Local News

Democrats On Defensive In Battle For House Control

November 4, 2014 / 6:59 PM CST / CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Control of the Minnesota House hinged Tuesday on fewer than two dozen races where loads of money fed fierce contests between the Democrats in charge and the Republicans looking to take over.

The party that wins 68 or more seats will have a huge say in what moves through the Legislature and how the governor's agenda fares in the next two years. Democrats entered this year's campaign with a 73-61 edge in the House; the Democratic-controlled Senate isn't on the ballot.

House power has often swapped party hands during the past decade. Republicans ceded their majority in 2006 but won it back in 2010, only to lose control in a 2012 rout that gave Democrats full control of state government.

This year, the fight for control was waged almost entirely in swing districts held by Democrats, with especially intense campaigning in about a dozen rural districts stretching from the very top of the state to one bordering Iowa. A handful of suburban seats were in play, too.

Democrats campaigned on their role in righting the state's wobbly budget, increasing aid to schools and getting new workplace protections for women and low-wage workers. They promised that if they keep their majority, they would try to tamp down college tuition, keep property taxes from shooting up and expand sick-and-parental leave policies.

Republicans highlighted Democrats' votes to raise taxes, build a new Senate office building and authorize borrowing for public-works projects that some voters might regard as fluff. They also said Democrats had failed to address nagging transportation and education achievement problems, things the GOP would focus on should they win Tuesday.

In Burnsville, where Democratic Rep. Will Morgan was in a rematch with Republican Roz Peterson after narrowly beating Peterson in 2012, 64-year-old David Ralls said he voted for Morgan because he appreciated his support for education and older people. Ralls described himself as independent but said he voted heavily Democratic this election.

"We've been able to get things done. Our economy's never been better, we've paid off all the schools we have a surplus in the budget, job growth is 4.1 percent. Unemployment is unbelievable," Ralls, a home builder, said of the DFL-controlled Legislature and governor's office. "My business is up in the last two years probably 60 percent."

Another closely watched race was in Minnetonka and Plymouth, where Republican Ryan Rutzick was running against Democrat Jon Applebaum for an open seat being vacated by a Democrat.

Minnetonka homemaker Kimberly Agneberg, 57, who described herself as a "pretty strong" Republican, said she voted for Rutzick because she wanted "to get away from being Democrat-controlled, which is hard to do in Minnesota." She said she thought Republicans would do better at cutting taxes and creating jobs.

The races were well-funded. The House DFL campaign arm outraised and outspent its Republican counterpart, but outside groups such as the left-leaning Alliance for a Better Minnesota and the business-aligned Pro Jobs Majority kicked in millions more for their own ads. And independent group spending in some districts exceeded $500,000 — an astounding sum given candidates themselves are typically bound by limits of about $65,000.

Much of the outcome depended on the ability of top-of-the-ticket Democrats and Republicans to gin up their bases. A strong showing by Gov. Mark Dayton and U.S. Sen. Al Franken could help fend off legislative losses for Democrats, but Republicans bet respective challengers Jeff Johnson and Mike McFadden would lift the GOP's down-ballot candidates.

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