Yesterday, Pawlenty sets special election date in Senate District 26 for January 26; with a January 12 primary should one be required. For now, no DFL candidate has come forward, but contenders in the Independence and Republican parties are declaring their interest. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State's page, candidates may file for office between December 23, 2009 and December 29, 2009.
The Waseca County News reports that Mayor Srp throws hat in Senate ring. After an unsuccesful 1996 bid for the Minnesota house as a DFLer, Srp switched parties to the IP. Waseca is home to high-profile Independence Party leader and former Democratic congressman Tim Penny. The article notes:
Srp said he talked with IP Party First District chair Tom Viken of Rochester and Tim Penny of Waseca, former Democratic representative who joined the Independence Party, before making his decision.
“With Republicans and Democrats alike, and the way things are going, frustrations levels are high and people are downright angry about how the system has been working, so it’s time for a change,” Srp said.
He believes that change can come from his candidacy as an IP candidate.
Will being an Independence Party candidate help Srp in the district? Penny, who now heads the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation in Owatonna, remains popular in the area. Dean Barkley, the IP's 2008 U.S. Senate candidate, captured over 20 percent of the vote in Waseca and the two townships in Waseca County that are part of the district. Barkley received 21.34 percent of the vote on Steele County. In the House Distict 26B sections of Rice County, Barkley's support ranged from the teens in DFL-leaning precincts in Faribault to 30 percent of the vote in rural Richland Township.
In 2002, Tim Penny won Steele County and all part of Waseca County within the district, but did nt fare quite as well in sections of Rice County with the Senate District. Other IP candidates in other years and races did not fare as well as Penny or Barkley.
The Waseca County article notes that former Medford mayor Dan Kaiser has decided against running in the senate race, sticking with his original plan to ran as a Republican against incumbent DFL state representative Patti Fritz. Fritz will not run for the open state senate seat.
Waseca businessman Mike Parry has announced he would sek the Republican endorsement in th open Senate seat. A Waseca city council member from 2004 until his defeat in 2008, Parry had earlier announced for the 26A seat now held by first term representative Kory Kath.
Meanwhile, Senator Day's spin from legislator to lobbyist continues to be criticized. Closest to home, the Rochester Post Bulletin published an Editorial: Time to close legislator-to-lobbyist door.
Image: For an hour, for a lifetime, for a Republican or Independence Party candidate, Waseca is the place.
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