Many Minnesota women seek top offices

02/26/2005

Dane Smith and Kevin Duchschere, Star Tribune
February 26, 2005

The crowd got larger and more complicated Friday in the scramble for open seats in the U.S. Senate and the Sixth Congressional District, but one part of the maze got clearer: Women probably will be a stronger presence than ever for Minnesota’s top-tier offices in 2006.

Patty Wetterling, a well-known children’s advocate who lost last fall to Republican Mark Kennedy in the Sixth, announced an exploratory candidacy for the seat that will be vacated by Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn. Kennedy has already entered that race. Wetterling was thought by some to have a lock on another Sixth District DFL nomination, a move she hasn’t yet ruled out. But in a statement Friday, she said Dayton’s decision not to seek reelection caught her off-guard and prompted her to consider a Senate bid.

“In the upcoming weeks I will form an exploratory committee to further look into this option,” she said. “My focus, as always, is to determine where I can best advocate for children and families.”

Republican Cheri Pierson Yecke, a former state education commissioner, will announce Sunday that she will run in the Sixth District. State Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, is already running in the Sixth, and Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer is considering a bid. State Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, also is a candidate.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, generally regarded as the leading champion of fiscal conservatives in the Legislature, also joined the race for Kennedy’s seat. Krinkie said he would be up against “two terrific women in Yecke and Bachmann ... but I have experience and a track record that will shine above the others.”

For good measure, he noted that he was the chairman of former state Sen. Linda Runbeck’s campaign for Congress in 2000, a seat that was won by Rep. Betty McCollum, the first woman to represent Minnesota in Congress since Muriel Humphrey in the 1970s.

McCollum is a possible candidate for the Senate in 2006, as is Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar, who along with attorney Mike Ciresi is considered a top prospect. All are DFLers. Klobuchar filed papers with the Federal Election Commission this week enabling her to raise money.

“I’m going to make my decision based on whether I can make a difference for Minnesota, no matter who else is in the race,” Klobuchar said.

Add it all up, and there are more viable women for the top jobs than ever.

“This is a wide-open opportunity for women on many levels,” said Ember Reichgott Junge, a former DFL state senator and former chairwoman of the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus. “Open seats are those where women have the best chance, and you’ll see more women testing the waters at all levels.”

Mike Erlandson, chairman of the state DFL Party, said it is interesting that so many strong women candidates are already stepping up for 2006. “But out of all our [eight] congressional races last year, we had Betty McCollum, Deborah Watts, Patty Wetterling and Teresa Daly—all strong candidates in their own right.”

Wetterling, who had remained apolitical in her years of lobbying for child safety following the abduction of her son Jacob, proved in her race against Kennedy to be adept behind the lectern and with contributors, raising more than $1.4 million.

She used some of the remaining campaign funds to commission a statewide poll last week. The results, posted Friday by National Journal’s Hotline, showed that among 600 likely general-election voters, Wetterling came out ahead against Republicans Kennedy, former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams and U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht. Kennedy and Grams are running, and Gutknecht is considering it. Another GOP Senate candidate is Harold Shudlick, a retired Lutheran minister from Apple Valley.

The poll also suggests that Wetterling would be a stronger DFL candidate than Klobuchar, Ciresi or McCollum.

Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College, said the poll demonstrated Wetterling’s extraordinary name recognition.

“She’s basically a national celebrity ... and a familiar personality compared to her rivals,” he said.

Krinkie jumps in

Krinkie, who had long been considered a top prospect to run for Congress if Kennedy moved up to a Senate bid, sent a letter to GOP activists and likely delegates to congressional endorsing conventions, reminding them that he has “been fighting in the trenches for our party and values for 25 years.”

A 14-year House veteran, he is described by the legislative guidebook “Politics in Minnesota: The Directory” as “the Legislature’s leading taxpayer watchdog.” He consistently has fought against state spending increases, bonding bills, sports stadiums at public expense and even relatively popular projects such as the Northstar commuter rail line, which would run through the Sixth and is now favored by most elected officials in the area.

He is likely to attract a sizable share of support among Sixth District activists, and he pledged to abide by the party’s endorsement, meaning he will not run a primary challenge if someone else is endorsed.

Krinkie owns a heating and air conditioning company in St. Paul. Although his address is in Shoreview, in the Fourth District and a mile or so south of the Sixth District boundary, Krinkie said he also owns a house in Lino Lakes and would have no problem establishing residency. He said he has been representing Anoka County, the largest county in the Sixth, longer than any other member of the Legislature.