After seeing that a few thousand of his supporters made it to the polls Tuesday night, Chris Fields—the Republican challenger to Fifth District incumbent Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN)—felt the day had been a victory. First at a reception Tuesday night, and later in an email letter, Fields gave the following speech: Thank you!  I need to start out tonight by thanking people who are important in my life - my parents - Hi Mom and Dad, and my wife Christa. I also need to thank each and every Freedom and Liberty loving American here this evening.I have two words to say about tonight’s victory…

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) easily beat out fellow DFL challengers Gary Boisclair and Gregg Iverson on Minnesota Primary Night. Ellison secured nearly 90 percent of the total votes, with 30,609 in total. Boisclair and Iverson tallied 1,397 and 2,143, respectively. Ellison is currently serving his third term as Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District representative for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first Muslim elected to Congress and was the first black man elected to the House from Minnesota. Ellison will be joined on the ballot by Republican Chris Fields, a retired, 21-year …

More than two-thirds of influential Republicans from around the Twin Cities Patch areas believe Mitt Romney can pull off an upset win in Minnesota in 2012. First, the survey shows, the presumed nominee has to reach out to Ron Paul Republicans. Ninety-six conservatives from Twin Cities Patch areas—from St. Michael to Woodbury, Fridley to Northfield—were surveyed last week in Patch’s inaugural Twin Cities Red poll, which focused on November’s biggest race. Forty responses were collected. When asked if they felt Mitt Romney could pick up a win over President Barack Obama in the fall, two-thirds …

Editor's Note: Prof. Dale Carpenter sent in this note in response to a poll and discussion on Patch about Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's choice of a title for a constitution amendment on the 2012 ballot that would ban same-sex marriage. One thing the news outlets have been missing is that it's actually the legal responsibility of the secretary of state, not the legislature, to determine the ballot title. That has been the case since 1919, when the Secretary of State was given authority to choose an "appropriate title" for amendments passed by the legislature. The idea is that the…

Late last week, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced the title that will introduce the same-sex marriage amendment on the November ballot. He chose the words, "Limiting the status of marriage to opposite sex couples." According to the Star Tribune, amendment supporters wanted the title, "Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman." Chuck Darrell,  a spokesman for Minnesota for Marriage, the amendment proponents, told the Star Tribune that Ritchie's language choice "is a perfect example of why we need the marriage amendment—you can't trust politicians to allow the law. …

It was all over in the span of 30 seconds. Sam Richards, 20, was one of at least two protesters at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's rally in Eagan on Wednesday. He watched as fellow protester Nick Espinosa dumped glitter on Romney at the beginning of the speech and was hauled out by security. And then it was his turn. "My nerves went away, I did it, and then I was being dragged out," said Richards, who identified himself as an Occupy Minnesota protester. "It was all said and done in 30 seconds." Richards was the second of two protesters to hit Romney with a "glitter bomb"—a …

Speaking from Freightmasters in Eagan on Wednesday, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney targeted President Obama and the economy in a 15-minute speech. Romney is fresh off his victory in the Florida primary, where he dealt a decisive blow to fellow Republican presidential rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Romney took 46 percent of the primary votes, compared with 32 percent for Gingrich and 13 percent for Santorum. Ron Paul took 7 percent of the vote. The energy and momentum Romney gained in Florida was apparent on Wednesday in Eagan, where a handful of political insiders, …