GOP 2nd District hopefuls press voters as primary nears

Inside the campaign headquarters for Jason Lewis, a half dozen volunteers sit in front of laptop computers with lists of potential voters to remind them about the looming election.

They've contacted a few thousand people in a week's time and they'll aim to reach thousands more before primary day, one week away. Lewis keeps tabs on the progress while he sets out trays of cold cuts, raw vegetables and cookies to fuel the crew.

"We figure if the universe is 18,000-to-20,000 we can get to 15,000, 16,000 people" before Aug. 9, he said.

Lewis is part of the Republican divide in the race for Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District. The party has endorsed Lewis while the retiring Republican incumbent, Rep. John Kline, is backing someone else. Primary voters next Tuesday will decide who among the field of four Republicans moves on to a fall election expected to be highly competitive in a district that stretches from St. Paul's southern suburbs to southeast Minnesota's Mississippi River towns.

Lewis, a former conservative talk radio show host will have help on the ground with state Republican Party get-out-the-vote efforts. That's because Lewis won the party's endorsement this spring for the seat being vacated by longtime GOP Congressman John Kline.

Manufacturing company owner Darlene Miller, former state senator John Howe and consultant Matthew Erickson are also on the ballot. Howe is the only one who's held office before and is pressing his legislative credentials.

"With Congress it's just a two-year term, and you need to know how the system works," he said. "Certainly, my experience as mayor helped me be a better state senator. And my experience as state senator will help me be a better congressman."

But Howe, Miller and Erickson are playing catch-up, said Minnesota Republican Party Chair Keith Downey.

"Jason Lewis is very popular among Republicans. The endorsement still means a lot. And those other candidates had an extremely long way to go," Downey said. "I thought their primary runs were ill-advised in the first place."

Not everyone shares Downey's view, including Kline, who endorsed Miller and starred in a television ad to promote her.

Miller runs Permac Industries, a precision small parts maker in Burnsville. It's her first bid for public office.

"You know I'm not going there to serve for a lifetime. I'm going there to make a difference, jump in," said Miller, 67. "I was a rookie when I started manufacturing. But it didn't mean that I didn't jump in full force from day one. And that's what I'll do when I get into Congress."

On a recent day in Lakeville, Miller went table-to-table at a coffee shop before heading outside to the weekly farmer's market where she introduced herself and passed out business cards.

There, Miller encountered Shari Piehl, who was there with her twin, 3-year-old granddaughters. The conversation is mostly about Kline, who nominated Piehl's son for an Air Force Academy slot years ago.

"The fact that John Kline so carefully reflected our views and I feel like really listened to his constituents — and the fact that he's endorsed her — means more to me than the fact the Republicans endorsed Jason Lewis," Piehl said.

Miller has gone hard at Lewis, criticizing him on foreign policy and noting that he lives outside the district's boundaries even though that doesn't legally disqualify him.

She also says provocative comments Lewis made during his quarter century on the radio are problematic. "There's just too many things that are on the record that are definitely going to come up against him in a general election and will make him lose."

Of his residency, Lewis said he's just across the district line after the map was redrawn following the 2010 census, and that he's more in tune with voters in the 2nd District than Minnesota's 4th District.

He said he expects his past radio comments to be blown out of proportion by opponents. "People will always try to take your words out of context for political gain. It's kind of sad that we've got Republicans using those Democrat talking points in a Republican primary now."

But for Lewis, his days as radio's "Mr. Right" cut both ways.

"I feel as though I know thousands of people in the 2nd District already and they feel as if they know me," he said. "They've heard what I've said over the last two decades. There's a bond there, a trust there that is very special between us. And it does help in a political race."

Lakeville plumbing and heating company owner Dave Mix was an avid Lewis listener and has no doubts about where he comes down on things.

"He's conservative. I don't know who his opponent is. I don't know her stance on many things. I do know Jason through the radio show. I just like his viewpoints on many issues."

Lewis ran for Congress once before, in 1990, in a very liberal Colorado district. He got trounced and now calls it his "youthful indiscretion." Now 60 years old, Lewis is banking on a different result.

It won't get any easier after next week. A well-funded Democrat, former medical device executive Angie Craig, and the Independence Party's Paula Overby await the Republican primary winner.