The League of Women Voters held a Candidate Forum on September 10, 2020. The video below runs roughly one hour. The candidates for the Forum were from the DFL & the Republican Party of Minnesota.
Senate District 66 Candidates are Greg Copelandan East Side Republican, and the 33 year Career Politician John Marty (has served since January 1987).
House District 66A Candidatesare Republican Brett Rose, and the Career Politician DFLer Alice Hausman.
House District 66B Candidates are the Republican Mikki Murrayand Athena Hollins the DFLer who knocked off the Endorsed Career Politician John Lesch in the August Primary.
September 11th is a time to remember what happened 19 years ago in New York City, Washington DC, a field in Pennsylvania, and to where ever you were at on 9/11/01 when this country was attacked for being the Beacon of Freedom in the World. We came together to help one another out. We praised the self-less actions of our First Responders, and we Republicans still do. It was a day to remember and also a day for action…
September 11th 2020 is also a day to remember the past, recent times (Late May 2020 to now), and a day of action.
A Day of Action
It’s Campaign Season and many voters have a week before they can start voting by absentee ballot on September 18th to vote in the General Election. So we’re having a Meet & Greet on Sept 11th, at Tin Cup’s from 6-8 pm. Feel free to mask up and stop by. Tin Cup’s has a great all-you-can-eat Fish Fry every Friday, and Gidget Bailey is serving the Deep Fried Tacos from last year’s Trash Wars Fundraisers. So if you can’t make it to the event check out the websites and contact info of our endorsed candidates as well as Tin Cup’s menu below.
By the way, if you are wondering about the 911 of Greg’s website name, it is his birthday. So it’s his birthday on September 11th, wish him a Happy Birthday.
He wanted the Headline for the post to be “John Marty’s 1st Retirement Party,” as John Marty has been in the Minnesota Legislature since January 1987. It’s time to help John Marty Career Politician to find a new career.
We’re having our Meet & Greet at Tin Cup’s at the corner of Rice St & Maryland Ave W in St Paul. Gidget Bailey, the owner, is a leader in the North End Neighborhood. She has held a number of Grassroots Causes, and fundraisers for those less fortunate or those who had an unexpected expense.
She welcomes all who come to her business. She has a great menu, free wi-fi, great drink specials, and a great neighborhood atmosphere.
This year has been tough on neighborhood businesses as the China Virus has hit many businesses small and great with mostly uncertainty and a lack business. Gidget has an online ordering service which you can stop by and pick something up to go.
Women’s Suffrage was borne out of the American Abolitionism Movement
On August 18, 1920 the State of Tennessee became the 36th state to pass the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution guaranteeing Women the Right to Vote. Minnesota was the 15th State to pass it on September 8, 1919.
Seneca Falls Convention & Declaration of Sentiments
It wasn’t the first attempt at passing an amendment for women to be allowed to vote, in fact it started up about 72 years earlier in Seneca Falls, New York at a Women’s Rights Convention started by Lucretia Mottand Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They were abolitionists who turned to advocate for women’s rights. At the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention Mott, Stanton and other women put together a list modeled after the Declaration of Independence called the “The Declaration of Sentiments.”
The Declaration of Sentimentsoffered examples of how men oppressed women such as:
preventing them from owning land or earning wages
preventing them from voting
compelling them to submit to laws created without their representation
giving men authority in divorce and child custody proceedings and decisions
preventing them from gaining a college education
preventing them from participating in most public church affairs
subjecting them to a different moral code than men
aiming to make them dependent and submissive to men
Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments at the convention and proposed women be given the right to vote, among other things. Sixty-eight women and 32 men signed the document—including prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass—but many withdrew their support later when it came under public scrutiny. (source History.com)
Post Civil War and Reconstruction Period
Following the Civil War the late President Abraham Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan had been altered as he was no longer around to over see it. The 13th Amendment had been passed in 1865 ending slavery officially, the 14th and 15th Amendments had been passed to grant Civil Rights and Equal Protection under the law; and Voting Rights to former slaves respectively.
At the time Women thought they could register to vote with the passage of the 15th Amendment’s language allowing voting rights. The language of the article did not mention gender so it was vague, but since it wasn’t explicitly directing women to be able to vote, any woman who did was arrested. This is when Susan B Anthony was arrested in 1872.
Susan B Anthony was an abolitionist who was also a member of the Temperance Movement. The Temperance Movement was a social movement to curb alcohol consumption and eventually they succeeded to prevent the sale and production of alcohol. So before you shout hooray for Susan B Anthony think of how she helped to organize crime in America in an indirect way by helping bootleggers to smuggle illegal alcohol in the early part of the 20th century. The amount of misery heaped upon Americans not being able to have a drink of alcohol makes today’s social distancing and mask wearing pale in comparison.
Susan B Anthony died in 1906 at the age of 86, and 14 years later the 19th Amendment was named in her honor.
Split in Suffrage Movements
During Reconstruction the Suffrage for Black Men went one way and Women’s Suffrage went another way. There was a difference in the abolitionists. Most advocated for Voting Rights for Black Men which resulted in the 15th Amendment.
