The race to St. Paul on Owatonna

OWATONNA — Sen. Dick Day resigned just 10 days ago, and the race for his seat in District 26 is already crowded — five Republicans and one Independent have publicly declared their candidacy.

But one party is staying out of the fray for now.

For the time being, the local Democratic-Farmer-Labor party is staying mum.

“We don’t have anybody ready to announce officially. There are people looking into it — talking with their families and getting prepared,” said Vicki Jensen, the chair of the Steele County DFL. “Early next week someone will announce their candidacy. A lot of people are thinking about it.”

Day announced his resignation on Dec. 8. The six-term Republican senator is dropping out to head up Racino Now, a non-profit lobbyist group. To fill Day’s seat, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Tuesday that a special election will be held Jan. 26 — with a Jan. 12 primary, if necessary.

Interest in Day’s seat is high.

Politicians in Waseca were the first to pounce. Waseca Republican Mike Parry declared his intention to run within hours of Day’s announcement. Close on Parry’s heels was Waseca Mayor Roy Srp, who is running as an Independence Party candidate

This Friday, four more Republicans officially threw their hats into the ring, said Dave Thul, the co-chair of Steele County Republicans.

The first was Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz. It is Kuntz’s second bid for a seat in St. Paul in as many years. In 2008, Kuntz ran against DFLer Kory Kath for the House seat in District 26A. With 57 percent of the vote, Kath defeated Kuntz.

Kuntz said he decided to run after former Medford Mayor Dan Kaiser withdrew from the race.

“I thought the citizens of this area needed an opportunity to have an Owatonna resident to vote for,” Kuntz said.

As it turns out, Republicans in the region will have two Owatonna contenders to choose from. Ted Boosalis, the former owner of Costa’s Chocolates, is hoping to win the Republican endorsement. Boosalis said his reasons for running were simple: He has passion for politics.

“It’s a wide open race and I have many conservative values that the party can accept,” Boosalis said.

Two Republicans from Faribault also hope to win Day’s seat in this whirlwind race. One is Faribault City Council member Steven Underdahl, who owns and operates a contracting company, Procon Inc. Underdahl said he was running to promote economic growth.

“I’ve been a small businessman for over 30 years and I’ve seen the challenges government regulations pose for businesses and how they affect how we do our work and our ability to create jobs,” Underdahl said. “We need to create a better environment for that.”

The fourth Republican to declare candidacy on Friday was Teri Menard, a businesswoman in Faribault. Menard could not be reached for comment Friday.

With so many candidates, one thing the Republican party must guard against is splitting their own vote.

“For me, the biggest issue is to make sure we have unity coming out of that convention. Everyone has to be mindful that we don’t want to see factionalization coming from that,” Boosalis said.

To avoid rifts, the party will have an endorsing convention on Dec. 28 at the Elks Lodge in Faribault. The convention will take place just one day before the week-long filing period closes: The Office of the Secretary of State will be allowing candidates to file from Dec. 23 to Dec. 29.

“That night each candidate will have a chance to speak and once they’re done the delegates will vote,” Thul said. “It’s our hope that we’ll have a endorsed candidate then — so only the endorsed candidate will go up to St. Paul and file. If it works out then there won’t be a need for a primary.”

Clare Kennedy can be reached at 444-2376.

