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Day, a state senator with a knack for colorful comments, isn’t even trying to raise much money before the Sept. 9 GOP primary, when he will face Mayo Clinic physician Brian Davis. Day prompted the contest by deciding to bypass the party endorsing process.
Instead, the former traveling salesman is betting that personal contact with shopkeepers and clerks across the southern district’s 22 rural and small-town counties will put him over the top in what’s expected to be a poorly attended primary election.
He went door-to-door in downtown Waseca on a recent campaign swing, dropping off brochures with a friendly wave and stopping to talk with store owners selling trophies, letter jackets and portrait packages. Several people greeted him by name; Day has represented the town for 18 years in the Minnesota Senate.
“I very well could get steamrolled,” Day said, but added: “If I dump this guy, they’re going to say, Wait a minute, we’ve got a horse here.’”
Fourteen miles down the road, Davis put himself before voters on Day’s home turf at the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna.
Until he became a candidate, Davis a cancer doctor with an impressive resume was used to patients seeking him out. Things were the other way around at the fair as he watched and waited for an opening with fairgoers straggling past the GOP booth.
Though his picture was absent from a portrait lineup that included Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Day, Davis has help from district, state and national Republicans. And cash. At the end of June, he had amassed more than $376,000 for his campaign, including $124,000 of his own money. That compares with Day’s campaign balance of less than $45,000.
“I know that money can’t buy votes, but it does help in getting the word out,” Davis said.
Davis has been reaching out to primary voters by mail, phone and at events like the fair.
Some people who dropped by the booth people who described themselves as likely voters said they hadn’t heard of Davis.
Al Anderson of rural West Concord made a point of wishing Davis well. He said he probably wouldn’t decide which Republican to back until primary day, but was leaning toward Davis as the party’s candidate because he wants the congressional seat back in GOP hands.
“It might be a tough battle,” Anderson said. Walz, a high school teacher who’s serving his first term, has piled up $1.2 million so far to defend the seat.
The two Republicans agree on most issues, except that Davis said he doesn’t support state-sponsored gambling. Day pushed for years in the Senate to put state-backed slot machines at Canterbury Park racetrack.
Both want to allow oil drilling off U.S. shores and in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and both take a hard line on immigration. Both said Walz is too liberal for a district that has backed President Bush and Pawlenty twice each. They’re trying to blame the incumbent for high gas prices and other energy problems.
Walz campaign manager Chris Schmitter declined to comment on the Republican candidates.
District Democratic chairwoman Lori Sellner said whoever wins the GOP primary will face tough sledding. Two years ago, Walz defeated six-term Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht by nearly six points and the district strongly backed Democrat Amy Klobuchar in the Senate race.
“People in this district really like to see someone who’s worked hard and getting out there and being accessible to them, and that’s pretty much in a nutshell what Congressman Walz has done,” said Sellner.
Back in Waseca, population 9,827, concern about the economy was palpable as Day made his way down State Street.
“It’s slow,” said Kristine Luger, who owns Spectrum Gems. Her customers have other priorities right now, she said.
“They’re making sure that they have heat. And that they have you know, it’s the staples, the things you need. You don’t have to have jewelry.”
Luger said she probably would vote for Day in the primary, even more so since he stopped in her shop.
