Gutknecht-Walz final days roundup
by Leigh Pomeroy
(NOTE: Updated and corrected 11/6/06.)
Roundup, of course, is its patented herbicide, designed to rid fields of nearly any living, growing flora except for the cash crop the farmer wants. If there is one chemical southern Minnesota can't do without, it's Roundup.
Six-term congressman Gil Gutknecht has built his career on his contacts with agribusiness. The agribusiness sector has been the largest donor to his political campaigns, and he's been able to count like clockwork on the votes of the most rural parts of the district.
But changes are afoot, and while agribusiness is as strong as it's ever been thanks in part to relatively high corn prices driven by the demand for ethanol, the district has been changing around him. Perhaps this year it might even slip from his grasp.
The reasons why
Despite his unwavering support from big ag, the rural population of the district is shrinking and its larger cities — Rochester, Mankato, Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Worthington and Winona — as well as the towns around them are steadily growing. Despite the huge economic engine that agriculture drives, less than 2% of the population is employed in that sector. And while much of the business, financial and transportation sectors is tied to ag, the growth in the district is being propelled by health care (dominated by the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Health System), higher education (Minnesota State University Mankato and Winona State University, plus over a dozen smaller private, technical and community colleges), and other services and industries.
Like elsewhere in the nation, only about a third supports the President and his policies, particularly when it comes to Iraq, and there is even a greater disdain for Congress. The 1st District has contributed thousands of National Guardsmen and reservists to the war effort, and thankfully the overwhelming majority has come home at least physically unscathed. Yet every departure of a serviceman or woman results in a business or school or hospital having to make an adjustment for the loss, even if temporary. And then there's the effect of the deployments on the families.
Mr. Gutknecht's opponent, Tim Walz of Mankato, is young (42), a teacher, and a 24-year National Guardsman who, because of Defense Department policy, had to retire from the Guard in order to run for Congress.
Although representing a different party and philosophical point-of-view, Walz resembles in many ways the Gil Gutknecht who first ran for the seat in 1994. Gutknecht was 45 then, and though he had served in the Minnesota state legislature, he campaigned as a fresh face wanting to overturn the corruption that was embroiling Washington at the time. He was passionate for change, as Walz is now, and signed on with the Contract with America promulgated by Newt Gingrich and the Republican Party.
Yet much has changed in the last 12 years, not the least of which is Gutknecht's promise to serve only six terms — a promise that he now terms a youthful indiscretion. And in 2006, as opposed to 1994, it's the Republican Party that's wracked with scandals, not the Democrats.
While the Democrats have no such common platform like the Contract with America (perhaps for the better), their first-time congressional candidates — many grassroots generated and supported like Mr. Walz — come from a military and/or nonpolitical background. For this new breed of office seeker, having paid political dues in city or state government is of little or no importance.
What a big difference 2006 is from 2004. Perhaps the most telling evidence comes from the newspaper editorial pages. While Mr. Gutknecht received every newspaper endorsement two years ago, he received just one this year. Mr. Walz got the rest.
Endorsements are a good measure for gauging political positions. As the old saw goes, a man's character can be measured by company he keeps. Looking at each candidate's endorsements gives a fairly accurate assessment as to where they stand on the issues.
Yet the public, not the newspapers or the interest groups, will be final determiner of who is to represent southern Minnesota in Congress for the next two years. Analysts say that a low turnout will favor the incumbent Republican. But if the Democrats can get out the vote, and the independent voters express their dissatisfaction with the status quo, then come January the 1st Congressional District just may have a new face to represent its interests in Washington.
1st Congressional District endorsements
Newspapers
(NOTE: Updated and corrected 11/6/06.)
While Mr. Gutknecht received every newspaper endorsement two years ago, he received just one this year. Mr. Walz got the rest.Nearly everyone in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District knows what "Roundup ready" means. In this rural strip running from South Dakota to Wisconsin and about 100 miles from Iowa north, the landscape during the growing season is an unending sea of corn and soybean fields, most of which are planted to Monsanto's patented, genetically engineered line of Roundup Ready seeds.
Roundup, of course, is its patented herbicide, designed to rid fields of nearly any living, growing flora except for the cash crop the farmer wants. If there is one chemical southern Minnesota can't do without, it's Roundup.
Six-term congressman Gil Gutknecht has built his career on his contacts with agribusiness. The agribusiness sector has been the largest donor to his political campaigns, and he's been able to count like clockwork on the votes of the most rural parts of the district.
