Cook County News Herald

Shifting party lines in 8th Congressional District race





Chip Cravaack made campaign stops in Cook County on June 4, talking to voters at World’s Best Donuts, Birch Terrace Supper Club, Blue Water Café and the Grand Portage Veteran’s Memorial.

Chip Cravaack made campaign stops in Cook County on June 4, talking to voters at World’s Best Donuts, Birch Terrace Supper Club, Blue Water Café and the Grand Portage Veteran’s Memorial.

Chip Cravaack, the endorsed Republican Congressional candidate for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, challenging long-time Congressional leader Jim Oberstar, announced endorsements from the Independence Party and a DFL group this week.

Tim Olson, Independence Party candidate for Congress, has withdrawn from his run for the 8th District seat. He attended a fundraiser for Cravaack and said, “I will do everything in my power to ensure that Chip Cravaack is elected to Congress.”

Cravaack said the support of Olson, a former business owner “who knows the hardships of owning a business and trying to keep good jobs in Northern Minnesota,” means a great deal.

“Tim, a lifelong Minnesotan and a devoted husband, father, brother, and son, is a tremendous individual. He understands, more than anyone, what we need to do to bring sustainable, meaningful work back to this great state. I am absolutely humbled by his support,” Cravaack said. Independence Party candidate is unprecedented—this shows that we have the momentum and the coalition needed to win on November 2nd,” Cravaack said.

The most recent Independent candidate, Mike Darling, garnered nearly 20,000 votes when he ran in 2000.

“Although there are untold numbers of disaffected Democrats in Northern Minnesota and the Range, this election is not about party. This election is about people and getting things done. It’s about getting this district and this country back to work,” said Olson.

Cravaack also announced another endorsement from a group called “Democrats for Chip.” Spokesperson Paul Starkovich of Ely leads the Democrats for Chip. Starkovich, a former professional baseball player, union steelworker, and Major League baseball scout for the Kansas City Royals, said the coalition has a “broad range of Democrats pledging support for Cravaack.”

Contacted by phone in Ely, Starkovich was unable to give a number of coalition members, but said, “I worked in the mine for 28 years and I’m hearing from my friends that the DFL Party has gone too green; too progressive. A lot of my buddies were leaning toward voting Independent.

“A lot of steelworkers don’t think Oberstar is representing them anymore. That’s why 20 percent of Democrats voted against Oberstar in the primary. We need jobs; we need a tax base.”

Asked if steelworkers were not pleased that Congressman Oberstar had come out on record in support of the Polymet copper-nickel mining project near Hoyt Lakes, Starkovich said he believes Oberstar did so only because Cravaack had voiced his support. “Where was he before that?” asked Starkovich in return. “Where has he been for the last seven years?”

Oberstar has been on record supporting the project in the past, in fact the Congressman came under fire from constituents with environmental concerns in July 2008 when he introduced legislation in support of the mining project and again when he urged the State of Minnesota to move ahead with permitting in 2009.

His opponents say that isn’t enough. “If Congressman Oberstar was serious about getting this project up and running, construction would already be underway,” Cravaack said.

“His silence has been deafening, especially for the thousands of unemployed residents of St. Louis County and their families. Actions speak louder than words. If Congressman Oberstar did something other than just talk about creating jobs, unemployment in our district wouldn’t be the highest in the state.”

According to Oberstar’s August 27 speech at the proposed mining site, the new mining project will create up to 1,000 jobs. According to the latest press release from Cravaack, the mining project will employ about 300 construction workers for three years and then about 400 stable jobs and about 500 ancillary jobs.

According to a September 9 report in the Duluth News-Tribune,
Oberstar has garnered between 59 and 100 percent of the vote since first elected to the post in 1974.

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