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Judicial retention elections proposal surfaces again at Capitol

by Paul Demko Published: March 5,2013 Time posted: 6:12 pm T ags: Ann Rest, Dave Thompson, judicial elections, Mike Beard, Steve Simon

Legislation that would replace contested judicial elections with an up-or-down vote on sitting judges has been introduced in both legislative chambers. Similar proposals have been put forward in each of the last three bienniums, but failed to gain traction. Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Hopkins, is the lead sponsor of the bill in the House, his third time carrying such a bill. He believes such a change is necessary to limit the influence of special interests on judicial contests. For every other office, talking about outcomes is a natural, normal, rational, healthy thing, Simon said. Judicial elections are special and different. Talking about outcomes is exactly what you dont want. Because the idea of a judge is theyre supposed to not care about the outcome. Simons bill has 10 co-sponsors, including five Republicans. Among them is Rep. Mike Beard, R-Shakopee, who was the lead sponsor of a similar bill that was introduced during the last biennium. Beard was nearly denied endorsement this year by local Republicans in his district in large part because they were angry about his support for retention elections. The chief sponsor of the Senate bill is Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope. There are three Republican co-sponsors on the bill, including Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville. But Thompson says that his reason for signing on to the bill is try and amend it to reflect a hybrid system of competitive and retention elections. Under his proposal, there would still be competitive elections. But any judge who did not draw opposition would then be subject to an up-or-down vote on whether they get to keep their post. Thompson said hes not worried about drawing the ire of GOP activists, some of whom are extremely passionate about

maintaining competitive judicial elections. Im actually trying to preserve their elections while still providing a back-up system to make sure that all judges are given some scrutiny on each elections, Thompson said. I think once they understand what Im trying to do theyll be sympathetic to it. Simon expressed openness to Thompsons idea. Im very interested, he said. The House bill is scheduled for a hearing before the Elections Committee on Tuesday. But Simon isnt optimistic about the bills prospects this year given that policy deadlines are less than two weeks out. Some of the advocates might not appreciate me saying this, but its unlikely to pass this year, Simon said. I think thats pretty clear given the deadlines.

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