Editorial: Area legislators face numbers challenge

Talk about it

A look at the election scoreboard Wednesday morning shows that southwest Minnesota legislators will no doubt face significant challenges in the upcoming session.

Area Republican candidates for state office did as well as they possibly could on Election Night. District 22B Rep. Rod Hamilton was elected to his fifth two-year term in St. Paul, and District 22A Rep. Joe Schomacker won his second. An often-contentious District 22 Senate race went to former Luverne mayor Bill Weber, who has long been active with the GOP at the local level.

While these results from our backyard weren’t particularly surprising to us, it’s probably safe to say that only the most optimistic of Democratic-Farmer-Laborites thought they’d wake up Wednesday with control of both the House and Senate. And, with two more years of DFL governor Mark Dayton in office, it’s obvious as to sits in the driver’s seat when it comes to steering legislative priorities.

That said, we hope Weber, Hamilton and Schomacker will head to the Capitol ready to work their hardest on behalf of their constituents. That work will involve not giving in to every DFL whim, while advocating sensible alternatives. It also includes doing much more than simply saying “no.” After all, one could draw a conclusion that the state’s results — and even Barack Obama’s re-election — reflect an overall perception of “no” being not good enough.

Our three elected officials are all intelligent men who will serve our region and state well. We congratulate them on their victories, and wish them a productive upcoming legislative session.

Tags: opinion, editorials, minnesota, politics, legislature