About the Show

 

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When the Minnesota Legislature convenes for its annual session, Mary Lahammer’s life kicks into overdrive. Her job becomes a daily whirlwind of committee meetings, floor sessions, and press conferences. With help only from photojournalist Richard Bowring and producer Steve Spencer, Lahammer is expected to:

• cover an avalanche of complex legislation in both houses;
• continue her weekly reporting duties on Almanac;
• add nightly updates on the Legislature following The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer;
• and, every Wednesday evening, produce, report, and host a live broadcast of Almanac: At the Capitol—a completely unscripted half-hour analysis of the legislative proceedings.

It is a thoroughly exhausting way to earn a living—and Lahammer couldn’t be happier. “I love it,” she says. “I’m a workhorse, absolutely. I’m never happier than when I’m just completely, frantically busy. I love being on the run.”.

Even the weekly high-wire act of filling 30 minutes of live television doesn’t phase her. “I love live TV. I love the adrenaline rush,” says Lahammer, who believes that working without a script makes the show better. “I think that extemporaneous format really helps my style,” she says. “It keeps it loose. I think it helps me talk in a voice that viewers can relate to and keeps it a little more accessible.”

Now in its third season, Almanac: At the Capitol was created just for that purpose: to distill the complex workings of the Legislature into an easily understandable format for viewers.
“I always try to boil it down to the ‘Why should I care?’ or ‘So what?’ factor—how will it affect you,” Lahammer says.

Each show begins with the day’s political headlines and most important issues. Usually, the program also includes a policy debate between two lawmakers, a profile of a Capitol figure, a review of the week’s events, and a look ahead at developing stories.

The show has become must viewing not only for a loyal following of tpt viewers but for many insiders in the Capitol, who have been known to suspend state business when At the Capitol comes on the air.

Mary Lahammer has earned the respect of politicians for the strict nonpartisanship of her reporting and her sheer enthusiasm for the job. “As a professional, she is a very fair reporter. She has great credibility in the Legislature, and on all sides of the Legislature,” says Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum. And personally, he says, “she is one of those people in life that when you see them, a smile comes across your face and you get a warm place in your heart.”

Another Lahammer trademark is her in-depth profiles of political figures. “Personality has become just an amazing driver of politics,” she believes. Her biographies of gubernatorial and senate candidates have been some of her most popular stories with viewers, she says.

“My goal is to try to get people to care,” she says, which is why she loves covering politics. “I’ve been a general assignment reporter and a crime reporter. And this [politics] has the most real impact on the broadest swath of citizens. Everything that happens at the Capitol affects every Minnesotan—millions of people.”

And so Lahammer actually looks forward to her 13- and 14-hour days, and even her occasional overnights during the traditional frenzy of law-making at the end of the Capitol session.

But even Lahammer has her limits. She has developed a tradition of her own when the Legislature finally shuts down in early summer. “I just go to sleep for two weeks,” she says.