Lourey appointment sparks special election

News last week that Minnesota Senator Tony Lourey was leaving his District 11 seat to become commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services sparked a fast and furious race for his senate seat. Additionally, the accelerated timeline of the special election has also created challenges for everyone from the candidates themselves to political parties and county officials tasked with running the election.

“These elections will be conducted in the same manner as we did last fall for the August primary and the November general [election],” said Carlton County auditor Paul Gassert. “But this is basically squeezing four months of work into four weeks.”

The special election is set for Feb. 5. Before that there will be a primary election on Jan. 22 to whittle down the numerous candidates vying for the Minnesota Senate District 11 seat; District 11 includes all of Carlton and Pine Counties and portions of Kanabec and St. Louis Counties.

Governor-elect Tim Walz announced Lourey’s appointment Thursday, Jan. 3. His selection of Lourey was not a surprise to political insiders, as there had been whispers of that since Walz won the election.

Seven candidates had filed by the 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday, including two Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidates, Michelle Lee and Stu Loury, along with one Legal Marijuana Now candidate, John Birrenbach.

Four Republicans filed to run — Justin Krych, Jason Rarick, Matthias M. Shir and Carl O. Pederson — but the other three three candidates dropped out after Rarick came away with the most votes at the Republican Party convention Tuesday.

The DFL convention is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 19 at Barnum High School because of the party’s requirement for a 10-day notice of conventions. There will be a candidate meet-and-greet 9-10 a.m. Because the convention is only days before the primary election, both names will appear on the ballot regardless of the DFL convention results.

Conversely, the Republican Party held its convention in Hinckley Tuesday night.

Tony Sheda, chairman of the Republican Party in Carlton County, said Krych got 68 votes to Rarick’s 122.

“In all fairness, I think Rarick is a good strong candidate,” Sheda said, adding that the Republicans hope to wrest control of District 11 away from the DFL party “and the Lourey family.”

At a press conference in Cloquet Wednesday afternoon, Krych announced that he was withdrawing from the race, and said he will support Rarick. The two other Republican candidates who had filed but not been endorsed — Shir and Pederson — also officially withdrew from the race, meaning the Republican party will not hold a primary for the District 11 senate race.

Rarick said he hopes the support for Republican candidates like President Trump and Eighth District Congressman Pete Stauber will help ensure a win for him.

Gassert said the secretary of state was supposed to certify all the candidates by 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, and Gassert planned to send the names to his vendor Wednesday morning, so he could get a proof of the primary ballot back. However, he needed to wait and see if any candidates withdrew by 5 p.m. Wednesday before making the ballots final.

Gassert aimed to have the physical ballots printed by Friday, Jan. 11, or Monday, Jan. 14, so his office could begin mailing them and allowing people to vote absentee at the courthouse in advance of the Jan. 22 primary election.

“Then it will be the same turnaround after the 22nd for the Feb. 5 election,” Gassert added.

Meet the candidates

DFL

Two people will face off in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party primary on Jan. 22:

Michelle Lee

Moose Lake resident Michelle Lee has also announced her candidacy. After retiring from her longtime job as KBJR-TV anchor, Lee ran for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District in the 2018 primary election, but was defeated by Joe Radinovich. Lee did, however, win the DFL primary in Carlton County.

In announcing her intention to represent District 11 residents in the Minnesota Senate, Lee said her congressional campaign, along with her 30-year career as a broadcast journalist and longtime resident of the area, had provided her with the “background and knowledge needed to understand and promote the needs and desires of the residents of this district in the Minnesota Senate.”

“Although this campaign will be short, it will allow time to outline the issues I believe are important to all residents within the district,” she continued. “Access to affordable health care will be my top priority. I believe it is only a matter of time before single-payer health care becomes a reality in America. In the meantime, I will work with the Walz administration to expand affordable health care to all Minnesotans.”

Stu Lourey

Lourey’s son, Stu Lourey, was the first to announce his candidacy for the District 11 seat — the same seat Becky Lourey (Tony’s mom and Stu’s grandmother) held 1997-2006.

Stu Lourey worked as an aide in the Senate district for former U.S. Sen. Al Franken and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, where he worked to push legislation to help people living in rural areas access health care, provide students with school-based mental health support, and improve prevention, treatment and recovery for the opioid epidemic as well as health care, education, infrastructure, and jobs.

“I’ll focus on the issues that are weighing most heavily on families here in the district. Working on policy in this area — and having conversations with doctors, tribal leaders, teachers, and others — I most often heard about the need to make health care more affordable, the importance of strong schools, and ways we can build a strong economy.”

On his family’s history of public service, Lourey says, “I’m proud of my family’s commitment to this community and public service. Those are the values I grew up with.”

Republican

Rarick is the only Republican candidate:

Jason Rarick

State Rep. Jason Rarick represents House District 11B, a seat he’s held since 2015. District 11B includes parts of Pine and Kanabec Counties.

Rarick is a Pine City native, union electrician and owner/operator of Rarick Electric.

Rarick has been an active community member as a religious education instructor, a youth athletics coach and as a school board member. He currently resides on the farm settled by his great-grandfather in southern Pine County.

Rarick serves on the Labor (Lead) Committee, and Energy and Climate Finance & Policy, Environment and Natural Resources Finance, and Jobs and Economic Development Finance Divisions committees in the Minnesota House. While in the House, Rarick has focused on broadband, transportation, and construction trade and contractor issues and was the chief author of the bills for term limits and legalizing aerial fireworks.

“There’s a lot at stake at the Capitol right now so it’s important our Senate district has a strong voice in St. Paul,” said Rarick. “I am excited to take the experience I’ve gained over four years in the House of Representatives and put it to work for the people of Pine, Kanabec, Carlton and St. Louis Counties.”

Legal Marijuana Now

Birrenbach is the only candidate for the Legal Marijuana Now party.

John “Sparky” Birrenbach

John Birrenbach is a U.S. military veteran and served as a U.S. Navy corpsman 1979-1982. Birrenbach said he feels political activism is one of the most important ways he can support his oath to the Constitution of the United States and has been active in local and statewide politics for decades.

Sparky has been a small-business owner for most of his adult life. According to his statement of candidacy on Facebook, he supports improving rural access to internet, universal health care, civil rights for all people regardless of sexual orientation, race, creed or religion. He believes in a balanced budget and that the rich should pay proportionately more taxes than the poor.

“I am a sensible voice for the people of the 11th District of Minnesota,” he said. “It’s time for someone new from outside the “mainstream” political parties. I pledge to be an independent voice for the people of the district and Minnesota whose vote is not owned by a political party or corporation.”

Birrenbach and the Legal Marijuana Now party advocate for the legalization of recreational marijuana use.