There was a time when election season in northeastern Minnesota had all of the excitement of watching grass grow.
That’s at least when it came to state legislative races.
For decades, Democrats such as the late Dave Battaglia, Doug Johnson and David Dill, as well as now-retired State Sen. Tom Bakk, had little in the way of competition.
They were entrenched incumbents with widespread support, and they ran up comfortable margins of victory.
They gained support from solid majorities, crossing party lines and winning with wide margins across the district.
But times have clearly changed. One can chalk it up to a number of factors, from adding Republican-leaning areas to the west into our district to changing demographics and, without a doubt, the deep red-blue partisan divides that have permeated across the country even here in our neck of the woods.
So it’s with that backdrop that the current incumbents, State Sen. Grant Hauschild (D) and State Rep. Roger Skraba (R) face competition rather than coronation this fall.
The political landscape, as well as seemingly strong challengers, have made it evident that both Hauschild and Skraba will have to work to win re-election.
In some ways, it appears to be shaping up a lot like it was four years ago, when we had a pair of Election Night cliffhangers.
Hauschild has a rematch - squaring off against Babbitt Mayor Andrea Zupancich for the right to represent a vast Senate district that includes the Arrowhead, the North Shore and down to the Duluth area.
In 2002, Hauschild prevailed, but by less than 1,000 votes and a roughly 51-49 percent margin.
Since taking office, Hauschild has made good on campaign promises to deliver for the region, teaming often with Skraba and sending state funds north for everything from nursing homes to ATV trails.
He’s also walked a political tightrope, angering some with his position on guns and delicately balancing the competing positions on mining and environmental issues across the district.
Zupancich, who is the mayor of Babbitt, is looking to pounce and is highlighting issues including fraud and taxes.
The State House race could very well put environmental issues in the spotlight as Skraba has been unabashedly in support of new mining initiatives such as Twin Metals Minnesota while Aaron Kania, the former U.S. Forest Service Ranger who is challenging him has been at best more opaque when it comes to new mining.
The fact that mining opponents are heavily in his corner gives voters an opportunity to “read the tea leaves” as this race shakes out.
What will be interesting to watch over the next few months is how, if all, the incumbents address the bipartisan manner in which they’ve worked together the last four years.
Both have been quick to cite their cooperation during public events, but will that change now that it’s election season?
How much, if at all, will either step into the other’s race? Will Hauschild campaign with Kania? To what extent will Skraba and Zupancich team up?
That’s another dynamic that will be more than interesting to watch as the campaign season starts to heat up.
No matter what, the races promise to be competitive and we’re looking forward to good discussions about issues ranging from fraud to mining to taxes to school funding.
There are no longer any coronations here and that’s a good thing. Bring on the political discourse.
