3 Weeks!

Hi there, Gus here.

Things are getting busier and busier for my owner Steve Kemp.

There are now just 3 weeks until Election Day! It's amazing to think that it's all soon coming to end and a beginning.

Steve's been talking to voters and attending forums, including this one which is Tuesday night in La Crescent.

Steve's campaign has been sending out mail pieces to talk about his ideas and his background, and Steve's even on the radio and TV.

If you can help talk to voters, or help Get Out the Vote, give Steve a call.

And remember, any campaign can always use more funds to help reach out to the voters we aren't able to meet in person

3 weeks!

~Gus

Apple Fest

Hey there, Gus here.

Well, I didn't get to go to Apple Fest, but I heard a lot of people did and that it was a wonderful parade (and long, perhaps it's good that I didn't go).



There were lots of people at the parade, I'm glad that Steve and the other candidates had a lot of support to help rally up the sidelines.



My owners Linda Nerstad Kemp and Steve Kemp (running for MN House 31B)said that US Representative Tim Walz was along to march as well.



They said they kept going and going, and that there were lots of great chants for all the candidates.



I heard there were lots of great responses from people on the parade route too!

I wish I could have tasted the apple desserts after the parade was over, they smelled good when Linda was making some of them on Saturday.

There are now just 6 weeks left until Election Day!

If you are able, perhaps helping Steve out financially would be your way of helping

Donate Here!

And/or you could help Steve knock on doors or make phone calls to talk to voters about all our DFL candidates.

Contact my owner Steve to arrange to help him out: stevekempfor31b@gmail.com

~Gus

Steam Engine Days!

Hey there, Gus here.



Today was a fun day. I got to go to another parade, and lots of people showed up to watch, and a lots of people showed up to march with my owner Steve Kemp (candidate for MN House 31B), and Minnesota State Senator Sharon Ropes.



We marched through the parade, lots of people seemed interested in me, and I was interested in them. Steve got to meet a lot of people.

Lots of boxes came this week, and I saw my owners pulling signs out of these boxes. They look pretty good.

I hear next week there are apples involved in a place called La Crescent. I'm excited, I hear there will be food after the parade. I hope that I can go.

~Gus

Long time, no See

Hi there, Gus here.

It's been a while since I've posted about things, Steve, my owner, and his campaign.

I thought I'd give you an update.

Steve and his volunteers have been busy over the last month or so, knocking on doors, walking in parades, and it's been hot, so I haven't been able to go to the parades (I have a lot of hot fur). Steve's been meeting so many people, hearing from them, telling them his ideas. Steve was endorsed by the Minnesota Nurses Association. I'm sure that made Linda (my other owner, Steve's wife) quite happy, she's a nurse in La Crosse, WI.

The election isn't too far away. I know that Steve will get busier and busier, talking, knocking, listening to the thoughts of the people.

If you want to help Steve out, take a moment and check out the "Get Involved" section on Steve's website http://stevekemp.org/31B/Involved.html

You can now donate money to his campaign via paypal. Isn't the internet wonderful?

Have a great week!

~Gus

Representative Tina Liebling

Hello there, Gus here.

It's been quite the weekend already, and it's not over yet.

Steve Kemp, my owner, and some other volunteers door knocked around our own Spring Grove yesterday. He was even joined by State Representative Tina Liebling from the Rochester area (30A) who helped knock on some doors. Steve and Tina said that everywhere they knocked they were received well. I'm glad to hear.

I know that my owner Steve Kemp really cares about southeastern Minnesota, and Minnesota as a whole. I know that he'll work hard to represent all of us down here in our corner of Greater Minnesota. There's a reason it's called "Greater" Minnesota. It's because the bluffs and the streams and the rivers and the trees and the places to visit and the people are the greatest!

I know that, if elected, Steve will get down to business and work hard to represent all of us in St. Paul.

I just hope that Steve and Linda take me to another parade soon.

~Gus

Woof

Hello there, Gus here.

It's my birthday!

Have a good 4th of July weekend!

I know that my owner Steve is going to get a lot of exercise walking in the parades around the district tomorrow on the celebrated anniversary of the birth of the United States.

Be safe!

~Gus

Hello there, Gus here.

What a busy few weeks it's been.

Steve's been out knocking on doors, appearing at events, meeting lots of people

As a Spring Grove City Council Member Steve spent part of this past week attending the League of Minnesota Cities Conference in St. Cloud.

