Mark Ritchie

Mark Ritchie
21st Minnesota Secretary of State
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2007
Preceded by	Mary Kiffmeyer
Personal details
Born	1951 Georgia
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Spouse(s)	Nancy Gaschott
Profession	Secretary of State
Religion	Unitarian

Donald Mark Ritchie^[1] (born December 21, 1951) was elected the 21st Minnesota Secretary of State on November 7, 2006. He was re-elected in 2010. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He grew up in Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University in 1971. He and his wife, Nancy Gaschott, have lived in Minneapolis since 1986.

Early life and career

From 1986 until 2006, Ritchie served as the president of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a non-profit organization working with businesses, churches, farm organizations, and civic groups to foster long-term sustainability for Minnesota’s rural communities. Among other issues, it looked into how global trade rules impact family farmers and rural communities. He also founded the League of Rural Voters.

In 1994, Ritchie was a co-founder of the Global Environment & Trade Study, located at Yale University, which conducted research on the linkages and potential synergies between international trade and the environment. That year, he also organized a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bretton Woods conference. The 1994 conference, held at the Mt. Washington Hotel, featured a return of many of the "old timers" who had attended the 1944 conference or other founding conferences for the postwar economic system.

In 2000 during the presidential election, Ritchie was one of 52 farm and rural activists who formed "Family Farmers’ National Alliance for Nader/LaDuke" to support the presidential campaign of Ralph Nader.^[2]

In 2004, Ritchie took a leave of absence from the Institute to lead National Voice, a national coalition of non-partisan organizations from across the country made up of church, business, and community organizations. National Voice included over 400 Minnesota organizations that formed the Minnesota Participation Project. The national media campaign called "November 2" and the constituent organizations helped voters find new ways to get involved in the elections. Their goal was to register and turn out over 5 million new voters nationwide. As part of this work, he appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Election Night 2004.

Ritchie was asked in 2005 to testify before the Midwest Regional Hearing of the National Commission On The Voting Rights Act about the importance of voting and the challenges minority voters faced in 2004.^[3]

Ritchie was re-elected as Secretary of State on November 2, 2010, defeating Republican challenger Dan Severson.^[4]

Secretary of State

Mark Ritchie was elected Minnesota's Secretary of State in the November 2006 General Election. He was supported by the Secretary of State Project, a progressive organization formed in response to the 2000 presidential election.[1]

In 2008, Ritchie presided over the most publicly scrutinized recount in the history of the United States Senate, the election contest of Al Franken and Norm Coleman. The Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously supported the conclusions of the recount.

Ritchie is also widely credited with increasing the number of overseas military voters in Minnesota elections.

In 2007, Ritchie initially denied knowing how his campaign received a list of e-mail addresses of participants in a state-sponsored program. The list was used to send a citizen an e-mail asking for political contributions. After an investigation by the Legislative Auditor of Minnesota he admitted that he personally transferred the list, which was publicly available, to his campaign.^[5][6] State Republican leaders, citing inconsistencies from him regarding his role in his campaign's procurement of the list, called on him to resign.^[7] The Legislative Auditor determined that he had not broken any laws by allowing his campaign to use the e-mail list because it was public data. However, the Auditor did say that he "did not fulfill his legal obligation to make a full and timely response to a request for information from the Legislative Auditor," although he disputed this statement.^[8]

In January, 2011, he became the president of the century-old National Association of Secretaries of State, and was formally sworn-in on February 12, 2011. His term, succeeding a predecessor who was defeated in the 2010 midterm elections, ends when the organization holds its summer meeting in West Virginia.

2008 election

In Minnesota, the main duty of the Secretary of State is running the state's elections. The 2008 elections were particularly busy for Ritchie and his staff.^[9] The Secretary of State's office oversaw the November 2008 General Election, in which a record number of votes were cast, a statewide recount in a primary race for the Minnesota Supreme Court,^[10] recounts in the general elections contest of several state legislative races, and the disputed and highly-publicized U.S. Senate race.

The 2008 U.S. Senate race initially had a margin of 206 votes separating incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken, out of almost three million votes cast.^[11] The narrow margin in this election mandated a state-wide recount of all ballots. The recount was run by the nonpartisan Minnesota Canvassing Board which was chaired by Ritchie, and included Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin, and Assistant Chief Judge Edward Cleary.^[12][13] Some conservative commentators accused Ritchie of bias during the Senate recount, saying the fact that he accepted contributions and an endorsement from ACORN during his 2006 campaign compromised his integrity as Secretary of State.^[14][15] Most Minnesotans were generally supportive of Ritchie,^[16][17] the canvassing board,^[18][19] and the way that election and recount were handled,^[20] as shown by polls taken at the time^{[21][22][23][24]} and statements from public figures, including Republicans such as Governor Tim Pawlenty and previous Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer.

