Clark wins Senate seat
12/28/2005
By Lawrence Schumacher
St. Cloud Times
Results for the 2005 special elections can be found at http://www.sctimes.com/specialelections
The third time proved to be a charm for Democrat Tarryl Clark, who won a Senate District 15 special election Tuesday.
With all precincts reporting, Clark had received 55 percent of votes cast, or 6,572 total.
The DFLer came out on top in her third Senate campaign, a hard-fought and often negative race with her Republican opponent, Dan “Ox” Ochsner.
Ochsner came in second with 37 percent of the vote, or 4,422 total votes.
Voters overcame the negativity because they know her, Clark said.
“They’ve worked with me in the community to achieve results and they know I’m a reasonable person,” Clark said. “They know that even if I don’t agree with them, I’ll listen to them and represent them in St. Paul.”
Independence Party candidate Dan Becker came in third with 7 percent of the vote, or 826 total votes.
The three candidates all hoped to replace St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis, who resigned the Senate seat he held for 11 years last month when he won the city’s mayoral election.
Democrats applauded Clark’s victory and that of DFL House 15B candidate Larry Haws on Tuesday and called them part of a statewide trend.
“The election results shouldn’t surprise anyone,” DFL Party Chairman Brian Melendez said in a statement. “People are tired of Republicans playing games with the budget and driving a wedge through this state. We will keep talking about the issues that are most important to Minnesotans: education, health care, jobs and transportation.”
Gov. Tim Pawlenty called the special election for Tuesday to determine who fills both the Senate seat and a vacant House District 15B seat until general elections Nov. 7.
Senate District 15 includes Rockville, St. Augusta, St. Cloud, Waite Park and Haven Township.
State lawmakers receive $31,140 a year in wages and are eligible for $66 a day in per diem coverage of incidental expenses.
Newly elected lawmakers are usually sworn in at the nextconvening of the Legislature on March 1.
Ochsner concedes
Ochsner is a radio talk show host and programming director who had taken a leave of absence from his on-air duties during the race. He said he felt good about his campaign but realized he had no chance to win when it became apparent the more conservative, suburban precincts had voted for Clark.
Another run for office was unlikely, he said.
“I probably couldn’t do a three-month campaign and still keep my show,” he said. “They’d have to hire a permanent replacement.”
Ochsner promised to be back on the air this morning.
Ballot confusion in the House District 15B race and Clark’s high name recognition made it an uphill fight for Ochsner, said Mark Drake, communications director for the Republican Party of Minnesota.
Candidate context
Clark, 44, ran for Senate against Kleis twice before, in 2000 and 2002. The second time, she came within 500 votes of knocking off the then-incumbent.
She is the executive director of the Minnesota Community Action Association, a coalition of groups such as the Tri-County Action Program around the state that work on transportation, housing and employment issues for low-income families and individuals.
Clark is also a board member of the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority and former vice chairwoman of the Minnesota DFL Party.
Ochsner, 39, was a first-time candidate for office who said Kleis recruited him to run for the seat he vacated.
Becker, 38, ran for Congress in 2002 as an Independence Party candidate and for the St. Cloud city council in 2003 and 2005.