Two long-safe Senate seats will be up for grabs this fall

Campaign signs are sprouting in two DFL legislative strongholds in south Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park that haven't seen a competitive state Senate race in years.

The signs herald special elections this fall to fill the seats of longtime DFL Sens. Linda Scheid, who died in June of cancer, and Linda Berglin, who stepped down to take a health care policy job with Hennepin County.

Primary contests will be held Sept. 13 to decide which DFL and Republican candidates will move on to the general election, set for Oct. 18 by Gov. Mark Dayton.

The winners likely will take office immediately -- in time to participate in a special legislative session on the Vikings' stadium bill, should Dayton call one at that point -- and will need to run again next year, when all legislative seats are up for grabs because of redistricting.

Here's a look at how the fields are shaping up.

DISTRICT 46 Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn ParkScheid was first elected to the Senate from this district in 1996, after serving six terms in the House. She averaged 60 percent of the vote in her five Senate victories, winning with 62 percent last year against Republican challenger Ryan Sibinski. The district's two House representatives also are DFLers.

The primary will pit Chris Eaton against Timothy Davis Sr. for the DFL nod, and Sibinski against Cory Jensen for the Republican nomination. Tom Reynolds, a real estate broker who has run for office several times, is the lone Independence Party candidate.

Eaton, whose candidacy Scheid blessed before she died, has endorsements from labor and the DFL. She's a registered nurse and directs health services at Mental Health Resources Inc. in St. Paul. She's got important political ties even at home; her husband is Brooklyn Center Mayor Tim Willson.

Davis is a perennial candidate who once ran as a Republican and lost a bid last year for Brooklyn Park mayor.

Republicans have endorsed Jensen, a Brooklyn Park computer consultant and longtime party activist. State GOP chairman Tony Sutton said Jensen was a good fit for the "center right" district. One of the people he defeated was Sibinski, a Brooklyn Park salesman who has campaigned for Ralph Nader and Ron Paul and is making another bid for the seat he lost to Scheid last year.

DISTRICT 61 South-central MinneapolisBerglin has been running up landslide margins in this district since she was first elected to the House in 1972. Last year she captured 89 percent of the vote, her highest. Given the political makeup of the district, the election seems almost certain to be decided in the DFL primary election.

Berglin has endorsed DFL Rep. Jeff Hayden, a two-term legislator whom she called "a respected progressive voice" for affordable housing, health care reform and education. The party ratified her choice by endorsing Hayden on the first ballot Saturday. Before going to the Legislature, he worked as a housing advocate, community activist and City Council aide.

The other DFL candidates are Elsa Batica, a training consultant and former Minneapolis deputy civil rights director; Kristian Heuer, a communications specialist and political novice who says he's an "average citizen"; Sadik Warfa, a Somali immigrant and self-employed tax auditor who last year lost a House race as an Independence Party candidate; Paulette Will, a longtime abortion-rights advocate who proposes a $10-per-hour minimum wage, and Kyle Wilson, a Web development business owner and avid cyclist whose ads feature the outline of a bike.

Candidates representing three other parties are unchallenged and will go directly to the general election ballot. Bruce Lundeen ran for City Council in 2009 as a Green Party candidate and is running this year as a Republican. Political activist Farheen Hakeem, co-chair of the national Green Party, is representing her party in the race. Matt Brillhart, a Metro Transit worker and University of Minnesota student, won the Independence Party endorsement.

The pair of primary and general elections in each district will cost upward of $150,000, mostly for hiring election judges and printing ballots, county Elections Manager Rachel Smith said. The county will pay about 30 percent, and the cities will cover the rest.

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455