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Member Opinions: By: atlascollapsed on 12/19/09 Anybody know anything about the people from faribault? By: NoteTaker on 12/19/09 You have my vote, Ted. Unless, of course, I decide to run.... By: secretsquirrel on 12/19/09 Sure: Ackman? The first half of his last name best describes my opinion. Underdahl? Nice guy but not terribly effective. He IS involved though, I have to give him that and he always struck me as reasonable and logical just not real aggressive. Menard? My opinion would not be fit to publish. Not because of her politics. AC - You can back channel me through the editor. I will not publish my email address but can get it to you that way. By: atlascollapsed on 12/19/09 I see from the FDN site Mr. Underdahl just voted in favor of a 6% levy increase for faribault and the lone dissenting vote was a democrat no less. Doesn't instill a lot of confidence. By: secretsquirrel on 12/19/09 Few things do these days AC.... few things do. By: igor74 on 12/19/09 I hope the party bypasses Kuntz this time. His last drubbing should send a clear message that he's not electable. I don't believe his defeat was due to any anti-Republican sentiment in the general population. His tenure as Owatonna's mayor has been unremarkable and he's proven to be largely ineffective in the role. Name one thing he's done as mayor that's notable. He has almost no opinion on anything. If he does, he certainly never expresses it. He's just plain invisible in the role. I agree that Ted Boosalis is someone I could get behind. If nothing else the man has a strong and definite position and he's not afraid to speak his mind. Unfortunately, Ted would be up against a government that's become highly dysfunctional and factional. I've adjusted my opinion on government recently. We now have the best dysfunctional government that money can buy By: indian on 12/19/09 Vote for Ted let him " sweetn'" the government! By: secretsquirrel on 12/19/09 SENATOR POOKAH! Has a nice ring to it. Igor74 - Did you mean we have the best dysfunctional government that Israel and China can buy? "The invisible mayor." I like the concept and agree with the assessment. Talk about transparency in government! Indian - You killed me with that one. LOL By: Bobo777 on 12/19/09 The person who vacated the seat had a colorful personality for everyone to enjoy. Ted would be a great fill-in for that position. By: quinn on 12/19/09 And Pookah does have better hair than Tom Kuntz. By: secretsquirrel on 12/19/09 And he has CHOCOLATE!!!!!! [Welcome to Animal Forum] Pookah! Pookah! Pookah! By: donghua on 12/19/09 I'm waiting to see who the Demos run. The Reps haven't done anything worth talking about. I do like Boosalis, however, as a decent guy. By: O.Tool on 12/20/09 This may be Ted's best shot to get in the game. A special election allows him a chance without the folly of getting rubber-stamped by the Party's (capital P intended) leaders. Some of Ted's more libertarian stances might not be met with approval by the Nesbian wing of the local Republicans. We shall see. Shoud be fun... By: secretsquirrel on 12/21/09 Is there such a thing as a blog wave? Pookah! Pookah! Pookah! By: igor74 on 12/23/09 SS, In the case of China they flat out own us already. The fears of China overtaking the U.S. as the dominant country in the world are already coming true. Look at China's posture towards Obama regarding just about anything. China isn't the least bit concerned about what any other country in the world wants or thinks. Given the accelerating factionalism here I'd venture a prediction that the U.S. will break up within the next 20 years. There will be regions of the country seceding from the union. This will be due to the conflicting regional values that are forming. Washington is trying to be all things to all people. However, the agendas of the various areas of the country are now coming into conflict with each other. And their agendas take precedent over all else. Immigration "reform" is going to be the issue that lights the fuse on secession. Ultimately, the solution to illegal immigration that will be put forth is that the "illegals" will no longer be illegal if they're citizens of a North American Union. So we'll form the North American Union to solve this problem. To hell with national sovereignty. The big hitch, or maybe advantage, is Mexico's government has all but collapsed due to corruption and graft. They can't even effectively control the drug cartels there with the military. The country is ripe for a coup, right on our own border. The U.S. is heading there, rapidly, too. After all the big payola that went with the senate health care bill vote sale, I'd say the money that buys our government comes from just about everywhere these days. When policy making is based on who pays the most to get what they want we're toast as a country. The whole notion of a North American Union is going to go poof along with the U.S. Mostly over the notion of a North American Union, free immigration, and growing regional differences. By: MichellePederson on 12/27/09 We need information on all the candidates, this will show the Mike Parry is best for the seat. For more information on Mike go to www.mikeparry.com. You can call or email him anytime at 507-382-8447 or mike@mikeparry.com.
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