In the Matter of Public Safety Matters, Part 4

In this series, I chronicle the activities of Public Safety Matters Campaign, a police-union-backed effort to defeat Republican candidates for the Minnesota State Legislature in 2012.

Until very recently, Republicans and police unions tended to get along.  In Part 2 of this series, I note how Republican Tim Pawlenty received police union support in both of his runs (2002, 2006) for Minnesota Governor.

 

Across the river, Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin famously took on public employee unions after his 2010 election.  Less well known was his exemption of public safety unions (police and fire) from those efforts.  Quoting one media report, 

Police and firefighter unions were left out of the mix when the 2011 law placed limits on what public employee unions could negotiate for in their contracts.

It appears that the once-close relationship has broken down.

 
One of the targets of the “non-partisan” Public Safety Matters group in 2012 was Eagan Republican State Rep. Doug Wardlow.  Rep. Wardlow lost his seat by a mere 912 votes out of more than 23,500 votes cast in his southeast suburban Metro race.

In races that close, just about anything could be said to have made the difference between victory and defeat.  Public Safety Matters spent $15,537.36 on a direct mail campaign to help defeat Rep. Wardlow.  That amount was part of $180,329 spent by outside liberal groups to defeat his re-election effort, according to reporting done by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  Rep. Wardlow’s race was one of the 10 most expensive races for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012. 

Doug responded to Part 3 of this series with a note, 

Thanks, Bill, for shedding light on this.  The lies were clearly intentional and could hardly have been more brazen (in court, the people doing the lying would essentially be presumed to have read their footnote citations that don't support their claims).

In my case, among many other outrageous lies and half-truths, Public Safety Matters claimed that freezing LGA affected Eagan's police force. But Eagan does not receive any LGA.  Never has, as far as I know.  This was a demonstrably false claim about a factual matter susceptible to knowledge as to its truth or falsity.

Everyone in my campaign sensed that the Public Safety Matters attacks were the most damaging of the dozens and dozens of hit pieces we had seen.  But they came so late that our campaign could do little to respond.

Doug and his allies had little time to respond because the group dropped its mailers in the final days of the campaign.  It was not until the group made its filings in 2013 that we found out who was behind the effort and what were their targets.

Doug also brings to my attention a letter to the editor (12^th item) of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  It appeared in print on November 1, 2012, a few days before the election, 

As a retired Eagan police officer with more than 32 years of service, I have come to know state Rep. Doug Wardlow of Eagan as an honest representative who acts with integrity and has a proven record of support for law enforcement and public safety.

That is why I am outraged by what arrived in mailboxes this week. "Public Safety Matters," a self-proclaimed "non-partisan" organization, sent out negative campaign literature making false and misleading allegations questioning Doug's character and commitment to ensuring public safety in Eagan.  I understand that the same group is distributing similar literature unfairly attacking other Republican representatives, including Kathy Lohmer in Lake Elmo.

In fact, Doug supported several bipartisan initiatives that made our communities safer.  Dangerous synthetic drugs can no longer be sold in Minnesota, keeping them out of the hands of our youth.  Sex offenders can no longer be released to a halfway house without community notification. And Doug's work on the Judiciary Committee ensured that our court system received no cuts, so there is less delay trying and incarcerating dangerous criminals.

Moreover, none of the specific allegations made by this organization are true.  They claim that Doug voted to cut funds to the crime lab, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and battered women's services.  But no funds were directed to be cut from any of these.  You can read this for yourself by looking up Senate File 1047.  I challenge anyone to read the bill and find a single reference to the crime lab, the BCA or battered women's services.

Further, Eagan does not receive any local government aid from the state, so it is outrageous to suggest that freezing local government aid affected Eagan's law enforcement budget or property taxes.  In fact, Eagan has not had to make any reductions in its police force.

I trust in Rep. Doug Wardlow's judgment and know that he would not do anything that would compromise the safety of the people of Minnesota or his hometown.

Bill White, Eagan

As former law enforcement, Mr. White was able to be a discerning consumer of such political “speech.”  A more typical low information voter comes away with a false message about Republicans and law enforcement.  You can set your calendar by it:  check your mailbox in late October-early November for hit pieces against Republican candidates from groups you have never heard from making claims that are without merit. 

The GOP’s commitment to the Queensbury-rules’ style of campaigning means we can never fight fire with fire.  The best we can do is to be ready when it happens in 2014, and respond immediately.