Wondering what issue excites the GOP base in Southern Minnesota? The Republican activist base has immigration on the brain, according to Dick Day, one of four Republicans seeking their party's endorsement to run against first-term incumbent Tim Walz.
UPDATE: Day is on message in the Rochester Post Bulletin story, Congressional candidate Dick Day campaigns in Austin (and its companion story--same text--for the Rochester area, Congressional candidate Dick Day campaigns in Rochester)
State Sen. Dick Day toured a portion of the First Congressional District on Wednesday to unveil his first proposal as a candidate to unseat U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.
Day, a Republican from Owatonna, stopped in Rochester, Austin, Worthington, Fairmont, Mankato and Owatonna to discuss his commitment to reclaiming control of America's borders.
Day said illegal immigration is one of the most commonly and passionately voiced concerns that he hears from voters, and he vowed that a reform plan will be the first bill he authors if elected to Congress next year.
Read the rest.
The Fairmont Sentinel's version: Day touts 4-point plan (for immigration, that is).The Owatonna People's Press has Senator proposes tough laws on illegal immigration. The OPP has Day citing the Pawlenty's administration's late 2005 report on the cost of undocumented workers in Minnesota; the report did not look at the group's financial contributions to the state's economy.
The Worthington Globe reports Day demands immigration reform. The article is more of the same, with the exception of the last paragraph:
Day, who announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress, is one of three Republicans aiming to defeat Walz. Also running are Mark Meyer, who chairs the Lake Crystal school board, and Brian Davis, a physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
Where's Randy Demmer? That's got to smart after the Hayfield Republican lent $95,000 to his own campaign.[end update]
Dick Day offers his take in a story broadcast by Mankato's KEYC-TV:
The man hoping to become the next congressman for the first congressional district is laying out his legislative agenda.State Senator Dick Day made a stop in Mankato today to talk about his major platform illegal immigration.His motto is Strong Borders, Strong Future and Senator Day hopes to write a bill to overhaul the entire immigration system.
Senator Dick Day of Owatonna says, ''I can assure you every place that I've went in the first district eight out of ten people when I sit down and say what's your biggest concern they say illegal immigration. This goes to the surface and they start talking about it and are very unhappy about it.''
Senator Day hopes to run against current congressman Tim Walz in the 2008 November election. Also on his agenda Day has asked Governor Pawlenty for a special session to help flood victims in Southern Minnesota.
First, Day has to snag the Republican endorsement in competition with three other contenders. We're curious how the plea for a special session sits with those in the GOP who are urging Pawlenty to avoid bringing the legislature back to St. Paul to address solutions for the problems posed by the I35 bridge collapse and Southeastern Minnesota Flooding.
As we recall, former representative Gil Gutknecht talked last year about how he heard more questions about immigration than any other issue. Our friend McPherson Hall at Minnesota Central took a look at Gutknecht's signature issue back in the waning days of October 2006. Perhaps Day is running into the same group of Southern Minnesotans.
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