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Does DFLer's win signal a GOP backlash?
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
February 12, 2003

Former school board member and teacher Rebecca Otto, who lives in May Township, beat Republican Matt Dean and two other candidates with 54 percent of the vote. (MPR Photo/Laura McCallum)

House Democrats are celebrating a surprise victory in this week's special election in the Stillwater area. DFLer Rebecca Otto won in what was considered a Republican stronghold. The seat was held by Republican Mark Holsten, who was appointed deputy DNR commissioner. DFL leaders say Otto's victory was a "backlash against Republican extremism." But Republican leaders say it was the result of a negative campaign.

May Township, Minn. — Former school board member and teacher Rebecca Otto won with 54 percent of the vote. She beat Republican Matt Dean, who got 43 percent of the vote, and two other candidates. Voter turnout was about 22 percent.

Otto, who lives in May Township, beat the odds on two counts. She was elected in an area widely viewed as Republican-leaning, and she won in a special election. Democrats can only remember two times in recent history when their candidates have won special elections.

	Negative advertising?

Otto says she thinks some voters rejected the no-tax-increase pledge her Republican opponent made. She says voters worry that holding the line on state taxes will result in tax hikes at the local level.

"People basically said they're very concerned about local property taxes going up. I'm surrounded by seniors in my neighborhood who are retired, on fixed incomes, wonderful people, and they can't afford any more right now," she said.

But Otto says she's not calling for a statewide tax increase. She says Governor Pawlenty has made it clear he'll veto any tax increases, so lawmakers must work within that parameter. Otto says she wants to protect funding for schools and cities, but didn't say what else she would cut to balance the budget.

Republican Matt Dean, a Dellwood architect, says he thinks Otto won partly because of negative campaign ads. "My opponent said in literature that I don't care about the public schools because I send my children to private schools. Well I don't; I send them to the public school. It's a very verifiable fact, and it's obviously a disregard for the truth."

Another campaign brochure showed a man wearing a tutu and ballet slippers, and accused Dean of "toeing the party line" and being a puppet of Republican extremists. Dean disputes the extremist label; he says polls show most Minnesotans want the Legislature to cut spending instead of raising taxes. He also says it's not extreme to want to repeal the Profile of Learning show-what-you know graduation standards. Otto also supports repealing the Profile.

DFL leaders say Otto's election is a rejection of Republicans' social agenda. House Minority Leader Matt Entenza of St. Paul says voters want the Legislature to focus on the state's $4.2 billion deficit.

"A lot of our members, we were out door-knocking in the district, and certainly part of what we heard is the budget has to be the top priority, and it's a shame that when that's the top priority, the House Republicans are going to spend the next three weeks focusing on social issues, and the governor's gone on vacation," he said.

Entenza says Gov. Pawlenty should have released his budget before taking a five-day vacation to Naples, Fla.

Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum of Kenyon says Pawlenty's vacation is a non-issue. He says it's the first time Pawlenty has gone on a family vacation in six years. Sviggum says the budget is Republicans' top priority. But he says until an updated revenue forecast comes out at the end of the month, the Legislature has time to debate issues from abortion to concealed weapons.

The party has been fractured there, and some moderate Republicans were openly supporting Otto, that's what this victory was about. - Sarah Janacek

"It could be repeal of the Profile of Learning, it could be Personal Protection Act (concealed carry), it could be women's right to know - vote on those issues straight up and down as a separate piece of legislation, not putting them in omnibus bills, not putting them into garbage bills, and we would hope the Senate would do the same," Sviggum said.

Sviggum still commands a sizable majority, with 80 Republicans and now 53 Democrats in the House. Another special election at the end of the month will fill a vacant Maple Grove seat that was held by Republican Rich Stanek, now the commissioner of public safety.

Democrats are more optimistic about their chances after Otto's victory, but Republican analyst Sara Janacek, co-editor of the newsletter Politics in Minnesota, says she doesn't believe Otto's win is the beginning of a larger trend. She says the election results had more to do with a split in the Stillwater area between moderate and more conservative Republicans.

"The party has been fractured there, and some moderate Republicans were openly supporting Otto, that's what this victory was about. Nothing larger than what happened in that particular area of the metropolitan area," Janacek.

Janacek says Republicans may also have gotten a bit complacent about the race, something that she says won't happen with the Maple Grove seat.

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