‘Contract with America’ Republican in hard fight in Minn.

10/26/2006

ROCHESTER, Minn. — U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, always a friendly man, greeted his supporters in this southeastern Minnesota city with special warmth.

“Thanks for coming out. God bless you all,” the Republican said as he shook hands with several dozen people after a rally. “This is going to be a big election. Big stakes — big stakes.”

First lady Laura Bush’s presence at Wednesday’s rally underscored just how large the stakes have grown for Gutknecht, a 12-year incumbent who has rarely needed big-name help in a reliably GOP district.

But Gutknecht hasn’t been immune to the same troubles that have weighted Republicans elsewhere, including President Bush’s low popularity and the violence in Iraq. And this time around, he faces an unexpectedly intense challenge from Democrat Tim Walz, a high school teacher and Army National Guard veteran.

“The fact that he’s in a competitive race shows what an exceptional year this is,” said Dan Hofrenning, a political scientist at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Bush, who also campaigned Wednesday in the Twin Cities for GOP House candidate Michele Bachmann, touted Gutknecht in her Rochester stop as a “champion” of U.S. troops. She also said he would help farmers and boost the rural economy by pushing for renewable fuels such as ethanol.

To Walz, the first lady’s visit was a sign of how seriously Republicans take him.

“Bringing her here was a great deal,” he said. “It’s going to get me on Fox News.”

It was another watershed year in politics — 1994 — when Gutknecht latched onto Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” in his first run for Congress. He pushed for a balanced budget, cuts to sacrosanct social programs such as Medicare, and term limits. Gutknecht won that race decisively, entering the House with 72 other conservatives as part of Gingrich’s Republican revolution. The GOP took control for the first time in 40 years.

“This is like the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Gutknecht told a reporter as he took office in 1995. “It will be harder for future Congresses to go back.”

Even in a group of GOP newcomers that included pop star Sonny Bono, the personable real estate auctioneer from Rochester — a man friends say does spot-on impersonations of W.C. Fields and Marlon Brando — stood out. He led a floor debate on his first day, and a CNN crew shadowed him as the face of the new order.

“That was a heady year,” said Ellen Youngers, a family friend who volunteered on Gutknecht’s 1994 campaign and later worked in his congressional district office.

Over the next 12 years, Gutknecht settled into his role as a fiscal conservative in Washington. But he also went against party leaders on issues such as importing prescription drugs and criticized the Bush administration over the budget deficit. He was the only Minnesota Republican to vote against the Central American Free Trade Agreement last year.

“This is a man who’s not always been — certainly in the last several years — the favorite of this White House,” said John Wade, who served as Gutknecht’s chief of staff in the late 1990s.

Gutknecht supported Bush’s initiatives 94 percent of the time this year and 78 percent last year, according to Congressional Quarterly.

He has faced credible challengers over the years, but Walz has come on stronger. Walz has attacked the incumbent for being too close to the president; one TV ad shows President Bush speaking directly into Gutknecht’s ear as they shake hands at a rally.

Walz and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have also tried to paint Gutknecht as unsupportive of American soldiers, with TV ads saying he voted against giving them bonuses and extending their health care benefits.

The National Republican Congressional Committee and Gutknecht are hitting Walz with TV ads that claim he would raise taxes and allow billions in government benefits for illegal immigrants. Walz spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said the ads are inaccurate.

At Wednesday’s rally, local GOP leader Terri Penz sadly acknowledged that Gutknecht is facing his toughest challenge yet.

“I just think they are more energized this year than maybe in previous years,” Penz said.

Walz is starting to sound a lot like a certain upstart state legislator from Rochester who pushed to overturn the status quo a dozen years ago.

“I’m talking about an ineffective Congress that is not living up to its promises,” he said. “The anger and frustration have turned into optimism for change.”