Economy, energy take center stage in 1st Dist. congressional race

Two years after a DFL newcomer took Minnesota's First Congressional District seat from an incumbent Republican, a GOP newcomer is trying to take it back.

The congressional race pits freshman DFL Rep. Tim Walz against Republican Brian Davis, both of whom like to say they're ordinary citizens who fit the district's largely middle-class, rural values.

Walz, from Mankato, taught high school and coached football while serving in the National Guard before he was elected. Davis, a cancer doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, is the son of a schoolteacher mother and principal father who paid his way through college by moving furniture and working as a doorman.

The third candidate in the race -- Gregory Mikkelson of the Independence Party -- also has working-class credentials, as a farmer from Lake Crystal.

Walz won the seat two years ago from Rep. Gil Gutknecht on his folksy, everyman appeal, a persona that has proven popular as he has outpaced Davis in fundraising and organization. Walz had more than $1 million cash on hand as of Sept. 30, to about $337,000 for Davis, and also had about 2,000 volunteers in the field.

"He's right on with the working class," said Pine Island resident Wes Urevig.

Urevig cited Walz's two votes this month against the $700 billion financial bailout package as an example of his advocacy for working-class Minnesotans. Walz voted against the majority of his party, which some voters have cited as evidence that he's willing to stand up for Minnesotans despite party pressure.

"I'm very disappointed by the name-calling, because I'm not a millionaire," said Davis, who said he also would have opposed both versions of the bailout bill. "I come from a modest background. I was a cook, a janitor. I know what it's like to work a lot of different jobs a lot of people work."

Size of government

Len Griffith of Stewartville said he's supporting Davis because he's an outsider who wants less government. "I'm for smaller government," said Griffith, a retired IBM worker. "The longer people are in government, the more they are corrupted. [Davis] doesn't want to be a career politician."

State DFL leaders have criticized Davis for paying property taxes late for multiple years on his Rochester home and a vacation home in Sawyer County, Wis. Davis says the lapses were from confusion over a change from electronic payments to paper billing.

Walz said it's a nonissue.

On energy, Davis said he favors an "all-of-the-above" policy that includes expanded oil drilling, both offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR); coal, which he says is 95 percent cleaner than it was decades ago; ethanol, and wind power.

He previously called for ending government-imposed standards on automobile mileage.

Walz criticized Davis' support of alternative energy as lukewarm. "Dr. Davis sees no connection" to burning fossil fuels and global warming, he said at the debate.

Davis replied that he does criticize "the global warming religion that is out there." "It's true, we do have global warming, but it's been mild. We've always had climate change in recorded history."

Davis criticized Walz for voting against offshore drilling several times before eventually supporting legislation that lifted a ban on the practice.

He is an advocate of alternative energy, such as solar and wind, and better fuel efficiency.

On the economy, Walz criticized Davis for advocating partial privatization of Social Security. Under such plans, younger workers would be able to invest part of their Social Security tax payments through personal accounts. Walz likened the plan to gambling, saying that the odds were better in Las Vegas than on Wall Street.

At a recent appearance with Davis in Rochester, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, defended Davis' plan, saying that despite the recent stock market drop, that approach would lead to greater returns in the long term.

When it comes to immigration, an important issue in a rural district where more than 200 people were arrested in a federal raid two years ago, the candidates agreed that a program is needed that would allow noncitizens to work legally in the country. However, Davis criticized Walz for not supporting a border fence.

"This district tends to be more conservative than most places," Davis said, alluding to his assertion that Walz is too liberal.

Mikkelson's positions

IP candidate Mikkelson's key platform issues include reducing government spending, raising the age for Social Security eligibility to 70, eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and pulling out of Iraq as soon as possible.

"People need to take an active part in democracy," Mikkelson said. "We need to remember that we're Minnesotans and Americans first."

On energy, Mikkelson advocated for alternative energy sources, including wind, solar and nuclear. Drilling in ANWR, he said, would produce a minimal fuel supply.

"This is really not a solution," he said of domestic drilling.