Reinert to run for Duluth senate seat

State Rep. Roger Reinert (DFL-Duluth) announced tonight he would file to run for the Minnesota State Senate District 7 seat tomorrow. This is the seat being vacated by Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon, who was recently selected to be Mark Dayton’s running mate in the Governor/Lt. Governor race.

As I said earlier, Reinert is the prohibitive favorite against any of the Duluth city councilors, labor organizers and others who might consider a run. Though I don’t know him extremely well yet (this Iron Range forest dweller doesn’t visit the big town all that often), my political observations of him are that he’s a hard worker and a very conscientious person. His first term in the House was marked by a good deal more success than your average freshman. We need worker bees in northern Minnesota, not egos or old thinking. Reinert doesn’t own a monopoly on what we need, but his position gives him huge advantages.

Naturally, any open seat election gives an opportunity to the opposition. The GOP will have an interesting time selecting a candidate that can compete with the DFL nominee in this DFL town. A moderate would be more competitive, but the party base is strongly conservative. If someone has a lead on the GOP favorites, by all means speak up. And if I’m off that Reinert is the favorite here, let me know.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    Aaron…I’ve got it! If Gus Hall, your old buddy from Cherry, has any living grandkids, let’s get one of them. They’d be a shoo-in..

    http://looktruenorth.com/culture/far-left-madness/12543-communist-gus-hall-gets-the-last-laugh.html

  2. Does Reinert have a background in banking? I remember last year, he was the only House DFLer who voted against some proposed regulations on reverse mortgages.

    http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/votes/votes.asp?ls_year=86&session_number=0&year=2009&id=2063

    I’m not a financial expert, so I don’t know if the legislation was a good idea or not. If there is a primary, the vote might come up, seeing as how beating up the banks is good politics right now.

  3. He’s “one of us,” Chris, a college instructor — some kind of science I think. Not sure about his banking connections. The guy who played Maverick told me those reverse mortgages were a good deal. Who are you to say otherwise? 🙂

    Kudos for the Gus Hall reference, anon! Gus was a sweet old guy. Very much did not care for the capitalism. We move on.

  4. Thanks for the background, Aaron. His website made some reference to being in the Navy, but that was about it.

    Like I said, I’m not a financial expert like Maverick. 😉 I’ve heard what seem like reasonable points on both sides of the “reverse mortgage” debate. It just appears odd when the vote is 106 to 26, with the rest of the DFL caucus and 21 Republicans voting in favor, and the No vote is 25 Republicans and…a DFLer from Duluth?

    The consensus around here seems to be that Reinert’s a thoughtful guy, so he probably had a reason for it. Just not sure what it was. He didn’t make a floor statement or issue a press release on the matter.

    Speaking of lonely legislative votes, Anonymous, forget Gus Hall, what about John Bernard’s grandkids? At least Bernard managed to get elected to something at the high point of the Popular Front.

  5. Anonymous says

    John’s grandkids would do the trick also…Just know that Aaron has personal, family connections with the Hall gang though.

  6. I do? And this is how I find out!

    🙂 I was the last reporter to interview Gus and he and his family are from the Cherry area, like me. If we’re related it goes back to Finland and I’m unaware of it.

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