After the surprise loss of the 8th Congressional District seat to Republican rookie Chip Cravaack, DFLers in northeastern Minnesota now must recruit a candidate in an effort to regain the seat they’d held for decades.
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, who lost to Cravaack in one of the big upsets of the 2010 election, has said he won’t run again, and the Northland Newscenter says state Sen. Tom Bakk and state Rep. Roger Reinert are saying they won’t run for the congressional seat, either.
Said Bakk: “[M]any many people have asked me about that but I think I’ve gotten a little bit too old waiting for Jim Oberstar to leave.”
Said Reinert: “I don’t have the time to do that right now. I was elected here to do a job. It’s a huge job, a really important job, so I’m open to having that conversation but it’s not going to happen until there’s a balanced budget in Minnesota.”
And Duluth Mayor Don Ness has said he’s not interested.
The story notes that DFL legislators in the area want to focus on regaining majorities in the state House and Senate, but that other congressional hopefuls are likely to make their plans known this summer.
The Eighth DFL would be wise to think strategically and pick a good DFL’er who is from the southern new part of the district. The eighth is a swing district but one which leans DFL. To win a moderate DFL’er might be the ticket to victory. An example would be recently defeated Rep. Tim Faust. Faust won in a district that has consistently voted for the Republicans in the last several elections. Yet in 2006 and 2008 Faust had enough cross-over appeal to win in that district. He has a pro-life position albeit not pure enough for the cultists. He has sponsored terrific reforming special education legislation that would serve him well in Congress. He is a Lutheran pastor and well liked. He is a solid DFLer although criticized for not being pure enough. The 2010 voters said, “we like Tim but we’re voting out all the incumbents.”