The race for Republican endorsement in Minnesota Senate District 20, a swing seat now held by Northfield Democrat Kevin Dahle, has drawn two candidates representing contrasting segments of the Republican Party.
According to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library's Legislators Past and Present database, Dahle first won the Northfield-area seat (SD25 before 2012's redistricting) in a November 6, 2012 special election. Dahle lost the seat in 2010 to Al Dekruif; DeKruif was redistricted into another seat in 2012 and did not seek office again, rather than run against another sitting Republican.
In 2012, Dahle regained the newly configured seat in a squeaker, beating Michael Dudley by 78 votes on Election Day. The automatic recount triggered by the tight margin narrowed his win to 71 votes.
The district combines fairly conservative rural townships with DFL stronghold and college town, Northfield; Belle Plaine, Cleveland, Lonsdale, New Prague, Le Sueur, LeCenter, Elko/New Market and Montgomery all lie within the district.
Mark "Danny" Petricka
Back in May, Mark "Danny" Petricka registered a committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. A libertarian inclined fan of Ron Paul and supporter of Rand Paul for President, Petricka is active in Young Americans for Liberty.
In October, Kevin Krein of the Northfield News reported in Petricka eyeing Republican party nomination for MN District 20 race:
As the recent debates of presidential candidates has shown, it is not too early for politicians to begin thinking about the 2016 election.
That is part of the reason that Danny Petricka, originally of Erin Township, is announcing his interest in running against incumbent Sen. Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield) in the District 20 race next fall.
Petricka, 27, is now what he calls a “super senior” at Minnesota State University, Mankato, majoring in political science. He said he is on track to graduate in the spring of 2016.
Petricka said he is announcing because he knows there is frustration when it comes to politics.
“A lot of people are getting sick of the two-party system,” Petricka said. “It’s time that Republicans start making promises we can keep. The party has been promising to make government smaller, but instead, it keeps getting bigger.”
Petricka said he wants to add a new perspective into politics, and has been involved with the Young Americans for Liberty as well as the College Republican groups on campus.
“I want to try to appeal to young people,” he said. “The party isn’t really reaching out to them, but we want their support.” . . .
Former Rice County Republican Party chair, current state party treasurer, and Protein Sources (a hog production management firm) Chief Executive and Financial Officer Bron Scherer told the paper:
“Danny’s enthusiastic and passionate about the issues,” Scherer said. “He’s a young guy and we always want young people to be involved with the party.”
Mark John Bartusek
While youth has its attractions, pork production management CFO Scherer may have a greater professional affinity for Mark John Bartusek, who registered with the board earlier this week. An extensive indeed resume for the candidate lists his current occupation as Application Developer II/Check Systems for US Bank, but about a decade ago, the New Prague-area man was a hog farmer active in state and national pork production commodity groups.
According to the document, Bartusek served on the executive board of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association from 1998 through 2004; he also was a National Pork Board member for the National Pork Producers Association for 2004-2005. A sales representative for Monsanto from 1995-2005, he also served as the chairman and treasurer of the Rice County Agricultural Legal Defense Fund from 1996 through 2005.
We have been unable to learn anything about the nature of this final entity online or by consulting sources in Rice County or ag circles, though people are looking around. What we have found suggests that Bartusek was active in Minnesota's part in the "Hog Wars" in the late 1990s, when the expansion of large pork production barns serviced by open giant open manure lagoons stoked conflict across southern Minnesota.
In response to a 1998 "Hot Topic" question raised by the Rochester Post Bulletin, "Do you favor a moratorium on new feedlots?'', Bartusek replied:
All parents, guardians and caregivers take note: There has been a word added to the list of profane language: `feedlots.'' Anyone who should happen to hear this must call 911 immediately.
If this sounds too emotional, it is. Yet this is the way the media has supplied the public with information for years. I believe everyone has the right to form their opinion about this issue. However, everyone also has an obligation to the industry of agriculture to take time to educate themselves. Reading newspaper clippings is not the best method available. People must take time to discuss this matter rationally. It is imperative that both parties involved learn to communicate and set common goals.
Those of you who have debated against feedlots should be commended. Without your tenacity, most of the arguments would have gone unnoticed. Mistakes have been made in the past and they must be corrected. However, agriculture should not be made the scapegoat for our nation's pollution problems. They have contributed to the problem, but are not alone.
All of agriculture should accept the fact that the public has been left in the dark in recent years. What is happening to the industry politically is proof of that. It is time to let go of the past and look to the future, a future that would enable young people to farm and if necessary expand their business. A statewide moratorium would be devastating to this state's young producers. It will harm the producers and also prolong the responsibility of our government, to be the leaders they were elected to be and make the responsible, correct conclusion, that agriculture must be allowed flexibility and is vital to all of our existence.
Mark Bartusek
New Prague, Minn.
As a backgrounder on Feedlots online at the Legislative Reference Library notes, no moratorium on new farms was imposed, but by 2002, Governor Ventura signed an omnibus agriculture policy law which:
bars the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or a county board from approving permits for the construction of open-air swine manure basins. For exceptions to this prohibition, see the House Research Bill Summary for H.F. 3183. The moratorium was originally effective May 18, 2002 through June 30, 2007, but has been extended several times (Minnesota Statutes, section 116.0714).
Judging from the looks of his Google+ page, Bartusek appears to be a devout Ben Carson for President supporter. Unlike Carson, Bartusek has some experience as an elected official. According to the New Prague Times he stepped down as a city council member on August 3, 2015, as he and his family were moving outside of the city limits. He had been on the council for six-and-a-half years.
He next ran for a position on the New Prague school board this fall, the Lonsdale Area News-Review reported, but came in fifth in a field of five (the top four vote getters won seats on the board).
Hot seat in 2016?
Will youth and "liberty" take the day, or experience when it comes to the Republican endorsement? We'll keep an eye out on this competitive seat. Both the "A" side and the "B" side of the senate district stride Minnesota's First and Second Congressional Districts; with the open seat in the latter swing district up for grabs, there likely will be extra effort to turn on the voters and turn out the vote. The "A" side leans Republican, while the "B" side is more DFL inclined.
Photos: Kevin Dahle (second row, second from the left) and supporters at Dozinky Days in 2014, via SD 20 DFL page (top); Danny Petricka and former congressman Ron Paul at a Collegians For A Constructive Tomorrow event, via Facebook (middle); Mark Bartusek, via the New Prague Times.
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