As promised when they voted to override the Governor's veto, three Republican Representatives have not been supported by their party in their bid for re-election.
Three Republicans in the Minnesota House who voted to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a transportation bill that included a gas tax increase lost bids to win the Republican Party endorsement at district conventions Saturday.
At the Southwest Middle School here, delegates bypassed Rep. Ron Erhardt, R-Edina, and Rep. Neil Peterson, R-Bloomington, and endorsed challengers to both candidates. Erhardt and Peterson were among six Republicans who joined Democrats in backing the transportation bill, which includes a gas tax increase and a metro-wide sales tax increase for transit.
Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, also failed to get the GOP endorsement at his district convention, though the party didn't endorse a challenger. Peterson said he would run in a GOP primary. Erhardt said he wasn't sure whether he would run in the primary or as an independent candidate.
Three other Republicans voted to override Pawlenty's veto: Kathy Tingelstad of Andover, Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake and Bud Heidgerken of Freeport. Party activists voted to postpone a decision on Tingelstad's endorsement. The endorsing conventions for Hamilton and Heidgerken have not been scheduled.
What do you think about this? Should the party be punishing them for their votes?
21 comments:
I don't really feel bad for them... For selfish reasons yes, but who wants to pay over $3 for gas! It's outrageous... Personally, I wouldn't have voted or endorsed someone from my political party if they voted to raise the gas tax.. But I can understand if the extra money would be used for something good like education.. but I don't think it is, so i'm against it.
paying over $3 is plum loco. I will vote against it! Everything is going up and up why make it so we can't even get where we need to go without paying an arm and leg? They should use that extra money for something more useful
I don't feel sorry for them. Why should we pay over three dollars a gallon for gas, and why wouldn't these people back the governer? Why should these individuals be endorsed by the republicans when they arent supportive of republican ideas.
LOL thats my lame reason
When the republican party backed them so they could be in office. They probally wanted them to agree with what the govenor was doing. So I dont feel bad for them that they lost the republican endorsement.
I dont feel bad for them. Why should we be paying more than three dollars for gas. Its getting to outrageous for gas.
I am surprised by the comments so far.
Do the representatives represent the Republican party or the people?
If the people do not like what they are doing, they will vote them out of office.
Maybe the people in their districts support the transportation bill.
I think that any person in office, representing a particular party should represent that party fully, not oppose them when it comes to important issues like taxes. Although they are representing themselves and what they feel as a person, that politician was voted in by republicans, who expect a republican vote.
On one hand, I feel that the party should punish them for their votes. They are backed by the republican party and should go along with republican beliefs and issues. On the other hand, shouldn't each representative be able to use their own vote to do what they think is best for our state? They should not be punishing them for doing what they thought was best. By doing this, they are sending out a threat to other republicans to vote for certain things or else lose their endorsement.
If you've been campaigning for a particular party, then you should probably vote the way you committed to. Unless the bill crossed party lines in some areas, i don't think that they should have voted against the wishes of their party and the party can do whatever they want to show the rest of the representatives of their party what happens if you don't live up to your promises. They were warned, and this is what they get. Plus, i disagree with this raise in tax anyway, which probably doesn't help my biased opinion.
I think they had the right to punish them. They were warned ahead of time. They can vote which ever way they want but they were aware of the consequences there would be after they voted. Since they were part of the republican party there vote shouldn't have changed since thats the party they have been representing.
I am suprised that they actually went through with this. I figured it was a threat but to actually lose the support of their party pretty much destroys their political career. Either they run independent or not at all, and as an independent they won't get nearly the support of the voters after so many felt betrayed by their vote. Plus paying this much for gas is ridiculous. $80+ for a tank of gas is stupid.
It's a sad truth of our American party system that our representatives and senators are controlled by a party. They are voted for and should be subject to the approval of their constituents. Our electoral systems make it really difficult for most candidates to win a significant election without party support, but it has a negative impact on our society. I'm not interested in if they were following their party. If they were doing what they thought their constituents wanted, then it is the right thing and their party shouldn't have the power to punish them.
they should of know what was going to happen if the bill dint pass and they took a risk and ther ass is on the line ha ha ha
kk i just got my lisence so i can now complain about gas prices. and i think it was good gor the ones that did not go with their party and voted against it. everyonce in a while people have to break away from the crowd and do something and that is what these three did and yes the wont get suported but it is something they bleived in so i think they made the right choice.
K... I dont really like paying $3 something for gas... and i think that there are other places deeper in the earth where we can get oil. but i guess, this is all a part of life. Anyways... people should be able to vote anyway that they want to. That is the best way to go. this is a free country. they may belong to a certain party, but they are still allowed to vote how they want... they don't have to agree with everything!
They are supposedly committed to one party but they choose not to support it? That's stupid. They should vote with their party unless it crosses a fine line and then an exception could be made. These people knew what was expected of them and they chose not to do it, it's their own fault so forget them.
Theses guys didn't go with the party and now they will suffer and rightfully so. If they are elected by a party, they need to do whatever the party tells them to do. It wasn't the right thing to do. They were asking to lose their endorsements from the republicans.
ya i dont really feel bad for them either gas is way to expensive and the cost of living just keeps going up. with gas going up it makes everything a bazillion times harder.. for everyone
i also don't feel sorry for them! they want to raise the gas tax. they backed him. plain and simple, they probably deserve what they got.
you knwo people keep argueing why we shoudl pay more than 3 dollars a gallon for gas guess what soimeon screwed up to get us to where we are. so why dont we do something about that. lifes hard everythign si going up. we have a crappy economy.
They raised the gas tax again what else is new. Who gets nice raises off that MNDOT our state reps. and senators. who voted them in our parents and relatives. Who can get them out of office now, we can. We now have a say in the matter of who we want reperesenting us in office. Do we want higher gas prices? no. I say we get these selfish pigs out of office and get someone in that will understand what we want and not what they want.
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