Oct 10, 2018
With the World Series just getting underway we thought the metaphor apt because if media outlets truly did call campaign ads correctly, then, ones that fell below a certain level would be called out, or a clarifier would be displayed on each ad run on that particular...
Oct 10, 2018
There were a number of firsts that occurred in the 1998 Governor’s race besides the My Three Sons Primary and the election of third-party candidate Jesse Ventura, In 1997, the Ted Mondale for Governor campaign took out, what is known as the First Paid Political...
Oct 3, 2018
If someone wants to see the divides in our state it is clearly evident from the State House Legislative District maps from 2016. When you view it, you will see a saturation of the DFL members in the metropolitan area and a spattering of DFL legislators in the Duluth...
Oct 1, 2018
Last week, the Chinese Government Sponsored Newspaper China Daily took out a four-page insert in the Des Moines Register criticizing the Donald J Trump tariffs on commodities, particularly soybeans and attempted to bring the issue directly to Iowa farmers. The Des...
Sep 27, 2018
The September Campaign Finance Reports show Gubernatorial candidates Congressman Tim Walz (DFL-MN) and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson (R-MN) having comparable amounts of money on-hand moving into the last 6 weeks of the campaign; Walz has $1,051,316.76...
Sep 21, 2018
Rep Jim Knoblach (R-14N St Cloud) announced today he is withdrawing from his candidacy for reelection citing an MPR story in which his daughter Laura alleges an abusive relationship since the age of nine. For the record Checks & Balances is the first media...
Sep 21, 2018
When viewing all political races in Minnesota we have a Checks & Balances Rule of Thumb, the DFL base is 43% and the Republican base is 37% with 20% Independent/Undecided. In each contest, we analyze we measure each candidacy thus. This means if a candidate falls...
Sep 21, 2018
One of the easiest political predictions is to make this election is to pick US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for reelection. As is seen in the MPR News and Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, and lacking a KSTP/Survey USA Poll for comparison, Klobuchar leads Rep Jim...
Sep 21, 2018
The US Senate Special Election will be the second race on the ballot and will receive a great deal of attention. The MPR News and Star Tribune Minnesota Poll also has provided a glimpse into the race between appointed US Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and State Sen Karin...
Sep 21, 2018
We will state again as we have before Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson has run for statewide of twice before and never received greater than 44.51%, we expect a similar result and it may be even lower. The MPR News and Star Tribune Minnesota Poll has the race...
