Profile of blind legislative candidate.
Mark Steil, 9/9/96

The republican candidate in a western Minnesota legislative race hopes to become one of the youngest state representatives ever. Just 23 years old, Torrey Westrom says he doesn't like to wait around. If something like politics interests him, he trys it. Westrom has been blind since a car accident 9 years ago.... something he says is not an impediment to elective office. Mark Steil of Mainstreet Radio reports:

There have been younger state representatives than Westrom, but the Elbow Lake resident believes if elected he'll be Minnesota's first blind state legislator: :10 "DIFERENT PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE AROUND THE DISTRICT HAVE COME UP AND SAID YOU KNOW I THINK YOU HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF WINNING. I SEE YOUR NAME, I SEE YOU OUT...AND THAT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD."

Most days Westrom is in his Elbow Lake house which also serves as his business office.... he runs a property management agency and is a sales agent for a telecommunications company. Most evenings though he's out knocking on doors: :20 WOMANS VOICE "TWO STEPS AND THE HANDLES ON THE LEFT....KIND OF ROUNDED STEPS"...... THEN KNOCKING. DOOR OPENS "HI I'M TORRY WESTROM....."

:23 (WESTROM) "WHEN YOU'RE IN AN UNFAMILIAR TOWN ROADS AND SIDEWALKS CAN BE CONFUSING UNTIL YOU'VE WENT OVER THEM A TIME OR THREE....SO USUALLY SOMEONE JUST GOES OUT DOORKNOCKING WITH ME. USING THE CANE, MY ONE HAND GETS FULL SO THEY CARRY THE LITERATURE WHICH IS HELPFUL, AND I JUST TAKE A PIECE EACH TIME UP TO THE DOOR."

The campaign literature is straight forward. It tells about Westroms background: grew up on a farm near Elbow Lake, went to high school there, graduated from Bemidji State University, came back home and started a business. The brochure has a map of house district 13A and issue positions. It also contains a short letter in which Westrom writes "if anything, losing my sight has made me a harder worker and a better listener, the two most important qualities a representative can possess":

:23 "I MADE A DECISION EITHER YOU CAN SIT AND DO NOTHING OR YOU CAN GO ON. I CHOOSE TO GO ON.....ITS A LOT OF LONELY DAYS, A LOT OF FRUSTRATING DAYS AND THOSE DAYS STILL EXIST. BUT YOU DEAL WITH IT, YOU LIVE WITH IT AND YOU PLAN AHEAD."

Westrom is running for the house seat left open when DFL'er Chuck Brown decided to to run for re-election. Someone who's been through what faces Westrom is Dick Edlund of Kansas City, Kansas. Edlund, who is blind, is in his third term in the Kansas legislature. He says Westrom will have to work harder than his opponent to win the race:

:16 "ITS TOUGHER, YOU BET. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY QUESTION ABOUT IT. MOST PEOPLE WOULD QUESTION YOUR ABILITY. THEY ALWAYS DO IF YOU'RE BLIND, OR PROBABLY WOULD IF YOU WERE IN A WHEELCHAIR....AND A WHOLE VARIETY OF OTHER THINGS." Edlund says the trick is to keep a sense of humor. He says he never acts offended if someone takes his arm to guide him to a room he's perfectly able to find himself:

:14 "YOU'VE GOT TO LEARN TO BE ABSOLUTELY UNINSULtable. CAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL INSULT YOU. BUT YOU HAVE TO LEARN NOT TO STRIKE BACK, AT LEAST BLATANTLY. IF YOU INSULT A PERSON YOU WANT TO DO IT IN SUCH A WAY THEY'RE NOT AWARE OF IT FOR TWO OR THREE DAYS."

Edlund says technology is a big help to him. Westrom agrees. In his Elbow Lake home Westrom has a computer which tells him what he's written:

COMPUTER CLICKING AND COMPUTER VOICE UNDER THEN UP....COMPUTER SAYS:

:03 "REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO TAKE A MAJORITY.....DOT PERIOD."

Westrom also makes extensive use of a notebook sized computer called "Braille and speak".... he uses it to keep track of names, phone number, and his schedule. If he's elected Westrom says he'll scan bills and other legislative information into his computer for playback:

:22 "ITS A BIG PART OF HOW I FUNCTION AS A MAINSTREAMED PERSON IN AN EVERYDAY SOCIETY. WITH INTERNET AND EMAIL AND ALL THE THINGS THAT COME ACROSS, THATS PROVED TO BE A BIG PLUS IN ADAPTING TO LOSING YOUR SIGHT AND BEING BLIND." While Westrom may be the first blind state legislative candidate, there was another Minnesota politician who lost his sight but still won elections. Thomas Schall attended grade school in Wheaton, less than 30 miles from Westrom's Elbow Lake home. In 1914, Schall won the first of five terms in the U.S. House. He then switched to the U.S Senate, winning two terms there. Westrom's not thinking about that sort of career though, he's concentrating on winning his first race. This is Mark Steil, Mainstreet Radio.