Mixed message in Scott County election results

If a red tide swept much of the nation on Tuesday and rocked the Minnesota Legislature, it is not quite as clear how to read the tea leaves from Scott County.

Voters in one of the state's most conservative counties woke up Wednesday morning to no DFL legislators whatsoever and the potential at least for a big shift on the county board.

But they also supported candidates for City Council in Prior Lake who argued for carefully targeted investments even in hard times. And the same thing happened in the less affluent town of Belle Plaine, though the outcome there was close enough to end up in a recount.

What gives?

"I think voters are more likely to support something financially if they see a direct, local benefit," said Barb Marschall, who chairs the county board.

In races with party designation, Republican candidates triumphed. Even Minnesota Rep. Mark Buesgens, of Jordan, fresh off DWI charges, won handily -- 67 percent of the vote, one of the strongest outcomes for any Republican legislator in the area and strong compared to his past votes. Congressman John Kline's 68 percent in Scott County was a thumping result even by his own past standards.

In the one contested Scott commissioner race with clear divisions on taxes and spending -- the race in Shakopee pitting former sheriff Dave Menden against incumbent Jerry Hennen -- the more fire-breathing conservative won decisively. Menden drew 54 percent of the vote.

In Prior Lake, however, two candidates who defended rising city spending as having some real payoffs -- including an end to "brown water" from the tap -- succeeded. And in Belle Plaine, Mayor Tim Lies narrowly survived after defending the idea of investing in new city facilities despite hard times.

The key thing to appreciate there, Lies said, was his own shoulder-shrugging attitude about being returned to office.

"I fully expected to lose," he said. "I was a reluctant candidate and hadn't intended to run at all, except that there was only one other candidate. I really didn't campaign hard.

"Do I feel vindicated?" he added. "No, not really. I feel like it's a job not a lot of people want. It's a very mixed blessing, though I look forward to the next two years."

At the county board level, the result could well reshape future events. Hennen was one of three suburban representatives from the northern part of the county who argued on behalf of quality-of-life spending on things like parks and trails.

He does think that "people want government to tighten up like they have tightened up at home and they don't think we have gotten that message." But he also added: "We have got to do things slowly. People don't want controversy. When you move too quickly, as we saw in Washington the last two years, they'll throw you out."

In local races without party designation, some officeholders say it's not always clear why voters choose as they do: whether they closely follow the nuances of each candidate's position, or which parts of that position they support.

"As a voter," Marschall said, "I sometimes think I know who I'm supporting, yet I will watch a debate and hear an answer to a question on one particular issue that makes me go, 'Huh? Well, I just changed my mind about that person!'"