Minnesota tea party leaders oppose an election reform

According to Gavel Grab, a proposal to shield Minnesota judges from the influence of big-money politics in elections has drawn opposition from leaders of a group called the Minnesota Tea Party Patriots.

A bipartisan group of reformers is supporting a proposed   constitutional amendment to replace partisan elections with up-or-down retention elections and to set up a non-partisan commission to evaluate judges near the ends of their terms.

Tea party organizer Tony Backdahl contended that if contested elections were eliminated, citizens would be left out, according to a Minnesota Public Radio report.

“We keep giving all of our power, the people’s power, over to a select group — who, by the way doesn’t always appear to be non-biased —  and then we end up giving away our liberties,” Backdahl said.

Former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, a leading supporter of the reform amendment, said it is intended “to keep partisan politics,  special interest money and special interests out of the election of judges,” according to a St. Paul Pioneer Press article. You can learn more about the ongoing debate from Justice at Stake’s Minnesota news page.