Seifert to lead House GOP

11/19/2006

BY PATRICK SWEENEY
Pioneer Press

Marty Seifert, R-MarshallState Rep. Marty Seifert, a self-described “mainstream conservative” from Marshall, was elected Saturday as leader of the Minnesota House Republicans, who cascaded into the minority after the election.

Seifert, an administrator at Southwest Minnesota State University, was elected minority leader on the third ballot by House Republicans meeting in Eagan. He defeated Rep. Erik Paulsen, of Eden Prairie, the current second-ranking leader in the Republican caucus, and two other candidates: Rep. Steve Smith, of Mound, and Rep. Tom Emmer of Delano.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, who has led the House Republicans — first as minority leader and then as speaker — since 1993, did not seek a leadership post.

In 2004, House Republicans lost 13 seats to Democrats. This year, they lost 19 more.

Democrats now outnumber Republicans 85-49 in the House.

Seifert, 34, grew up on a grain and hog farm near Clements, Minn., graduated from Southwest Minnesota State, taught high school social studies in Marshall and was elected to the House in 1996. In 1999, he went to work in the admissions department of Southwest Minnesota State.

He said he will take a leave from that job while he is minority leader.

“Obviously, it’s a new face, it’s a fresh start,” Seifert said of his election.

In his decade in the House, Seifert demonstrated a talent for partisan floor debate and an eagerness to defend the Republican policy agenda.

In 2005, he single-handedly conducted a rare House filibuster, speaking on a variety of inconsequential subjects for 30 minutes while Republican leaders failed to change votes to defeat a gas tax increase. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty eventually vetoed the increase.

In a news conference, Seifert predicted Sen. Larry Pogemiller, of Minneapolis, the new DFL majority leader in the Senate, and Pawlenty would soon clash on tax and budget issues.

“The honeymoon between the governor and Larry Pogemiller will make Britney Spears’ first marriage look like a long-term relationship,” Seifert said. He was referring to the pop singer’s two-day marriage, later annulled, to a childhood friend.