second-hand smoke is less than the relative risk of taking birth control pills for women. Yet, no one is suggesting that we should declare birth control pills a health hazard.

Truthfully, second-hand smoke is an annoyance and a nuisance. Some people are allergic, and others who have asthma should avoid any kind of smoke. However, second-hand smoke is not a public health risk because people can avoid it.

Why did the Surgeon General not consider that study? Possibly because it was funded by a front for the tobacco companies, or perhaps because Enstrom has accepted funding from Philip Morris, a major cigarette manufacturer. The purpose of Enstrom's study, and the Center for Indoor Air Research? Why, the same purpose as the Discovery Institute's attempt to debunk the theory of Evolution: produce controversy where there was none, and turn generally-accepted fact into theoretical politically-biased mumbo-jumbo, making action on behalf of public safety impossible.

Again, there are economic arguments against a smoking ban — a temporary drop in business from fewer smokers going out to eat or drink can prove costly in the short run, especially to small establishments — but arguing that a statewide smoking ban isn't necessary because second-hand smoke isn't as dangerous as the entire legitimate medical community says? Good luck with that, Sen. Neuville.