On Thursday, Ricardo Lopez of the Minnesota Reformer tweeted:
Worth noting that Drazkowski last year sponsored legislation to term limit lawmakers to 12 years of service. He’s on year 14. If elected to Senate, that would extend to 18 years. https://t.co/UO4BhhMUOI
— Ricardo Lopez (@rljourno) January 27, 2022
Closer to home, there's more at the Rochester Post Bulletin in Drazkowski, Haley run for Goggin's state Senate seat.Matthew Stolle reports:
A pair of Republican state representatives are looking to fill a void in the Minnesota Senate.
State Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, and state Rep. Barb Haley, R-Red Wing, have both announced they plan to seek the Senate District 21 seat being vacated by Mike Goggin, a Republican who has announced he will not run for re-election.
“Having grown up in and raised a family in Goodhue County, I know the issues that our communities care about very well,” Haley said in a written statement announcing her run for the state senate.
Haley has served House District 21A since getting elected in 2016. Currently, she is the House Republican Whip.
Drazkowski was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2007 [editor's note: a special election, so his first session was in 2008] and serves District 21B. He has won eight consecutive elections to the House in a district covering parts of Dodge, Goodhue, Wabasha and Winona counties.
He has served as chairman of the House Property Tax Committee and is the leader of the New House Republican Caucus. Prior to that, he served as assistant minority leader in the House Republican Caucus.
In a press statement, Drazkowski said he will draw a contrast with Minnesota Democrats.
“The anti-freedom policies of Tim Walz and Joe Biden have seized our civil liberties, burned our cities, disrespected the police and the rule of law, and severely threatened the economic well-being of our families,” Drazkowski said. “Our campaign will promote a people-centered agenda that restores freedom, honors the rule of law and strengthens families and citizens."
Haley thanked Goggin for his years of service in the Minnesota Senate.
"I am proud to have worked with him over the past few years," Haley said. "We share a common-sense conservative approach."
UPDATE, 1/28: The Red Wing Republican Eagle reports in Goggin not seeking re-election; Haley seeks his Senate seat:
. . . Minutes before Goggin announced his retirement from the Senate, Haley announced she is launching a campaign to represent District 21 in the Minnesota State Senate.
District 21 currently includes Red Wing, Lake City, Cannon Falls, Wabasha, Zumbrota, Wanamingo, Mazeppa, along with additional cities and townships in Goodhue and Wabasha counties.
“Having grown up in and raised a family in Goodhue County I know the issues that our communities care about very well,” Haley said. “I have immense appreciation for the trust and support residents of House District 21A have provided me over the past six years, and I look forward to continuing to be a strong voice for our citizens as a member of the state Senate.”
Rep. Haley currently serves in Republican caucus leadership as the House Republican whip. She is a leader in the legislature on health care, small business, work force and education issues.
She was first elected in 2016 following a 14-year career with AT&T Wireless and over a decade in various non-profit management roles. She and her husband, Tim, live in Red Wing and have two children.
“I would like to thank Sen. Goggin for his dedicated service at the Capitol. I am proud to have worked with him over the past few years. We share a commonsense conservative approach,” Haley said.
The Draz ran for state senate in 2006, losing to incumbent DFL senator Steve Murphy, 45.3% to 54.3%.
It was a grueling race for the Mazeppa conservative, as readers might infer from headlines like the Red Wing Republican Eagle's Drazkowski denies dragging daughter on campaign trail and Drazkowski election complaint dismissed in the Winona Daily News.
From the latter story:
Republican state Senate hopeful Steve Drazkowski's election complaint alleging illegal intraparty smear tactics was dismissed by a state elections board on Monday, spurring the state GOP chairman to call on Drazkowski to end his campaign.
Drazkowski filed a complaint last month with the state Office of Administrative Hearings, alleging that his chance at winning the Republican endorsement in April was ruined by a mailing sent out three days before the convention. The mailing referred to an incident last year in which Drazkowski was accused of assaulting his teenage daughter, charges he was eventually cleared of.
Drazkowski blamed Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, for the mailing. Day is head of the state Republican Caucus, which endorsed a different candidate for the seat, and one of Day's employees, Dan Nelson, admitted to purchasing a booking photo of Drazkowski that appeared on the mailing.
The panel found that Day had no connection to or knowledge of the mailing.
"(Drazkowski) is a guy who's just disgruntled," Day said Monday. "He makes me nervous, but what do you do? I'm just glad it's over with, and ready to move on to something else."
The three-judge panel found that Nelson had purchased the photo and that another caucus employee, Dan Miller, had prepared the mailing, which included a bogus headline taken from a liberal blog and attributed to the Winona Daily News.
Drazkowski called the ruling "disconcerting" and said he will continue his campaign with hopes to win today's primary against Republican Steve Wilson, who was endorsed at the convention.
"People have very clearly recognized that this behavior was unethical and not acceptable," he said. "They have rejected it, they have continued to reject these dirty politics, and we believe they will vote for the integrity we represent."
In a prepared statement Monday, Miller called Drazkowski's complaint a "disgraceful attempt by Mr. Drazkowski to gain traction in his primary bid."
"These slanderous accusations show the length Drazkowski and his followers would go to in order to be elected and advance his personal agenda," he said.
Minnesota GOP Chair Ron Carey said in a prepared statement Monday afternoon that Drazkowski and his supporters should stop campaigning and support Wilson.
"With today's dismissal of Steve Drazkowski's frivolous complaint, it's time for him to finally do the right thing: keep his word to Senate District 28 by abiding by the Republican Party endorsement and immediately drop out of the race," Carey said.
Draz won the primary but lost the general election.
We suspect that Haley won't be drawing attacks from liberal blogs--especially not the defunct one that chastised Draz in 2006--and so this one should be interesting to watch.
UPDATE 1/28, 9:13 a.m: A district resident, who serves as the state DFL secretary, responded to this post on twitter:
Also, locals knew about Goggin retiring over 6 months ago. They didn’t keep this secret well. And Draz and Barb aren’t really friends so it’s going to be interesting.
— Ceri Everett (She/Her) (@CeriEverett) January 28, 2022
[end update]
View 2022 legislative retirements or runs for other offices here.
Photo: State Rep. Steve Drazkowski (left), R-Mazeppa, and state Rep. Barb Haley (right), R-Red Wing.
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