By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

Drawing a crowd

* Voters in the new Senate District 23, which includes Nicollet and Blue Earth counties, will have a full slate of major party candidates from which to choose Nov. 5.

In addition to incumbent DFL Sen. John C. Hottinger of St. Peter and the former State Rep. Julie Storm of St. Peter, a Republican, there will be Green Party candidate Mark Friedman of North Mankato and Independence Party candidate Mathew (Matt) Kruse of Mankato on the ballot.

Another Green Party candidate, Tom Marks of North Mankato, is running for the new House District 23A seat. That race features a battle between two incumbents: DFL Rep. Ruth Johnson of St. Peter and Republican Rep. Howard Swenson of rural Nicollet.

LWV's candidate forum

* The New Ulm League of Women Voters' Local Candidate Forum is set for Monday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Public Library's meeting room. Starting the forum will be District 88 School Board candidates at 7 p.m. They'll be followed by House District 21B candidates at about 8 p.m., the candidates for mayor at about 8:30 p.m., and the City Council Ward 2 candidates at 9 p.m., according to LWV's Ruth Ann Webster.

Four candidates -- Tim Babel, Steve Wachter, Susan Ullery and Charles Hanson -- are seeking the three four-year terms on the school board. Carol Ackerson and James Rogers are running for the two-year term, filling an unexpired term.

Brad Finstad, a Republican, and Mark Wiger, a Democrat, are squaring off in the Nov. 5 general election for the open House District 21B seat. Councilor Joel Albrecht and Jerome Bentz are seeking the mayor's post, and Councilor Ron Fleischmann is opposed by Ben Thompson in the Ward 2 race.

Dump the 'sick' tax

* Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty is out to eliminate the 'sick' tax and stop rising medical costs. What's the 'sick' tax, you ask? That's the tax levied on medical services.

"It makes no sense to impose a regressive tax on the sick, like the one we have in Minnesota," Pawlenty told the Rochester Chamber of Commerce this week. "We must develop a long-term strategy to repeal this short-sighted tax."

Pawlenty led efforts to reduce and get rid of the sick tax in the House, but he said those efforts were thwarted in the Senate by guess who? His gubernatorial opponent, Roger Moe.

As for rising medical costs, Pawlenty said state government is the largest purchaser of health care in Minnesota, "consuming approximately 40 percent of all payments of health care. We need to demand greater accountability from state government when it uses its clout as a purchaser in the health care market."