On the Strib's Hot Dish Politics blog, Allison Sherry reports in Third Democrat enters Second Congressional District race:
A third Democratic candidate has thrown in to run for election in the open Second Congressional District seat.
Roger Kittelson filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission Nov. 4 and has been apparently out on the campaign trail, making speeches and introducing himself to voters.
He is the third Democratic candidate running for the seat to be vacated next year by Republican Rep. John Kline.
Sherry doesn't supply any additional details, but we had profiled Kittleson in a June 2014 post, Wagenius primaried by pro-family dairy marketing specialist who first ran in 1982 against Sviggum:
Roger Kittelson first ran for the Minnesota House in Goodhue County, losing to incumbent Steve Sviggum in 1982. Plus, Kittelson once interned for Congressman Rick Nolan, back in Nolan's first round of service back in the 1970s.
A source tells Bluestem that Kittleson, a retired dairy marketing specialist who is a relatively new Minneapolis resident, is the same Roger A. Kittelson who ran for Congress in Wisconson a few years back.
Some friends wondered if--as has been speculated in the Entenza challege to Otto--that there was an anti-environmental subtext going on in this race as well.
We noticed the Wisconsin phone number and gave him a call to find out if he had indeed run for office in Wisconsin--and to learn his motivation for challenging a powerful committee chair.
Kittelson confirmed that he'd purchased a home for one of his sons in Minneapolis two years ago, and started moving his own possessions into the house from Wisconsin around Christmas as he bid on houses in the South Minneapolis neighborhood in anticipation of his retirement from the Grande Cheese Company in Lomira, Wisconsin.
He finished his move about a month ago, he told Bluestem, and is looking for a new career. Hence the primary bid.
But the run for office isn't exactly a new career. While marketing Wisconsin's dairy products, he again sought public office.
According to the Wikipedia entry for the now former Badger politician:
"Roger Allen Kittelson (born in Zumbrota, Minnesota) is a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin. In 2008, he ran against incumbent Republican Tom Petri, getting 37% of the vote.
"Kittelson faced off against Mark Wollum in the Democratic primary on Sept. 9, 2008 and won with 64% to Wollum’s 36%.[1]
"Kittelson’s platform was based on ending the war in Iraq, creating a system of universal health care, and promoting fair trade agreements.[2] In opposition to most Democrats, Kittelson ran as a pro-life candidate for the issue of abortion.[3]
"According to the final finance reports, Kittelson raised $18,202 for his campaign.[4]
In the August 2014 primary in Minnesota House District 63B, Wagenius won by a landslide, taking 91.08 percent of the vote to Kittelson's 8.92 percent (2166 to 212 votes).
Angie Craig and Mary Lawrence are seeking the DFL endorsement. Both are pro-choice; Craig has been endorsed by Women Winning, which supports pro-choice women candidates.
Minneapolis resident?
Kittelson's FEC filing lists a Minneapolis address. Congressional candidates need not live in the district where they are seeking office (though they have to be residents of the state in which the district is located).
The retired dairy industry professional is not alone in seeking office in MN02 while residing elsewhere. Republican contender Jason Lewis lives just over the district boundary in Woodbury. As we noted in an earlier post, Mary Lawrence and her husband own a property in Credit River Township, Scott County, but have claimed homestead status for their home on Lake Harriet Parkway in Minneapolis. Scott County records accessed in mid-September indicated that the Lawrences had not claimed homestead status for the rural property.
Lewis joined David Gerson, John Howe and Pam Myhra in seeking the Republican endorsement.
Photo: Roger Kittelson in 2008, via Democracy for America.
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