Lourey makes bid for DFL

nomination for governor

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- State Sen. Becky Lourey, one of two women battling for the DFL nomination for governor, campaigned in New Ulm Wednesday, meeting with the press and Brown County DFL convention delegates.

She's in what now appears to be a three-candidate race, involving herself, Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, and State Auditor Judy Dutcher. All three have agreed to abide by the party's state convention endorsement process, an aide to Lourey said.

The 58-year-old legislator from Kerrick, about 40 miles southwest of Duluth, has made quality education, affordable health coverage, building a strong community and reversing farm-family flight the superstructure of her campaign for governor.

She spent six years in the House before moving to the Senate where she is completing her sixth year.

"I came in as a health-care reformer," Lourey explained. "I'm an author of MinnesotaCare and also of the prescription drug program that is for both seniors and disabled adults. I have done a lot of work on education and early childhood education, and I also care so much about our agricultural community that it be very vibrant so we keep families on the farms."

She believes the things that are so important for farmers are the valued-added processes, ethanol and biodiesel.

"I serve on the agriculture committee in the Senate and strongly fight for those endeavors because if we can do value added, we can just keep more of the revenue in our own communities."

She also recognizes the state's transportation and transit needs.

"The Highway 14 corridor expansion is vitally important to moving agricultural products and economic development in the New Ulm area," Lourey said. "What I want to do is to establish a dialogue between the rural and urban areas so each can understand the transportation and transit needs of the other."

As far as Lourey is concerned, "that's what government is. We can't build schools or libraries individually, you know; we need to build them collectively. And we can't build highways or transit systems that we need individually; we need to do that together. We need to build that infrastructure together."

Lourey and her husband Gene have a farm near Kerrick, as well as operating a small data-management firm. "I farmed full-time myself for eight years, and we ran 70 cows and put up 5,000 bales of hay in the summer."

They raised four children of their own, "and the children we adopted had multiple challenges, but they all grew up to be wonderful adults."

Her interest in building strong communities is bolstered by what she sees in New Ulm.

"That's why we're so interested in what is happening here in New Ulm because it looks like such a thriving community; it's really exciting." She said she's also impressed with the commitment shown in New Ulm to volunteering.

"I'm excited about what college students are seeing in volunteer commitments, and the wisdom that seniors, especially, can give to volunteer work which is beneficial to our communities," she explained. "It is important for government itself to promote volunteerism and to promote partnerships with non-profits because these people are leery of government."

She said her lieutenant-governor running mate, Joel Kramer, former Minneapolis Star Tribune publisher, is committed to quality education, as well, and will be a "working" lieutenant governor.

"We need to provide quality education regardless of whether you're rich or poor," Lourey said. "It doesn't matter what kind of a community you come from, every child needs not only for that child's self but for the community self a quality education.

"Let's use that office for something really positive," she said. "We need to get into the dialogue of about what government should be, about how we're collecting the revenue we're collecting and what our priorities are in spending it."

That certainly includes stadium issues before the Legislature, she added.

"I voted against the Twins stadium proposal in the Senate," Lourey said. "I thought the 2 percent arbitrage plan was great, but the Twins wouldn't put up the $165 million. Major league baseball is a monopoly, and I can't be very sympathetic toward their problems. They threatened us with contraction. The National Football League has used salary caps and other means of containing costs; I'd be much more sympathetic toward the Vikings' stadium issue."