Just this Saturday Steve spent part of his day working with volunteers to speak to citizens of Chatfield. Chatfield is an interesting town, its city limits are found in both Fillmore County and Olmsted County. As far as the Minnesota Legislature is concerned, Chatfield also is in two different Senate districts, which means it is represented by two different State Representatives, and two different State Senators.

Senator Ann Lynch(MN-30) and Representative Andy Welti (MN-30B) represent the Olmsted part of Chatfield, and Senator Sharon Erickson Ropes (MN-31) represents the Fillmore County part. Steve (running for the MN-31B seat) joined these dedicated legislators to hear from citizens and to garner support for their campaigns.

Today Steve and the DFL crew had another parade (that they didn't take me to) in Brownsville. Steve said that it went well, and he got to meet even more people.

It's getting busier and busier, I hope that I have a chance again to help out.

~Gus

Busy day

Hi there, Gus here.

Today my owner Steve Kemp was out and about throughout southeastern Minnesota.

He didn't take me along, and I'm jealous, because the first place he stopped was the Houston County American Dairy Association's 20th annual Breakfast on the Farm at the Stan and Bev Meyer family farm just outside of Eitzen. He and Linda got to see cows, tour the farm, eat pancakes and have lots of dairy foods. He even got to meet the Dairy Royalty and he saw Attendant Sophie Wiste demonstrate how to milk on a model cow.


Then he headed up to Winona to help the DFL endorsed Governor candidate, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, kick off a door knock.





Senator Sharon Erickson Ropes and Representative Gene Pelowski were also there to help kick it off. There were a good amount of people there, and many of them headed out to knock on some doors after everyone had a chance to chat, and hear what the candidates had to say.

Then, Steve and Senator Ropes headed down to the Mabel American Legion to attend a lefse-themed fund raiser for a local Relay for Life team. He got to meet many nice people, and he got to eat some tasty pieces of lefse (a Norwegian delicacy) stuffed with other goodies.




Last, but not least, Steve and Senator Ropes traveled to Fountain for their Trail Days parade. They were joined by many other energetic DFLers and walked the nice parade.

I wish I could have gone to the parade, hopefully I'll go to the next one. I'm just glad that Steve had a good time, and got to meet so many great people.

~Gus

It's Official

Hello there, Gus here.

Today my owner Steve Kemp headed over to the Houston County Auditor's office and filed to become the next State Representative from down here in southeastern Minnesota. He released this statement:

“Today I filed to become the next person to represent southeastern Minnesota in the State House of Representatives. I'm running because I believe that we need a new approach to how District 31B is represented. I'm running to help put a stop to the slide that our great state of Minnesota is in. I'm running to help create incentives to develop new investments and small businesses in our local economy. I'm running to help rework how we fund our education system so that some of the burden is removed from the backs of local property owners. I'm running because we need safe roads and bridges to ensure safe travel to our jobs, our schools and our homes. I'm running because Minnesota is facing a financial crisis to the tune of a 6 billion dollar deficit. I'm running because I was given two ears and only one mouth, I want to hear from you, whether we agree or disagree. I'm running because I refuse to see Minnesota become a shadow of its past. I look forward to a substantive campaign.”

Congratulations Steve!

Look, it's official: http://candidates.sos.state.mn.us/

~Gus

Parade Walking Fun!

Hello there, Gus here.

Boy am I tired. I panted and slept all the way back from Preston. It was a great day though, I got to meet so many new people, and my owner Steve Kemp got to meet a lot of new people too.

We walked through my hometown of Spring Grove in the Syttende Mai parade with many local DFLers, and then we drove over the Preston to the Trout Days parade where we joined more DFLers to walk and show our support for DFL candidates!

It was nice weather, and I got petted by quite a lot of people. I'm glad I got to go out and see Steve running for office, I hope to be able to go to more parades, as long as I have water and people that like me.

~Gus

Immigration

Hi there, Gus here.

My owner, Steve Kemp, is a great guy. He cares about Minnesota, and he wants to see it return to its better days. He sent this statement along about some immigration legislation that was recently introduced by his opponent.

