Tag: Minnesota Secretary of State

What’s at stake in Tuesday’s election? When it comes to state offices, pretty much everything

Credit: Corey Anderson, MinnPost

So what’s at stake in Tuesday’s election when it comes to Minnesota constitutional offices and the state Legislature?

Kind of a lot — including the chance for Republicans to be elected to a statewide position for the first time in eight years, and for Democrats to regain control of the state Legislature.

Governor

Incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton had long let it be known he had no interest in seeking a third term in the office, which meant lots of people kicked the tires on possible campaigns for governor over the last two years. Open seats are rare enough that anybody who sees themselves as governor had to give it a look.

View the complete November 5 article by Peter Callaghan on the MinnPost.com website here.

Top election official to lawmakers: We need help stopping Russian hackers — now

The following article by Dave Orrick was posted on the Pioneer Press website May 16, 2018:

Minnesota’s top election official on Wednesday publicly pleaded with lawmakers to give him permission to spend $1.5 million in federal funds to protect the state’s voter software from Russian hackers and anyone else trying to muck things up  this election year.

“I have tried to sound the alarm without being alarmist,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said Wednesday. “I am today again sounding the alarm. We need these funds.”

To hear Simon tell it, it should be a no-brainer: The money — all federal funds — has already been approved by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump as part of a nationwide effort to beef up election cyber security in the wake of 2016 attempts to infiltrate a number of states by hackers tied to the Russian government.

Simon just needs the Legislature’s permission to spend it. He said Minnesota is one of the few states where such permission is required. Simon is a Democrat and both the state Senate and House are controlled by Republicans, but he said there’s bipartisan support. Continue reading “Top election official to lawmakers: We need help stopping Russian hackers — now”

Secretary of State Simon target of anti-Semitic online post

So, if you thought we were overstating the brass the haters have now to come out of the swamp (probably not the same one the Republican presidential candidate says, but one covered in a deeper, darker brand of muck), the following article by Lorna Benson was posted on the mpr.org website November 1, 2016:

94d493-20150105-010515inauguration07Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon was the target of an anti-Semitic online post accusing him of plotting to steal the election from Donald Trump.

This comes at a time when anti-discrimination advocates have seen an increase in online hate speech aimed at politicians and journalists.

Simon said he stumbled upon the post on Craigslist late Monday night while scanning his news feed for election-related stories. The anonymous commenter referred to Simon with multiple disparaging terms, such as “Jew scum” and “Little Jew Fagot (sic),” and accused him of working to orchestrate a Democratic win for the state. Continue reading “Secretary of State Simon target of anti-Semitic online post”