'Big three' campaign for governor in Bemidji

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

April 3, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

The eighth annual Leech Lake President's Day Walleye Dinner on Monday could have been more aptly named the eighth annual Gubernatorial Candidates Day Walleye Dinner.

Bemidji was the most recent battle ground for the "big three" fighting for the 1998 Democratic-Farmer-Labor gubernatorial endorsement.

Skip Humphrey, Mike Freeman and Ted Mondale, all who have announced their candidacy for governor, gathered at the Bemidji Eagles Club to press flesh and meet voters.

Co-sponsored by the Beltrami County DFLers, the dinner is held annually to raise money for the local party, said Michael Meuers, the county's DFL chairman.

Meures said as many elected officials as possible are invited to the annual event, but unfortunately this year local politicians such as Sen. Dave Ten Eyck, DFL-East Gull Lake, and Rep. Gail Skare, DFL-Bemidji, were still in session in St. Paul and were unable to attend.

"But being the gubernatorial candidates are out working already, we thought we would invite them to come," Meures said. "They all agreed to come. They all want the job pretty bad I guess."

The other major DFL candidates, Mark Dayton and Mark Andrew, had agreed to come but were no-shows.

Mondale, 39, a resident of St. Louis Park, was elected to the state Senate in 1990 and served one term. He is also the son of former Vice President Walter Mondale and is the youngest of the three well-known, second-generation governor candidates.

Freeman, 48, of Richfield, has served as Hennepin County attorney, Freeman represented Richfield and Bloomington in the state Senate from 1982-1990 and bowed out of the 1994 governor's race after not receiving an endorsement. He is the son of former Minnesota Gov. Orville Freeman.

Humphrey, 54, the elder statesman of the trio, hails from New Hope and has served as Minnesota's Attorney general since 1983. His father was former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.

Stating generalities and speaking of broad agenda issues, each candidate said they were in Bemidji to learn more of what Minnesotans want from their next governor.

"The overall thrust of may campaign is I don't think the status quo is good enough for the State of Minnesota," Mondale said. "I want to change the way we do our public business."

Mondale said there were four "very clear" issues that need reform. First is the state's education system, which needs to be scrutinized in longer terms than it is currently. He said there must be more of a "cradle to grave" philosophy in education, in which life-long career skills are taught to the state's students and life-long learning opportunities are maintained.

"How a person will do in the economy," he said, "is determined by how they have been educated."

Second, small- and medium-sized businesses must be given the opportunity to sell their products worldwide, and the state should be involved in fostering those opportunities, he said. Third, investments need to be made in the states infrastructure, such as wiring communities for the Internet. Fourth, he said more investments must be made in the state's cities, focusing on "making communities strong again."

Freeman said his biggest concern is also education, but more specifically the funding of the state's educational system.

"Did you know Minnesota is below the national average in per pupil spending? It's nuts we're not funding our educational system better," he said. "There has to be more equitable funding for education."

He said he also wants to invest and re-invest more in the state's infrastructure, revitalizing or building projects such as roads, schools and waste water treatment facilities.

Freeman's third initiative is property tax reform.

"More than a third of the state's income is raised through property taxes," he said, "and that is too much in my opinion."

Humphrey said his first priority as governor would be to ensure the safety of all Minnesotans. To do that the state's educational system must be bettered, giving everybody an opportunity to improve their lives, which would be his second priority, he added.

"We must put an absolute stop to this violence in our lives all around our state. The public needs to be told this violence is going to stop," Humphrey said. "Education gives people the tools to use their God-given abilities to succeed. We must make this educational system the very best for everybody. Education needs to be the center piece for the next century."

The third piece of his candidacy is to provide jobs to people who graduate from Minnesota schools, Humphrey said. Without jobs, education is useless, he added.

"I know that is not detailed," Humphrey said of his agenda, "but that's why I'm here. I want to hear how people would fill that framework in. These are the priority areas. If we can accomplish these, then we can accomplish everything else."

Meuers said it is unusual for candidates to declare so early in a contest, but said the DFL convention should be interesting due to the big names in the race.

"I could very easily see a deadlocked convention," he said. "Party activists always know the names of the candidates, but these guys are known by the average voter."