Margaret Cavanaugh and Rick Weible, worked very hard on bringing Bloomington back from a liberal direction and a crushing future tax system this fall. Mary Jane Smetanka at the Strib took note of the success.
Bloomington City Council members like to say their jobs are nonpartisan and that party politics have no place in making sure streets are plowed and budgets are balanced. But city resident Margaret Cavanaugh, who has watched council decisions with increasing displeasure, has a different view.
And as a leader among Third Congressional District Republicans, she has the power to do something about it.
"A Republican is someone who has a set of values and principles that they act upon," she said. "When someone votes in concert with people who are Democrats, it's hard to say they're Republican."
In what observers say was an unprecedented push to get conservatives elected to a suburban City Council, the state and district Republican Party put money and muscle into this fall's race for Bloomington City Council, and one of the three candidates endorsed by the party upset an incumbent.
Rod Axtell, considered the City Council's most conservative member, lost to newcomer Thomas Hulting by a scant 11 votes out of 2,179 cast. Axtell, a lifelong Republican, had been treasurer for former Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign committee since 2001.
