by Tom Coombe
State Rep. Roger Skraba (R) of Ely will have to fend off a challenge to hold on to his seat in St. Paul.
Aaron Kania, who just recently retired after a nearly 30-year career in federal government, including the last five-and-a-half years as the area’s U.S. Forest Service District Ranger, announced Monday that he’s running for Skraba’s House District 3A seat.
That announcement came on “The Pulse of Ely,” the Echo’s official podcast.
“It’s really about having a choice for the voters,” said Kania, who is running as a Democrat and is seeking party member support at the Feb. 3 precinct caucuses. “And I think from a policy perspective, I see things differently than Roger, and we have different approaches to things.”
Kania, 50, is also seeking to bring an Iron Range voice back into the DFL caucus after a recent string of Republican victories in the region.
“I think the benefit of me coming from the DFL side is to have a voice in the Minnesota House on the DFL side, so that our rural voice is being heard in that room in our metro area,” said Kania.
Kania cited recent discussions at the Ely area’s Community Development Joint Powers Board legislative meeting and said he would work across party lines on issues ranging from rural ambulance service to funding for schools and hospitals.
“Right now we’re way behind the curve on rural EMS and ambulance service, and the other thing is schools, how many kids are going to school,” said Kania.
He added that his priorities are “how are we going to keep our schools funded, how are we going to keep our hospitals open and how are we going to keep our ambulances supplied.”
While looking to unseat Skraba, Kania said he “enjoyed working with Roger when I was district ranger and he was mayor.”
He indicated, however, that his positions differ from Skraba's on issues such as abortion and public land management.
The two contenders also appear to have decidedly different viewpoints on the region’s longstanding hot-button issue: copper-nickel mining.
While he sidestepped a specific position on the proposed Twin Metals Minnesota and NewRange copper-nickel mining initiatives, Kania voiced concerns about the viability of both projects.
“I think there’s a whole lot of questions that have to be answered and the first question is about the economics of it,” said Kania. “This is an extremely difficult place to conduct that type of mining operations, just simply from an economic perspective. This is a world market and to get that to market is extremely difficult.”
Kania also added that “from an environmental perspective, this is also an extremely difficult place to mine properly... I think first we have to answer a whole lot of questions to get it right.”
Earlier, Kania said, “I do support mining, all of us support mining. Mining is part of us and here the IRRRB is a huge part of our economy.”
Kania noted that he asked lawmakers at the Joint Powers session about “what’s the plan” to aid more than 900 unemployed miners on the Iron Range and said he believes “there are structural things in our economy that we need to work on collaboratively.”
He pointed back to his work locally with the Forest Service and said, “People saw me in many different aspects, wildland fire, things we did in the Boundary Waters, forestry, but really a lot of collaborative work and a lot of challenges here in the area.”
During his time in the region, Kania has been involved in Tower’s forestry board and serves both on the advisory board at Vermilion Community College, and is now part of the search committee for a new president of Minnesota North College - the consortium that includes Vermilion. He is also part of the St. Louis County Community Development Block Grant board.
Kania said he grew up as a Democrat and was part of a union household.
He came from a military family, graduated from high school on the East Coast and went to college in Colorado.
Before arriving in Ely, Kania worked for 23 years in a law enforcement capacity for the federal Bureau of Land Management, with positions in both Utah and Wyoming.
He was eligible for and accepted an early retirement, but added, “I really feel I’m in my prime and ready for the next challenge.”
It comes in an area that he now calls home.
“I love every part of it,” said Kania, who lives in Lake Vermilion Township near Tower. “I think the best part of it is that we are rural, all the lifestyle choices we have here to go hunting, fishing, skiing, snowmobiling, the public lands we have here. And the best part about a rural area is that you get to know the people.”
Kania said he has assembled a campaign team, led by Ely area resident Cindy Smyka, that is working on everything from a website to social media outreach.
“I do have that team in place and we’re ready to go,” said Kania.
The work comes in advance of the precinct caucuses and party nominating conventions and a potential primary, should another DFL candidate enter the race.
Skraba won the House 3A seat by unseating former State Rep. Rob Ecklund in 2022. He was re-elected convincingly in 2024, defeating former International Falls Mayor Harley Droba.