One could question why this was so but the industrial revolution had not hit full stride yet, which one could argue was the reason why it took so long for the cessation of slavery to occur. During the industrial age it really didn’t matter who was pushing a button on an assembly line. Also sentiments about what a woman’s place in the household was tied to family life and traditions held in the church.
World War 1 and Suffragette Parades
After World War 1 a lot of the old world had fallen away. You can see this in the period piece on PBS’ Downton Abbey. Limited Automation, and women working in traditional men’s fields to produce war material for the war effort brought out a freedom women had not seen before.
One of the ways in which women pushed their cause was to hold massive Suffragette Parades in some of the larger cities in the United States. Many women were arrested after these parades for demonstrating in public which was still illegal.
Suffragette Parade in NY City
Dr. Anna Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, lead an estimated 20,000 supporters in a women’s suffrage march on New York’s Fifth Ave. in 1915 . (AP Photo)
100 Years Later, Women on the Ballot is Common Place
Its been one hundred years since women were given the right to vote and it’s not a big deal as it was then. There have been many women candidates, legislators, businesswomen, and even astronauts. Women have come a long way in this country.
Here are a list of current women legislators and candidates from the Republican Party:
Rep Mary Franson, Senator Carrie Ruud, Senator Julie Rosen, Senator Carla Nelson, Senator & Former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, Senator Karin Housley, Rep Deb Kiel, Senator Michelle Benson, former Mayor of Woodbury Mary Stephens, Margaret Stokely, Georgia Dietz, Amy Anderson, Sharon Anderson, to name a few.
And our very own HD 66B Republican Candidate Mikki Murray.
Information for this article came from History.com, and from the Secretary of State of Minnesota’s Candidate Filing website.
August 11th is the Minnesota State Primary. Polls open at 7:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM. If you are in line at 8:00 PM you’ll be able to vote. An Election Judge will come out pick up voting signs and be the last person in line at 8 pm until the line comes into the building, if that is the case, then they will lock the door to entry.
If you enter a polling location without a mask you will not be barred from voting. There will be plenty of hand sanitizer, and masks available if you want one. Voters will be socially distanced so mind the stickers on the floor.
If you are unsure of your polling location use the link below. Plan ahead of time where it is. Your poll location might not be in the same place it was last time so make sure by clicking the link. Also plan for extra time to vote. Employers must allow you to go to vote, just let them know you are leaving.
Sia Lo is the Endorsed Republican Candidate for MN’s Congressional District 4 (CD 4). He does have primary challengers so it is important to make sure he wins. Sia knows what it is to live in a place freedom is not taken for granted. So make sure Sia is your Freedom Fighter on the November 3rd ballot.
Sia Lo
Vote for Sia Lo the Endorsed Republican Candidate for MN Congressional District 4
Jason Lewis
Jason Lewis, former Congressman from MN Congressional District 2 is the Endorsed Republican US Senate Candidate. Jason Lewis has primary challengers too so make sure he is your Freedom Fighter on the November 3rd ballot as well.
MNGOP Endorsed US Senate Candidate Jason Lewis
Vote For Mikki Murray
Mikki Murray is the Endorsed Republican Candidate in MN House District 66B. She does not have a primary challenger, neither does the MN Senate District 66 Endorsed Republican Candidate Greg Copeland, but in the infinite wisdom of Ramsey County Elections Office they list Mikki Murray but not Greg Copeland nor his opponent Senator John Marty.
Mikki Murray
Endorse Republican Candidate for MN House District 66B
Wuhan Virus Precautions at the Polling Location
The Wuhan Virus aka Covid 19 has made voting in the Primary a bit different this year. Many people have opted for either voting early or by absentee ballot (Mail in ballots are not absentee ballots, a distinction in a future article).
Here is a video directed to Election Judges from Ramsey County Elections. It shows the precautions they will take and what voters can expect at their polling location.
Once again you can vote if you are maskless, if an election judge or someone else gives you an issue make a note of it. Please keep your voting experience peaceful, do not stoop to the level of an agitator.
Election Judges Needed for General Election!!!
Election judges who are Republicans are still needed for the General Election. Due to the excessive cleaning involved in polling locations more election judges are needed, especially Republicans.
Some Myths:
I have to take a pay cut to work the election. Employers and unions will usually give you time off to be an election judge and often will make up the difference in salary of what election judges make in a day. An Election Judge will make $170 in a day.
It is too time consuming. When there are enough election judges sometimes you can do a half day of work as an election judge. Currently there aren’t enough balance of Republicans to Democrats to staff a polling location. So when you sign up you will most likely have to be there from 6 am to 9pm. Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm.
You can schedule a time for lunch and dinner, bring snacks, and something to read at your break. No phones nor mobile internet devices are allowed in the polling location, so on your break you can check up on email and such.
The best thing about being an election judge is the fellowship with fellow judges. No political talk is allowed at the polling location. So it is a chance to get to know the people you work with.
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