I have a confession. The day after the November 6 election —  and after a night of celebration in St. Paul where numerous winning DFL candidates thanked us for helping them win — I woke up and said to myself, “Now what do I do?”  Let me explain.
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I contacted the Tim Walz for Governor campaign in the summer of 2017 to offer my help, so I was on board early. Back then, I reviewed all the candidates and decided that, as a greater Minnesota congressman, Tim would be the DFL candidate most likely to win. I volunteered to work at his table at the 2017 state fair, where I meet him for the first time.

On the day after Tim was elected the next governor of Minnesota, I am basking in the glow, knowing that I contributed a small part to his big election.

To appreciate the magnitude of his victory, I thought I would walk down memory lane to review, in the words of the Grateful Dead, what a long strange trip it’s been.

Thanks to a search on the StarTribune website, below are the headlines (with subheadlines and first sentence(s) if helpful) connected to the 2018 Minnesota Governor’s Race – from November 17, 2016, when Erin Murphy jumped into the race, to March 27, 2017, when Tim joined the race, to October 5, 2017, when Tim picked Peggy Flanagan as his running mate, to caucus night, to gun-control opinion piece, to state convention, to primary election, to November 6 and victory!

It’s been fun and exciting. Thank you, Tim and Peggy, for letting me be part of it. Continue reading →

As most of you know, I retired in January 2017 and my wife Nancy passed away in March 2017.  In preparation for recovering from both of these events, in 2016 I decided that I would become more involved with local political campaigns and local progressive organizations. And I did. Those activities have helped me to look to the future, and not brood over what could have been if colon cancer had not entered our lives in April 2013.

Since the fall of 2017, I have been active in three political campaigns. I’m also currently on the Board of Directors for NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota and am active with my church, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. (Yes, a church can be a progressive organization.) I’ve been busy, but not too busy to prevent me from getting involved with another progressive issue.
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Dear Democrats, Independents, and Reasonable Republicans,

Our votes for Governor in the August 14 primary might be the most important primary vote in our lifetime. Why? Continue reading →