After 38 years of consistency, Winona-area House district to gain new lawmaker after intense race
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Every election season, Dave Stoltman’s front yard on a busy Winona thoroughfare becomes a microcosm of local and national politics. Candidates up and down the ballot and from every political party hang their signs on his fence.
“It’s a perfect place on the busiest corner in town,” Stoltman said. “Everybody wants to put a sign up here."
Stoltman doesn’t mind. He sees it as a public service for voters.
“It’s important for people to know actually who is running, and it’s up to them to make the decision who to vote for,” he said.
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And perhaps all the more important this year because longtime DFL Rep. Gene Pelowski is retiring after representing the city as a moderate Democrat for 38 years. That’s left voters to assess the candidates who will replace him and represent them at the state Capitol.
DFL House candidate Sarah Kruger and GOP House candidate Aaron Repinski are vying for the seat. For Democrats, a Kruger win would ease the party’s path to keeping a Minnesota House majority they’ve had for the last six years. For Republicans, a Repinski win combined with a few others would put them in charge in 2025.
That’s why this race has attracted unprecedented attention for a district that runs from the shores of the Mississippi River through townships that make up this scenic part of the state. Already, independent spending groups have dropped nearly $1 million into the race this year, making it among the most expensive in the state with weeks of financial activity yet to account for.
In this region with notably low voter turnout that has swung between Republican and Democratic candidates in recent years, victory for Kruger or Repinski could come down to a handful of votes.
A DFLer in a conservative region
In 2020, Winona County barely voted for President Joe Biden. And in 2016, former president Donald Trump won the area by a thin margin.
And yet throughout that time, Pelowski was able to easily win races.
He ran unopposed in recent election cycles, getting his first notable opponent in years in 2022 after redistricting made his seat redder; he still won by 10 percentage points. Pelowski was unavailable for an interview as he mourned the recent death of his wife.
Pelowski remained widely popular in Winona by siding with Republicans on some cultural issues — namely abortion, said Chris Meyer, who has long lived in the area and now serves as a Winona County commissioner.
“Gene was considered to be, based on his voting record, the most-conservative Democratic member of the House,” she said. “And that perhaps is a strategy for what helped him really appeal to a broad group of voters for a very long time.”
Meanwhile, Meyer said Pelowski focused a lot on using his spot in the Legislature to boost Winona, the last few terms from his perch as chair of the Higher Education Committee.
“He was a champion for Winona State [University], getting funding for them and for the city for initiatives related to the port, initiatives related to expanding trails — bike trails in particular,” she said.
Unpredictable politics
Meyer said that in recent years, the city of Winona has become bluer while the surrounding county has become redder. It’s a trend seen statewide as liberals consolidate in urban areas while conservative voters tend to dominate in rural areas.
She said that dynamic has contributed to making this district politically unpredictable.
With a “Meet Me in the Middle” campaign slogan, DFL candidate Sarah Kruger is trying to project broad appeal to voters by positioning herself as a moderate candidate.
Kruger, a Winona native and chief of staff for a group that promotes ranked-choice voting, said housing, the rising cost of living and education are all issues voters tell her they're worried about. In the Legislature, she said she will put their concerns first.
“Being a centrist isn’t about, ‘I’m going to take a little bit of from the left and a little bit from the right.’ It’s not a political calculation,” Kruger said. “It’s really about, ‘How am I best engaging with constituents to be able to listen to concerns to craft the best policy possible for Winona.’”
But unlike Pelowski, Kruger said she supports abortion access and reproductive rights.
That messaging might appeal to students at Winona State University.
Kruger said courting younger voters is part of her plan to win, and she saw a notable shift in student voter enthusiasm when Vice President Kamala Harris was elevated to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket. Kruger is banking on that excitement trickling down to her own.
“Similarly in this race, we have never had a DFL woman represent the Winona area in the Minnesota House,” she said. “Having more women on the ballot is very powerful and strong, and people feel inspired by that.”
Winona State students have a strong track record of voting in general elections, said political science professor Elissa Alzate, who also oversees an effort to register student voters.
“The candidates do pay a whole lot of attention to the students. They do actively seek out the endorsement of several of our student groups,” Alzate said.
Reducing government spending an issue
Kruger has won the endorsement of at least one Winona State University student group, said Alzate. It’s unclear what level of support that Repinski, the GOP nominee, has among students.
Repinski declined an interview with MPR News.
Repinski, who owns a boat tour company and serves on the city council, is reported to have said he supports much stricter abortion rules. At a recent candidate forum, Repinski said reducing government spending would be a top priority.
“We need to eliminate things like the Social Security tax. That’s going to put more money in people’s pockets. We need to look at some of these mandates that have been added on businesses [like] paid family medical leave. We need to look at those things, because those are hurting the economy,” he said.
Standing in his front yard, Dave Stoltman said Repinski has earned his support — after having voted for Pelowski for years. He said single-party control under Democrats at the Capitol these last few years has made the state too liberal.
Divided government, he said, might be the answer to a more moderate Minnesota.
“I’m usually DFL, but because of the last few years, the way things have run financially. They just spent way too much money,” Stoltman said. “I’m afraid it’s going to be harmful to all the citizens that can’t pay those taxes.”
Correction (Oct. 31, 2024): A previous version of a caption in this story incorrectly identified Dave Stoltman's previous position. The captions has been updated.