Today's New Ulm Journal and Mankato Free Press both carry news of Allen Quist's entry into the contest for Republican endorsement in the special election for Minnesota House District 19A.
Bluestem's cartoonist friend Ken Avidor, a longtime Quist watcher by way of Dump Bachmann, offers his image of Quist jumping on his pterosaur and riding out of retirement to the Minnesota State Capital. Quist, who believes that people and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time, has made academic standards an issue in his candidacy.
New Ulm Journal: Quist will abide
Josh Moniz writes in Quist bid for House 19A seat official:
His platform will focus on small business and agriculture in southern Minnesota. He said he opposes tax increase as a solution and believes regulations reform could have big benefit for the district and region. He said a four-lane expansion of Hwy 14 would be important in many of his proposals, but would not be a main platform focus.
"The irony of it is I was working on trying to get Hwy 14 funded back in the 1980s," said Quist.
He declined to say how he would vote on a gas tax increase, but said a fully funded state transportation system is essential to his small business and agriculture focus.
Quist said he will also focus on the state's welfare programs and the state's education standards. . . .
. . .Quist admitted it was unusual that he was running for state office again. He said he had thought he would retire after last year's unsuccessful congressional race, but found he could not spend retirement simply doing something like golfing.
Read the rest at the Journal. In a companion fact box, Moniz outlines the endorsing convention process:
The Nicollet County Republican Party has scheduled an endorsement convention for Republican candidates in the 19A special election race for next Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.The convention will follow traditional endorsement convention procedures and is open the public. There are 160 delegates and alternates in the Republican's 19A district, which will consist of approximately 120 primary delegates.
So far, the only two announced Republican candidates, Allen Quist and Jim Golgart, have said they would abide by the convention's decision. Republican leaders in the first district have indicated they expect the two candidates to be the only ones seeking endorsement.
Mankato Free Press: Quist's advantages--and notoriety
In Mark Fischenich's article in the Mankato Free Press, Quist confirms he'll run for St. Peter House seat, the Norseland farmer and retired college professor notes that he may have some of an advantage at the convention, given the pool of delegates who will attend:
One thing will be constant between the Republican conventions -- a fraction of the delegates who will do the endorsing. Quist and Parry were actively trying to get their supporters elected during precinct caucuses last February, and some of those Quist supporters were elected to the county level and will be making the decision Thursday night at the endorsing convention in Mankato Place.
He estimated about 10 percent of the 100-plus delegates Thursday will be supporters who were also elected to the 1st District convention last April. A much larger number will be people he's worked with in previous campaigns for state House in the 1980s -- where he won three and lost two -- and for governor in the 1990s.
"The endorsement, I'm quite optimistic, partly because I'm pretty well known," Quist said.
Fischenich also notes some of the downsides for Quist:
On the flip side, there's a certain degree of notoriety surrounding Quist, who was heavily involved in social issues during his legislative career, including leading efforts to crack down on anonymous gay sex. Quist is also deeply conservative -- he characterized himself as "a far-right conservative" during the April endorsing convention -- running in a legislative district that leans Democratic.
Read the entire article at the Free Press. Bluestem also believes that if the Republicans pick Quist, Julie Quist's blaming GOP losses on college students may work to motivate students to head to the polls in a special election.
While much of the real estate in the Greater Minnesota district is beautiful farmland, the bulk of the voters live in St. Peter, North Mankato and Mankato, home to a state university, a four-year private college and a comprehensive public community college.
In this fall's congressional race against Representative Tim Walz, Quist received 37.05 percent of the votes cast, with Walz receiving 62.76 percent. While that doesn't exactly make Quist Mr. Popular in a presidential year, it does give him something of a base; Quist took 58.41 percent of the vote in the Republican primary against Mike Parry in August.
Elsewhere in the district, the St. Peter Herald reports Quist, [Clark] Johnson announce for Minnesota House seat.
Governor Dayton has yet to set the date for the special election in MN HD 19A prompted by the resignation of Rep. Terry Morrow, who ran unopposed in the 2012 election. Morrow has taken a job with the Uniform Law Commission in Chicago.
Robin Courrier, Clark Johnson and Karl Johnson are competing for the DFL endorsement, Tim Gieseke plans an Independence Party bid and Jim Golgart will battle Quist for the Republican nod. The winner will represent Nicollet County, Kasota, and parts of Mankato.
Cartoon: Drawing by Ken Avidor. Allen Quist returns yet again to politics, using academic standards for Minnesota's K12 schools as a campaign issue. He has edited a series of teaching modules for homeschoolers that includes a unit on dinosaurs living at the same time as people.
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