~Gus

Recently, Representatives Steve Drazkowski and Greg Davids introduced immigration legislation that Rep. Drazkowski admits is a waste of the legislature's time. This law would require more mandated work with little increased funding. It's a tragic continuation of Governor Pawlenty's "do more with less" philosophy long supported by Representatives Davids, Drazkowski, and Tom Emmer, a philosophy that has brought our state to the dire economic situation that it currently faces. It's a law that enforcement professionals in Minnesota have already said is not needed. Lets not add on to the burden of our local law enforcement departments that are already feeling the tight squeeze of our budget crisis. This proposed law would create a Minnesota where racial profiling is not only encouraged, but legally prescribed. This legislation provides a venue for anyone in the state to sue the government if they believe law enforcement is not making a "reasonable attempt to enforce" the proposed law, how do we measure that? We need to be focusing on our current problems, not creating more. We need to focus on our crumbling roads, our schools, and our budget crisis. Minnesota is not Arizona and that's a good thing. Let's not follow them down the same bumpy road, let's lead Minnesota down a different path, a path to financial soundness and economic prosperity, with safe roads and a good education. As for Arizona and its recent immigration law, let us Minnesotans remain colder in climate, not colder in heart.

Hello there, Gus here.

Steve made it back from Winona and told me all about how great it was to speak with Democrats at a wonderful event. He said he talked to the wonderful candidates, and awesome activists.

He was glad to be received so well, and excited to see so many people interested in taking a part in their political future.

He was glad he was able to have a good conversation with our DFL endorsed Governor candidate, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, as well as State Representative Gene Pelowski, and State Senator Sharon Erickson Ropes.

He said it was windy, but it was a great time near the lake.

~Gus

May Day Celebration

Hello there, Gus here.

This weekend my owner Steve Kemp is going to be attending a little Democratic get together in Winona. It's an event sponsored by the Winona State College Dems and the Winona County DFL. Seems that a lot of people are excited because there will be a lot of great candidates there to speak, including recently DFL endorsed Governor candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher. State Senator Sharon Ropes and State Representative Gene Pelowski will be there, and so will a representative from US RepresentativeTim Walz's campaign.

Steve thinks it will be great to congregate with some long time activists, but also to get to know the up and coming, and the interested. He knows that we can't win without volunteer help.

One of these days I hope to get out on the campaign trail with Steve.

Here's the information that was passed on to me:

____________________
DFL May Day Extravaganza!
Saturday May 1
Jaycee Pavilion - Lake Winona
11:00 am to 2:00 pm


Bring a dish if you can -- but if you can't, no worries!

Join us for some
TASTY FOOD ... LIVE MUSIC ... GREAT CONVERSATION
... FUN WITH FELLOW DEMS ...
and the chance to meet and chat with 2010 DFL CANDIDATES!

We hope to see you there!

Winona State Campus Dems
Winona County DFL
____________________

Food, fun, sounds like it'll be a great time.

~Gus

I heard it was a great weekend in Duluth for the DFL State Convention. My owners Steve and Linda were both up there. They told me that they were able to meet many wonderful people and candidates. They send their congratulations to Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher on her endorsement to be the next Governor of Minnesota. They also extend their congratulations to State Attorney General Lori Swanson, State Auditor Rebecca Otto, and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie on their respective endorsements for re-election. He looks forward to campaigning and working with all the great DFL candidates.

Follow Steve's campaign on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-Kemp/108341302524770?ref=ts

A new approach

Hello there, Gus here.

I keep hearing people ask my owner Steve Kemp what he means by
"a new approach."

This new approach is an approach that champions good listening over
political cheap talk, an approach that celebrates sound leadership
over party politics, an approach that fosters a new dialog of action
that gets results for the citizens of this great state.

We cannot sit back at let the political games cause our state to
suffer. It is very disingenuous for representatives in St. Paul to
attach amendments to bills that have no relevance to the bills being
debated.

Attaching amendments in this fashion and then having to vote
on them is part of what's wrong with our state government. Policy
debates should be about the substance of the bill, not some sideshow
that allows parties to accuse each other of false political missteps.

Scoring cheap political points is easy, governing is hard.

If you want to help my great friend Steve Kemp with his run for the
State House, check out his website http://www.stevekemp.org and get involved.
http://stevekemp.org/31B/Involved.html

He's eager to hear from as many residents as he can here in District 31B.

~Gus

The beginning

It's Easter weekend, and I'm going to start blogging about my good friend Steve Kemp, and his campaign to become the next state representative from southeastern Minnesota in district 31B.

Throw him a bone and send him a campaign donation.

Check out his website