Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Candidates line up for Congress
ST. PAUL — A National Guardsman on his way home from Iraq could end up among the attorneys and state legislators running for Congress next year as races in Minnesota’s 1st, 2nd and 6th Districts take shape.
Sgt. 1st Class Steve Sarvi — a Democrat who’s demobilizing this week in Wisconsin — is considering a 2nd District matchup with GOP Rep. John Kline, a retired Marine colonel. Sarvi’s father, Al Sarvi, said his son can’t make it official until he’s released from military service next month.
The prospect of an Iraq war veteran challenging a Vietnam veteran known for his staunch support of the military could bring a new level of attention to the Republican-leaning swath of suburbs and rural towns. Plenty of action is also expected as candidates line up to unseat Democrat Tim Walz in southern Minnesota’s 1st District and Republican Michele Bachmann in the suburban 6th.
A second Democrat raised his hand to challenge Bachmann on Tuesday, when tax attorney Bob Olson ended his U.S. Senate campaign. Olson switched races — not to mention his home address, to St. Cloud, where he owns a bank — and said he hopes his focus on energy independence will resonate with voters.
The Democratic field in the 6th also includes Bob Hill, a Stillwater attorney.
Just off stage lurks a bigger name — the Independence Party’s Dean Barkley, who said he is “toying with the idea” of running but would prefer a contest without any DFL candidates. Barkley said he doesn’t have to make a decision until March or April.
“An Independent is much more likely to win than a Democrat,” said Barkley, the architect of Jesse Ventura’s 1998 victory as a third-party gubernatorial candidate. “I don’t think a Democrat can beat her.”
Bachmann got 50 percent of the vote last year in the 6th, which wraps around the northern suburban half of the Twin Cities and stretches west past St. Cloud. She defeated Democrat Patty Wetterling and Independence Party candidate John Binkowski for the open seat.
Farther south, Republicans are jostling for position to take on Walz, an Army National Guard veteran who beat six-term GOP incumbent Gil Gutknecht last year. Walz’s win was the biggest upset in Minnesota.
The ’08 campaign has already started at parades and county fairs across the 1st, which takes in farm country, river towns and Rochester, home of the Mayo Clinic.
The Republican field includes former state Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, state Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield, Mayo doctor Brian Davis and Mark Meyer, a school board member from Lake Crystal.
Day said he started campaigning early this year — just like Walz did the last time around.
In Minnesota’s 2nd District — a collection of suburbs and small towns hugging the southern half of the Twin Cities — Kline handily defeated Democratic challengers in 2004 and 2006.
But Sarvi’s service in Iraq might play differently against Kline, who commanded Marine air forces in Somalia, served as a personal military aide to Presidents Carter and Reagan and has led congressional delegations to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sarvi’s Web site details his years in the Army and more recent National Guard tours of Kosovo and Iraq, where he worked on reconstruction efforts including schools, roads and water. He also served as mayor of Watertown from 2000 to 2005, when he resigned to deploy to Iraq.
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