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Alan Page and his opponent differ on politicizing judicial races
October 21, 2004

Supreme Court Justice Alan Page is up for re-election on Nov. 2. His opponent believes judicial candidates should be able to talk more openly about their political leanings and positions. Page does not. (MPR file photo)

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals this week heard arguments about the role party politics can play in judicial campaigns in Minnesota. The court is considering state guidelines which forbid judicial candidates from seeking endorsements from political parties, attending political rallies and directly soliciting campaign funds. Two men campaigning for a seat on the Supreme Court have different opinions about whether candidates should talk about their personal beliefs. Bemidji-based Tim Tinglestad is challenging Justice Alan Page for his seat on the court.

St. Paul, Minn. — (AP)-- For a man who proclaims his faith in God and the truth of the Bible, Tim Tinglestad is pushing the rules.

His campaign for the Minnesota Supreme Court seat held by Justice Alan Page is exploring the limits of what judicial candidates in this state can or should say in their campaigns.

"I carry a biblical world view. I believe in God and I believe in the truth of his word, which is the Bible," Tinglestad said.

Page says he believes strongly that politicizing judicial elections endangers the neutrality of the courts. And he says he's afraid of what would happen if Minnesota had the kind of rough-and-tumble judicial campaigns seen in some other states.

"If we don't have impartiality, we don't have anything," he said.

	Tim Tinglestad

Although the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 ruled that Minnesota's strict restrictions on judicial candidates violated their constitutional freedom of speech, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued new rules last month that essentially keep those limits in place.

"We're in kind of a gray area. Nobody can exactly tell you what the new rules are," Tinglestad said.

Tinglestad has inched out of the traditional mold for judicial campaigning in Minnesota, where most judges are first appointed by the governor, run for re-election unopposed, and try to stay well above the political fray.

Efforts to break that mold altogether are still tied up in the courts.

Greg Wersal, the attorney who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the state's restrictions, said the Minnesota Supreme Court essentially ignored that ruling when it issued its latest rules. Wersal said the new rules probably are unconstitutional, too, but he hasn't decided whether to challenge them.

Wersal asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to resolve some issues the U.S. Supreme Court sent back for more proceedings, including whether judicial candidates can seek or accept endorsements from political parties and whether they can personally solicit campaign funds. Currently, they can't do either in Minnesota.

My personal views really don't matter. ... I'm not here to reshape the law in my image and likeness. - Supreme Court Justice Alan Page

Tinglestad is a Bemidji-based child support magistrate in the judicial district that covers northwestern Minnesota, a kind of specialized judge with limited powers. He's a former assistant Beltrami County attorney, past president of his county bar association, and president of his church.

He said that while he doesn't believe judicial candidates should say how they would rule on specific issues, he does feel free to tell voters about his core values and beliefs.

Page earned a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame through his exploits with the Minnesota Vikings' "Purple People Eaters" defensive line of the 1970s. He became a lawyer while still playing and went on to win his Supreme Court seat in 1992.

"We are at a crossroads, if you will, in our judicial system," Page said. "There are those who would move us in the direction of having our judicial system become very political. If you look around the country at the states where that has happened, it has a dramatic impact on people's perceptions to whether the judiciary is impartial.

"It also tends to attract lots of money into the races, both from the candidates and outside groups. And that, as far as I can tell, is unhealthy," he said.

Tinglestad doesn't go as far as some advocates of judicial free speech would. For example, he wouldn't say how he would rule on cases involving abortion or gay marriage.

But he has strong ideas about the relationship between church and state, and what he believes the Founding Fathers intended.

"They wanted a wall of separation that kept the government from interfering with the church and people who believe in God, but they never believed there should be a wall to prevent people who believe in God from influencing the government," he said.

Page declined to say anything about the propriety of Tinglestad's campaign approach. "I do not have a view to express on it," he said.

To wage his campaign, Tinglestad said, he is relying on his Web site and word of mouth. He's campaigned at religious events such as evangelist Luis Palau's crusade at the state Capitol this summer. He handed out literature in East Grand Forks when a Ten Commandments monument that got Alabama's chief justice removed from the bench came to town.

Wersal - who ran against Page in 1998 and also ran for Supreme Court in 1996 and 2000 - said he asked Tinglestad questions about his views on gun control, abortion and gay marriage, but didn't get answers. He said that shows how candidates still have a "lingering fear" of expressing their views.

"To say you're Christian doesn't answer the questions that people want answered and I think people have a right to know," Wersal said.

The state's largest anti-abortion group, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, hasn't formally endorsed Tinglestad but encourages its supporters to vote for him, MCCL spokesman Bill Poehler said.

Page said he's campaigning by talking to groups around the state, focusing on the work that courts do and the administration of justice. He said he talks about the budget issues facing the courts, the workloads imposed on trial judges and the strains on the public defender system. But he avoids political issues.

"My personal views really don't matter. ... I'm not here to reshape the law in my image and likeness," he said.

Another judicial race on the statewide ballot has political overtones, too. Appeals Court Judge David Minge, a former Democratic congressman, is being challenged by Shakopee attorney Paul Ross.

Republican activist Bonn Clayton and Wersal tried unsuccessfully to persuade the state Supreme Court to remove Minge from the ballot, claiming Minge wasn't eligible to run because the seat was reserved for someone from the 2nd Congressional District, and Minge doesn't live in it. Had they prevailed, Ross would have been the only candidate on the ballot. The high court rejected their effort in August, but still hasn't issued the rationale for that decision.

Wersal said he doubts the justices will do so before the election, but expects Clayton will pursue the case in federal court after the detailed ruling comes out.

(MPR's Cathy Wurzer contributed to this report)

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