Jack Graham runs for Supreme Court
Rachel Reabe, 10/14/96

If you want to run for a seat on Minnesota's highest court, you need only be a resident of the state for 30 days. It's one of the shortest residency requirements for a state supreme court. It's never been much of an issue in Minnesota, where supreme court races are traditionally low profile, dignified affairs. But this year Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson faces a challenge from a Minnesota attorney who has spent the last few years in Canada. Rachel Reabe of our Mainstreet Radio team has the story:

John Remington Graham, or Jack as most people know him, is back in his hometown of Brainerd campaiging for a seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court. At a local cafe where he's meeting local supporters, Graham, a former county attorney, stops to greet old friends.

l03 How are you all doing, Hi Robert.....How've you been? Hi Ron, boy what a family here."

After a cup of coffee and a round of handshakes, Graham gets down to business.

l07 "I'm running for the office ofthe associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court....ll2...I need about a million votes and hope I can get them.....fade

Graham, who has lived in Quebec the last couple of years, says he returned to Minnesota this summer to run for supreme court because of the urgent need for judicial reform. He says he easily fulfills the 30 day residency requirement and would be suprised if anybody questioned his commitment to his home state. l840 "I'm a fourth generation Minnesotan. 2114 "I'm no stranger around here, I'm not just coming in from another state like a carpetbagger, Minnesota is my home. 3227 "It's a non issue and everybody knows its a non issue."

Graham's opponent, Associate Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson, says he has not raised Graham's residency as an issue but voters are asking questions.

ll06 I'm aware of the issue because people would come up to me and say does he live in Minnesota? How can he run for the court if he lives in Quebec? I don't really know the answer to that questions, I haven't focused on it that much."

Anderson, who was appointed by Govenor Arne Carlson to the supreme court in 1994, says if Graham has lived in Minnesota for 30 days, he is eligible to run for the supreme court.

l722 "If that's what the law is, then a candidate shouldnt be penalized in terms of getting on the ballot. Whether they want somebody who has only been a resident for 30 days, that becomes another issue. l807 I say somebody who has been here in Minnesota and has a long term residency and has a long term commitment to the state. I think that counts for something and I think that's important."

This year's election isn't the first time Jack Graham has come home to run for office. In 1990 when he was living in Quebec, he returned to Brainerd at the llth hour to run for county attorney. Graham pulled off a stunning upset, beating the long time incumbent for the job. After serving a single term marked by public clashes with the state attorney general's office and local law enforcement, he was defeated and moved back to Quebec. Graham who has practiced law in fifteen states and lectured on constitutional law in Canada and the United States says his background makes him a stronger candidate for office.

53 "Benjamin Franklin , before he became president of Pennsylvania was away in France for years doing diplomatic work. He had international standing and you don't get international standing by being a homebody. You can't say John Remington Graham can't be associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Cort because he's been published and earned international standing. I mean how silly to ask that kind of stuff."

University of Minnesota political scientist Steven Smith says political residency requirements were established to make sure candidates for public office have a local connection to the voters. He says a major part of a politicians bag of tricks is his ability to create a genuine empathy for the constituency.

838 There are people throughout our history that have moved from place to place and successfully built a career on that basis but its a dangerous move that has to be done with great care and sometimes you have to overcome that liability to make a successful campaign.

Minnesota law broadly defines residence as a place a person usually sleeps or a place where one would return to. The law makes it clear people don't lose their residency just because they are away, as long as they plan to evenually return. Even though residency is raised as an issue in Minnesota politics, it rarely becomes a legal challenge.

I'm Rachel Reabe for Mainstreet Radio