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  Penny, Timothy J. "Tim"
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationMN Independence  
 
NameTimothy J. "Tim" Penny
Address
Albert Lea, Minnesota , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born November 19, 1951 (72 years)
ContributorThe Oncoming Storm
Last ModifedBarack O-blame-a
Nov 25, 2012 12:30am
Tags Lutheran - Straight -
InfoDuring his time in Congress, Tim Penny often reached out to the opposition, touting deficit reduction when Democrats rarely talked about it. While his fiscal conservatism and moderate views sometimes angered Democratic leaders, by the early 1990s, his deficit-cutting message was getting through.

He helped President Bill Clinton push through a deficit reduction package in 1993 _ then announced the next day that he would not seek a seventh term. He has since co-authored three books critical of the political system and now runs a policy program with former Republican U.S. Rep. Vin Weber at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

He also served on President Bush's bipartisan advisory panel on reforming Social Security. Since leaving office, Penny has worked for public relations firms and think tanks, including the libertarian Cato Institute and most recently, as co-director of the Humphrey Institute.

In 2000, Penny briefly considered running for Senate as a Democrat. Ventura unsuccessfully tried to recruit him to run on the Reform Party ticket. Ventura later left the Reform Party for the Independence Party.

When Ventura decided not to run for another term, he again urged Penny to run _ this time as an Independence Party member. Penny agreed. He faced off against two of the state's most powerful lawmakers in Democrat Roger Moe, the 20-year leader of the Senate, and Republican Tim Pawlenty, the second-in-command of the House.

The Green Party candidate was Ken Pentel.

He ran neck-and-neck with Pawlenty and Moe, but finished a distant third after partisans returned to their roots following the death of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. Pentel finished with less than 5% of the vote.

Campaigns

Tim Penny was elected as a Democrat to the Minnesota Senate in his Republican-leaning southern Minnesota district in 1976.

In 1982, he won a hotly contested race for the 1st Congressional District, where he ended up serving until 1994. The Independence Party whose banner Penny is running under this time around shuns political action committee money. Their top candidate has decided to go along with the party's wishes, which coupled with the fledgling party's lack of money, could put him at a disadvantage. But so far, he has been able to keep up with his opponents.

He's billing himself as being in the "sensible center" _ an amorphous territory that Pawlenty and Moe are trying to force him to define.


JOB APPROVAL POLLS

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Jan 07, 2007 09:00am News Independence Party's Penny says he'll back McCain  Article Eric 
Feb 03, 2005 12:00am News Tim Penny gets a mention in speech  Article Eric 
Dec 17, 2004 12:00am News Tim Penny paints dark portrait for president  Article Eric 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 7.00000 Average

FAMILY

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  03/02/2004 MN US President - IP Caucus Lost 0.25% (-40.86%)
  11/05/2002 MN Governor Lost 16.18% (-28.19%)
  09/10/2002 MN Governor - MNI Primary Won 95.70% (+91.41%)
  11/03/1992 MN District 1 Won 73.85% (+47.96%)
  09/15/1992 MN District 01 - DFL Primary Won 91.56% (+86.59%)
  11/06/1990 MN District 1 Won 78.14% (+56.28%)
  11/08/1988 MN District 1 Won 70.12% (+40.65%)
  11/04/1986 MN District 1 Won 72.38% (+44.75%)
  09/09/1986 MN District 1 - DFL Primary Won 92.62% (+85.25%)
  11/06/1984 MN District 1 Won 56.99% (+13.98%)
  09/11/1984 MN District 1 - DFL Primary Won 91.95% (+87.35%)
  11/02/1982 MN District 1 Won 51.17% (+3.26%)
  09/14/1982 MN District 1 - DFL Primary Won 85.30% (+77.17%)
  11/04/1980 MN State Senate 30 Won 63.75% (+27.49%)
  11/02/1976 MN State Senate 30 Won 51.94% (+3.89%)
SPECULATIVE, DID NOT RUN
  09/12/2006 MN US Senate - MNI Primary Lost 0.00% (-51.61%)
ENDORSEMENTS
MN US President - Nov 04, 2008 R John McCain
MN US Senate - MNI Primary - Sep 09, 2008 MNI Dean M. Barkley
US President - R Primaries - Jun 03, 2008 R John McCain
MN US Senate - D Primary - Sep 12, 2006 DFL Patricia "Patty" Wetterling
MN House Seat 45B - Nov 02, 2004 MNI Brian J. Hanf
MN District 6 - Nov 02, 2004 DFL Patricia "Patty" Wetterling
MN US Senate - DFL Primary - Sep 12, 2000 D Rebecca Yanisch
WI District 3 - Nov 08, 1994 R Steve Gunderson