DFL wins 2 legislative races

"Campaign Races"

12/28/2005

Special elections fill House, Senate seats

Published: December 28, 2005
Associated Press

Voters in the St. Cloud area elected two new Democratic-Farmer-Labor state legislators in special elections Tuesday.

In House District 15B, Stearns County Commissioner Larry Haws, a DFLer, easily beat a write-in effort by Republican Kay Ek, a retired anti-abortion activist, who conceded the race. With 20 of 23 precincts reporting, Haws had 70 percent of the vote to 26 percent for Ek.

In the Senate District 15 race, Tarryl Clark, a DFLer who directs an association of community social service groups, defeated Dan “Ox” Ochsner, a GOP talk radio host, who also conceded. With 39 of 42 precincts reporting, Clark had 55 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Ochsner and 7 percent for the Independence Party’s Dan Becker.

In the closely watched House race, Ek made a late entry into the race one week before the election, after the Minnesota Supreme Court removed her daughter Sue Ek from the ballot, saying she hadn’t lived in St. Cloud long enough to qualify as a candidate.

“Whenever you have a write-in situation, it’s virtually unheard-of that a write-in candidate will win,” said Mark Drake, spokesman for the state Republican party. “It’s the political equivalent of a ‘Hail Mary’ pass, that race.”

The election fills the seat vacated by DFL Rep. Joe Opatz, who left to become interim president of Central Lakes College in Brainerd.

The House district covers the core of St. Cloud, including St. Cloud State University, whose students are currently on break.

Drake said the turmoil in the House race cost the GOP the Senate race.

“The Ek situation clearly created confusion among the voters and drowned out our message (in the Senate race) that Tarryl Clark is a liberal who is out of touch with the district,” Drake said.

But Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, said it’s only the Republicans’ fault for picking a House candidate who didn’t live in the district. He said Clark won her Senate race because she focused on issues that matter to voters.

“I do believe it sent a strong message again that folks in Minnesota care about education, health care, transportation and the environment, and the divisive issues that Republicans have been using come in second,” Johnson said. “It’s the core issues that continue to win DFL seats with us.”

Clark had already run for the seat twice, losing by just 496 votes in 2002.

Republican Sen. Dave Kleis won a race for St. Cloud mayor in November, prompting him to resign from the Senate seat he’d held since 1994.

The district includes St. Cloud as well as a mostly suburban area to the west and south.

The special election won’t change the balance of power in the closely divided state House or Senate. The DFL majority in the Senate improved to 38-29, including Sen. Sheila Kiscaden, IP-Rochester, who caucuses with the Democrats, while the House GOP maintained its one-seat advantage.

“The Ek situation clearly created confusion among the voters and drowned out our message (in the Senate race).”
Mark Drake, state Republican party spokesman