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Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | U.S. House
Edina mayor may run for Congress ... as a DFLer
Jim Hovland, who's eyeing Ramstad's seat, says the GOP has moved too far right.
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Edina Mayor Jim Hovland is a good example of the conflicted and wide-open political nature of the metro area's western suburbs.
A longtime Republican, he is not shy about expressing frustration over what he sees as the extreme nature of the Republican Party these days, calling it "a marching progression to a more consolidated base and a smaller party."
He supports abortion rights and mass transit. He's also thinking about running to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, who announced his retirement after nine terms.
And if Hovland runs, he'll run as a DFLer. Hovland said Friday that he had switched parties.
Much to his surprise, Hovland was invited to gather with members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Fourth District U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum and her chief of staff. They talked about a congressional run in the rapidly changing Third District and how the DCCC could help.
"For years, I would characterize myself as a moderate-type Republican. Over time, I felt like the Republican Party had moved farther and farther away from my philosophical beliefs. I find myself consistently philosophically aligning myself with Democrats," said Hovland, a lawyer who has been on the Edina City Council for 11 years and mayor for the past three.
Those feelings have manifested themselves on issues such as regional transit and transportation funding and local government aid. Hovland has worked with the Regional Council of Mayors and chairs the I-494 Corridor Commission. He's also a member of the Metropolitan Council's Transportation Advisory Board.
As for the potential defection, state Republicans are not surprised, saying Hovland has not been active in the party.
"It sounds like he's just a very ambitious guy who smells an opportunity here," said party spokesman Mark Drake.
Hovland said he was surprised when the Democrats came courting.
"I've loved doing stuff for our town and for our region and I like trying to push things along to make it a better place to live," Hovland said. "I consider myself service-driven. So when people start calling me from my town or people like Betty called and said 'Would you think about this?', first of all I'm kind of startled. First off, it was something I never expressed to anybody, that I had sort of evolved this way over the past couple years."
Hovland said he will spend the next couple of weeks gauging how he might fit in.
"Am I the kind of guy that they would consider having me run for a congressional district seat or am I just wasting their time and my time?" he said.
Bill Harper, McCollum's chief of staff, said no one is endorsing a Hovland candidacy but added Democrats believe he could fit into the district, a moderate suburban district with an independent streak where voters seem to support a candidate rather than ideology. In 2006, Democrat Amy Klobuchar polled 56 percent of the vote in her U.S. Senate race and Ramstad retained his House seat with 65 percent.
"He's kind of the Democratic side of Jim Ramstad. He comes off as kind of a new Democrat," Harper said. "People who know him who are Democrats respect him. The profile of the district makes the hard-core ideological Democrat or the hard-core Republican a bit out of sync with the moderate, centrist district."
Mark Brunswick • 651-222-1636
Mark Brunswick • mbrunswick@startribune.com
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