Johnson defeats

Swenson in 23A

By KEVIN SWEENEY

Journal Editor

ST. PETER -- DFLer Ruth Johnson staged a come-from-behind rally to defeat Rep. Howard Swenson in House of Representatives District 23A Tuesday. She'll be taking her trademark red cowboy boots to the Capitol this session.

Swenson had built an early lead based on votes from rural precincts, but Johnson, whose base is in St. Peter, was counting on the city's precincts to make up the difference.

Swenson led Johnson 4,961 to 3,991 with 33 of the 45 precincts counted. Around midnight the St. Peter results overwhelmed Swenson's lead. St. Peter voters gave Johnson a 3,345 to 1,861 margin over Swenson, handing Johnson a 754 vote win, 10,372 to 9,618 for Swenson.

Lance A. Bennett, a Winthrop man running on the Independence Party ticket, drew 908 votes, many of them in the rural part of the district that was Swenson's stronghold.

Johnson was ebullient Wednesday afternoon, despite a late night waiting up for results.

"About 1:30 a.m. the City of Gaylord results came in. The county auditor said he had been doing some recounting to make sure everything was right, so that's why it was so late. Once that came in, the numbers looked good," said Johnson.

Johnson trailed Swenson in Gaylord, 540 to 495, but she was close enough to keep the advantage from St. Peter.

Johnson said Bennett's candidacy may have drawn some votes away from Swenson. "A familiarity factor may have come into play," she said. "People like to vote for people they know. But is it a prevailing factor? That's hard to know."

There was no doubt her base was energized. "There was a great deal of activity, with people ready to serve the cause, knock on doors, do the voter outreach that is so important in a campaign these days."

Johnson is also excited about the gains made by the DFL in the House of Representatives. With 13 seats gained, the DFL trails the Republican caucus by two votes in the House, not enough to take control, but enough to make the Republicans pay notice to them.

"I think it will open the door to many more working compromises," said Johnson. "It will force them to bring more Democrats to the table as partners, and that leads to more compromises.

"The Legislature has been deadlocked so long, I think citizens will see the new compromises, and that will help them urge the Legislature to seek even more compromise."

Legislative caucuses will begin meeting today, Johnson said, and new legislators will be going through orientation. This will be Johnson's third such orientation.

Johnson said the Legislature needs to start off the session by passing the bonding bill that didn't make it last session.

"That will produce 10,000 good-wage jobs that will support families all over the state. These projects are all over the state, and will help build the public infrastructure we have."

Such projects as Trafton Hall, the science building at Minnesota State University, Mankato, the MnDOT building in Mankato, CREP and road and bridge projects will help the area, she said.

Johnson also wants to restore funding that was cut for Early Childhood and Family Education programs, and bring more funding for K-12 school districts, especially those in rural Minnesota that are troubled by declining enrollment.

She also wants better funding for higher education, to keep tuition from rising too steeply, and provide more financial aid so that anyone who wants to can attend college.

She also wants better accessibility to health care, especially for farm families, and families who can't get health insurance through their workplaces.

And transportation needs to be addressed, Johnson said. "Highway 14 is a killer road, and needs to be made safe," she said. She also wants to get Highway 169 routed around St. Peter, and make sure county roads and bridges aren't neglected.