The SD35 Quandary

"Here in the middle of a very Republican and red part of our CD, there is going to be a classic primary. One candidate is conservative, while the other a progressive..."

Here in Minnesota, we have certain political names for locations. At the lowest level, we have voting precincts. From there, we are in a SD (Senate District). Each SD has a senator and two representatives, depending on where in the SD you live. Where we live also determines which CD (Congressional District) we are in. Truthfully, it can be very confusing. I can't tell you the number of times I have talked to someone and asked which SD or CD they are in, and received a blank stare in return.

Most of the town I live in lies smack dab in the middle of SD35. However, do to the mystery of redistricting, I do not. I am in a sliver of town which is in SD31. So I am not only familiar with SD31, but also SD35. And SD35 has a big primary coming up on January 12th. It is for the seat of SD35 senator.

Other than my proximity to SD35, one might ask why I should care about this primary. I don't have a dog in this fight. Why should anyone outside of SD35 care. The reason is simple. Even though your representative is supposed to vote representing your interests, how the entire House or Senate body votes affects all of us. And if we have Progressive Republicans voting with Democrats on important issues, that is bad for all statewide Republicans. 

And there is one more thing which is very important to me. As a delegate to last year's convention, I knew the process of going through the precinct caucus, the SD endorsing convention, the CD endorsing convention and finally the state endorsing convention. This is the way our system works. We endorse candidates who will represent us. SD35 recently went through the endorsing process for the open senate seat. They endorsed Andy Aplikowski. Andy won the endorsement fair and square.

What I expect out of people in the Republican Party of Minnesota is to abide by the endorsement of their peers. To spend all kinds of money either from yourself or special interests to go to a primary is just wrong. There comes a time when all of us have all had our day in the sun. And Jim Abeler has had his day. And many in SD35 did not like the way Jim voted when he was in the House. Many Republicans statewide did not like many of his votes. Abeler gave up his House seat in SD35 to run for the US Senate. He lost. It is time for Jim to go back running his Chiro business. Again, his time in the sun is over.

Andy on the other hand, won the endorsement of his SD. Why? Andy is experienced in how state government works. He pays attention. And, he is a rock solid conservative. If I lived in SD35, there is no doubt in my mind who I would be voting for. Andy Aplikowski. And I would do it with a "Andy" sign in my front yard, and a smile on my face.