Election results

2006 Minnesota Secretary of State[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DFL	Mark Ritchie	1049432	49.09	+4.58
	Republican	Mary Kiffmeyer	943989	44.16	-3.40
	Independent	Bruce Kennedy	78522	3.67
	Independence	Joel Spoonheim	64489	3.02	-1.77
	Independent	Write-ins	1211	0.06	0.00

2010 Minnesota Secretary of State[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DFL	Mark Ritchie	999382	49.10
	Republican	Dan Severson	928913	45.64
	Independence	Jual Carlson	105675	5.19

See also

• Politics of Minnesota

References

1. ^ "Public Official data for Ritchie, (Donald) Mark". Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/eis/podetail/po7471.html. Retrieved September 25, 2010. 
2. ^ "Family Farmers Endorse Nader". Nader2000. October 30, 2000. http://webarchives.loc.gov/collections/lcwa0007/20001207080206/www.votenader.com/press/1030farmersendorse.html. Retrieved February 27, 2010. 
3. ^ "Coming Soon". Votingrightsact.org. http://www.votingrightsact.org/homepageimages/highlights.pdf. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
4. ^ Swanson Wins AG Race, Ritchie Re-Elected
5. ^ Brunswick, Mark (October 29, 2007). "Election official allegedly used list improperly". StarTribune.com. http://www.startribune.com/10224/story/1516478.html. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
6. ^ Brunswick, Mark (November 20, 2007). "Ritchie now says he gave e-mail list to campaign". StarTribune.com. http://www.startribune.com/10220/story/1564555.html. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
7. ^ Brunswick, Mark (November 21, 2007). "Secretary of State should resign, GOP chair says". StarTribune.com. http://www.startribune.com/10220/story/1566910.html. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
8. ^ "Secretary of State Mark Ritchie". Auditor.leg.state.mn.us. http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/fad/2008/fad08-01.htm. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
9. ^ "Webcast of Minnesota Canvassing Board Meeting". The Uptake. January 5, 2008. http://www.mogulus.com/theuptake/ondemand/pla_114937688214986509?initthumburl=http://mogulus-user-files.s3.amazonaws.com/chtheuptake/2009/01/05/3e5ec580-789a-4635-a39c-313eed934a6a_2207.jpg&playeraspectwidth=4&playeraspectheight=3. Retrieved January 6, 2008. 
10. ^ "Minnesota Cites Paper Ballots As Factor in Quick Election Recount". VoteTrustUSA. September 13, 2008. http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2956&Itemid=113. Retrieved January 5, 2009. 
11. ^ "Canvassing Board Meeting Official Minutes – Nov. 18, 2008". http://www.sos.state.mn.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=3223. Retrieved February 27, 2010. 
12. ^ Scheck, Tom (November 12, 2008). "Key panel named in Minn. Senate recount". Minnesota Public radio. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/12/judges_justices_named_minn_recount/. Retrieved November 13, 2008. 
13. ^ "Canvassing Board profiles". Minneapolis Star Tribune. December 13, 2008. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/34372479.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUq9_b9b_jEkP:QUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU. Retrieved January 5, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ By 5:45 am, Tuesday, December 9, 2008 (December 9, 2008). "ACORN, meet RICO: Let the prosecution begin". Washington Times. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/09/acorn-meet-rico-let-the-prosecution-begin/. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
15. ^ England, Trent (December 31, 2008). "Opinion: Minnesota Recount Folly". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123068520570944301.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop. Retrieved June 13, 2010. 
16. ^ Jason Linkins (December 13, 2008). "Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty Pushes Back On Voter Fraud Allegations". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/minnesota-governor-tim-pa_n_143564.html?show_comment_id=17988958. Retrieved January 5, 2009. 
17. ^ "Recount judge blasts Wall Street Journal". MinnPost. January 6, 2009. http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2009/01/06/5639/recount_judge_blasts_wall_street_journal. Retrieved January 14, 2009. 
18. ^ Patricia Lopez (January 10, 2009). "Cutting costs may have had own price". Star tribune. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/37371114.html?page=1&c=y. Retrieved January 10, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ Scott W. Johnson (January 7, 2009). "Overtime in the Minnesota Senate Election". Power Line. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/01/022489.php. Retrieved January 7, 2009. 
20. ^ "Pawlenty expresses confidence ahead of recount". Kare11 TV. http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=529764. Retrieved January 5, 2008. 
21. ^ Paul Walsh (January 10, 2009). "Poll on recount: Coleman should concede". Star tribune. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/37334654.html?elr=KArksUUUU. Retrieved January 10, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
22. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #15038". SurveyUSA. January 8, 2009. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=35095bbb-29e4-4d71-bc9c-ee2de28b0400. Retrieved January 14, 2009. 
23. ^ "Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #14981". SurveyUSA. December 5, 2008. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReportEmail.aspx?g=214a21c2-f5f3-4e9e-bffc-d0980f2f81c3. Retrieved January 14, 2009. 
24. ^ "MN-Sen: Minnesotans Oppose Coleman Lawsuit, Favor Seating Franken". Daily Kos. January 10, 2009. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/1/10/133747/921/913/682505. Retrieved January 14, 2009. 
25. ^ "OFFICIAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION – NOV. 7, 2006". Minnesota Secretary of State. http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20061107/ElecRslts.asp?M=S&Races=0332. Retrieved November 19, 2008. 
26. ^ "OFFICIAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION – NOV. 2, 2010". Minnesota Secretary of State. http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20101102/ElecRslts.asp?M=S&Races=0332. Retrieved October 25, 2011. 

External links

• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• League of Rural Voters
• Campaign website
• Ritchie's Testimony before the Midwest Regional Hearing of the National Commission On The Voting Rights Act
• 2006 Election Results
• Minnesota Secretary of State

Political offices
Preceded by Mary Kiffmeyer	Secretary of State of Minnesota 2007 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Ritchie, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1951-12-21
Place of birth	Georgia
Date of death
Place of death