By Shannon Fiecke, Correspondent

With all the tit-for-tat of Obama vs. McCain and Franken vs. Coleman, perhaps you’ve missed it: Minnesota has a primary election on Sept. 9.

In just three weeks, voters in southeastern Scott County will whittle down the pool of candidates for a contested County Board race and voters in House District 35B will determine which Republican candidate will represent them in the November state House race. Both races will be on the ballot in Savage at precincts within the respective county and legislative districts.

Those running to succeed Scott County Commissioner Bob Vogel of Elko New Market, who isn’t seeing a third term, have been busy trying to win one of two spots on the general election ballot.

The field includes newcomers Chris Olson, a Prior Lake police detective and Anthony Albright, a pension-retirement advisor, as well as Tom Wolf, a former financial advisor who has been dogged in his desire to join the County Board. They have all branded themselves as conservatives of some sort, but none are running based on party affiliation.

District 2 covers Spring Lake, Credit River, Cedar Lake and New Market townships as well as the city of Elko New Market and precincts 6 and 8 in the city of Savage.

The other local race to pay attention to is in House District 35B, which is regarded as a conservative stronghold and covers some of the same territory: The cities of Elko New Market and Jordan, the bulk of Savage, in addition to the townships of Sand Creek, Spring Lake, Credit River and New Market.

Incumbent Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, the party endorsee, is being challenged once again by rural Lakeville resident Tom Rees, a former state representative, for the Republican slot.

Rees made a strong push two years ago to unseat Buesgens, capturing 22 percent of the Republican vote.

Pounding pavement

If anyone should have primary campaigning down by now, it’s Tom Wolf of Savage, who has sought election to the County Board three previous times.

As Wolf will tell you, primaries are a crapshoot. There is generally a low showing of the electorate, so anyone can conceivably win — or lose — without many votes and not necessarily because of high or low support among the general community.

“Some people think that you’re a shoo-in to win, but they don’t go vote — that’s the kiss of death,” Wolf said.

Wolf recalls one previous primary he thinks he should have won due to considerable support, but didn’t, and another one he should have lost, but won.

Like Wolf, Olson has been busy spreading the word about his candidacy and the upcoming primary by knocking on as many doors as he can.

As a first-timer, the Spring Lake Township resident had no expectations of what door knocking would be like, but said it’s been a pretty favorable experience.

“Everyone tells you — ‘Go get them!’” he said, but he wonders if every politician gets that kind of response. He has no idea whether it will translate into real support at the polls.

“It feels like I’m getting a lot of support, but I won’t know until Sept. 9,” he said.

Albright, also from Spring Lake Township, said his campaign has been planting a lot of rebar for signs and also participated in Prior Lake’s Lakefront Days parade.

He’s holding off on door knocking until after the primary in favor of campaigning now via election signs, literature drops and word-of-mouth.

“We’re really just focusing on circles of influence — the folks that know me are spreading the word,” he said. 

What Albright has found exciting about the race, he said, are the people helping him who’ve never been involved before and are realizing the impact they can have on their county.

Although he doesn’t like messing with signs — keeping an eye on a few hundred of them to make sure they stay up is impossible — and said he’s never personally voted for someone because of one, Wolf has still relegated himself to putting up plenty of them.

Wolf prefers spreading his name by talking with people or leaving literature at their homes.

“People are really happy about you taking the time to knock on the door,” he said, although they have grown tired by all the politicking of more high-profile races.

Wolf said there are about 7,000 to 8,000 homes in the district. 

Like Wolf, Olson said he realizes he won’t be able to reach all the 20,000-something residents. “It’s inconceivable to meet them all, but I’m trying,” he said.

Party affiliation

As chairman of the Senate District 35 GOP, Albright should have a pretty good idea of how campaigning works.

But some worry Albright will use his status to gain special access to party volunteers and members.

Albright said he’s heard such concerns and has been careful to avoid conflicts of interest, turning over the Republican mailing list to someone else on the executive committee and recusing himself from all relevant decision making in the Senate district.

For instance, he would not be involved in any fundraising for state House candidates, he said.

This week, the local party will consider making someone else the temporary interim chair until his election is over, he said, so no issues can be raised about potential conflicts of interest.

Like Albright, Wolf is active in the Republican Party. Neither, however, is running on the mantra of being a Republican.

“It’s a nonpartisan race,” Wolf said.

That said, Wolf notes that he’s made no secret that he is a conservative.

Albright said his own moniker is that first and foremost, he’s a conservative, and people can draw whatever conclusions they want from that.

Olson said he’s not affiliated with a political party.

However, he notes that he is pretty conservative, at least in regard to fiscal issues, but he married a social worker, which, he said, balances him out.

 Shannon Fiecke can be reached at sfiecke@swpub.com.  

Scott County Board primary candidate Web sites:

www.tonyalbright.org [2]

www.electchrisolson.com

electtomwolf.org