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By Staff Writer
One of the bright spots in the election was the defeat of state Sen. Dean Johnson of Willmar. Johnson, a 28-year legislative veteran and the only state senator to have led both the Senate’s Republican and DFL caucuses, was the chief obstructionist blocking the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. Several groups contributed to Johnson’s defeat including Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the Taxpayers League and Sportsmen for Change. His admission to “sanding off the truth” regarding the Minnesota Supreme Court judges (reported first in the Pro-Family News) dogged him throughout the campaign and were cited as one of the key reasons for his defeat by pundits and the media. “We told Sen. Johnson that his constituents supported the Minnesota Marriage Amendment,” said Chuck Darrell, director of communications for the Minnesota Family Council (MFC). “Instead of listening, he orchestrated the obstruction of the Marriage Amendment in three consecutive legislative sessions. Now the people have held him accountable.” After Johnson blocked the Marriage Amendment in the 2006 legislative session, the MFC moved aggressively with a two-part plan to register and educate values voters state wide, including Johnson’s home district. In June the MFC announced Election IMPACT, a nonpartisan, church-based effort to register and mobilize people of faith to vote in the November elections. Voters were not told who to vote for. However, they were informed about the importance of people of faith to vote their values. As the election grew nearer, the MFC launched an issues advocacy direct mail campaign in Johnson’s district. One mailing highlighted Johnson’s vote against requiring public libraries and public schools to install pornography filters on personal computers. Another focused on his vote to block parental access to children’s medical treatment records concerning drug abuse, pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. In the final days before the election, the MFC distributed thousands of Voter’s Guides throughout Johnson’s district. The MFC concluded its efforts with a get-out-the-vote auto-dial and e-mail campaign on election eve. In early November it was apparent that Johnson’s bid for re-election was faltering. “In a battle for the political life of state Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson,” wrote Conrad DeFiebre of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “the DFL Party has mounted an expensive advertising campaign in his Willmar-area district touting his ‘proudly pro-life’ record and support for traditional marriage.” The Tribune also reported that through Oct. 23, the DFL party had spent nearly $94,000 on ads—some on WCCO Radio—that extolled Johnson’s 100 percent ratings from MCCL in 2003 and 2005 and said he “has always known that marriage is between one man and woman” and “will make sure that remains the law in Minnesota.” The MFC believes the combination of Election IMPACT, Voter’s Guides, mailings and get-out-the-vote auto-dials to be an effective means to promote family- friendly legislation. “Although Johnson insisted that voters wanted to talk about ‘bread and butter issues,’ he spent the last weeks of his campaign running from his record and singing our tune, trying to convince voters to ‘have faith in him to continue to defend traditional marriage,’” Darrell said. Johnson “dove on the grenade” to protect the rest of the Democratic caucus said Roger Moe, former Senate Majority Leader. By blocking full senate votes on issues like abortion and the Marriage Amendment, Johnson protected other DFL senators from having to cast votes their constituents might not have liked. However |
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Minnesota Family Council / Minnesota Family Institute 2855 Anthony Lane South, Minneapolis MN, 55418-3265 Phone 612.789.8811, FAX 612.789.8858, www.mfc.org |