But changes are afoot, and while agribusiness is as strong as it's ever been thanks in part to relatively high corn prices driven by the demand for ethanol, the district has been changing around him. Perhaps this year it might even slip from his grasp.
The reasons why
Despite his unwavering support from big ag, the rural population of the district is shrinking and its larger cities — Rochester, Mankato, Albert Lea, Austin, Owatonna, Worthington and Winona — as well as the towns around them are steadily growing. Despite the huge economic engine that agriculture drives, less than 2% of the population is employed in that sector. And while much of the business, financial and transportation sectors is tied to ag, the growth in the district is being propelled by health care (dominated by the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Health System), higher education (Minnesota State University Mankato and Winona State University, plus over a dozen smaller private, technical and community colleges), and other services and industries.
Like elsewhere in the nation, only about a third supports the President and his policies, particularly when it comes to Iraq, and there is even a greater disdain for Congress. The 1st District has contributed thousands of National Guardsmen and reservists to the war effort, and thankfully the overwhelming majority has come home at least physically unscathed. Yet every departure of a serviceman or woman results in a business or school or hospital having to make an adjustment for the loss, even if temporary. And then there's the effect of the deployments on the families.
Mr. Gutknecht's opponent, Tim Walz of Mankato, is young (42), a teacher, and a 24-year National Guardsman who, because of Defense Department policy, had to retire from the Guard in order to run for Congress.
Although representing a different party and philosophical point-of-view, Walz resembles in many ways the Gil Gutknecht who first ran for the seat in 1994. Gutknecht was 45 then, and though he had served in the Minnesota state legislature, he campaigned as a fresh face wanting to overturn the corruption that was embroiling Washington at the time. He was passionate for change, as Walz is now, and signed on with the Contract with America promulgated by Newt Gingrich and the Republican Party.
Yet much has changed in the last 12 years, not the least of which is Gutknecht's promise to serve only six terms — a promise that he now terms a youthful indiscretion. And in 2006, as opposed to 1994, it's the Republican Party that's wracked with scandals, not the Democrats.
While the Democrats have no such common platform like the Contract with America (perhaps for the better), their first-time congressional candidates — many grassroots generated and supported like Mr. Walz — come from a military and/or nonpolitical background. For this new breed of office seeker, having paid political dues in city or state government is of little or no importance.
What a big difference 2006 is from 2004. Perhaps the most telling evidence comes from the newspaper editorial pages. While Mr. Gutknecht received every newspaper endorsement two years ago, he received just one this year. Mr. Walz got the rest.
Endorsements are a good measure for gauging political positions. As the old saw goes, a man's character can be measured by company he keeps. Looking at each candidate's endorsements gives a fairly accurate assessment as to where they stand on the issues.
Yet the public, not the newspapers or the interest groups, will be final determiner of who is to represent southern Minnesota in Congress for the next two years. Analysts say that a low turnout will favor the incumbent Republican. But if the Democrats can get out the vote, and the independent voters express their dissatisfaction with the status quo, then come January the 1st Congressional District just may have a new face to represent its interests in Washington.
1st Congressional District endorsements
Newspapers
- Gutknecht: New Ulm Journal
- Walz: Albert Lea Tribune, Mankato Free Press, Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Peter Herald, Winona Daily News, Worthington Daily Globe
(NOTE: The Rochester Post-Bulletin, the District's largest circulation newspaper, did not endorse, nor did the Austin Daily Herald.)Agriculture
- Gutknecht: Minnesota Farm Bureau PAC
- Walz: National Farmers Union PAC
- Gutknecht: National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Small Business Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
- Walz: none
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: American Federation of Teachers, Education Minnesota, National Education Association
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: Clean Water Action, League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club
- Gutknecht: Minnesota Peace and Police Officers Association, Minnesota Professional Fire Fighters Association
- Walz: International Union of Police Associations
- Gutknecht: National Rifle Association
- Walz: none
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: American Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: Human Rights Campaign
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: AFL-CIO MN Committee on Political Education, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, Teamsters Joint Council 32, Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, Pipe Trades Association Minnesota, Service Employees International Union Local 284, United Auto Workers Minnesota State CAP Council, United Food and Commercial Workers, United Steelworkers District #11, United Transportation Union
- Gutknecht: none
- Walz: Veterans and Military Families for Progress, VETPAC
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