Court-ordered redistricting earlier this year carved Anoka County into three Congressional districts. Before redistricting all of the county had been in the 6th District. Now, the 3rd, 5th and 6th congressional districts all encompass parts of Anoka County. Indeed, the 3rd District includes almost all of the city of Coon Rapids, except for one precinct in the northeast corner of the city, which remains in the 6th District.
What it means is that 90-plus percent of Coon Rapids is included with suburban Hennepin County in the 3rd District, traditionally a safe Republican seat. The city now makes up 12 percent of the new 3rd District, with some 58,000 people.
Rep. Jim Ramstad, the Republican who has represented the district since 1990, is seeking re-election and is challenged by DFLer Darryl Stanton.
In his years his Congress, Ramstad has become an influential member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He also chairs the House Law Enforcement Caucus as well as the Medical Technology Caucus.
Ramstad is known a fiscal conservative and social moderate as well as an independent voice in Congress. He does not vote lockstep with the Republican House leadership, nor necessarily with President George Bush’s wishes. An example of that was the first piece of legislation Bush pushed through Congress after his election last year - the education bill. Ramstad voted no because the testing requirements in the legislation were just another unfunded federal mandate.
Ramstad is equally adamant that the federal government needs to make good its promise to fund 40 percent of the special education programs it mandated for local school districts back in 1975, but has never funded more than 17 percent of the cost. It is one reason why local school districts are so strapped for funds and are seeking excess levy referendums. Ramstad said he has been a leading proponent in Congress to make the federal government live up to its promise and, and believes it can occur by 2006.
He has earned a reputation for his bipartisan pragmatism in Congress, frequently working with Democrats on legislation. One example is Ramstad’s efforts with the late DFL Sen. Paul Wellstone to expand access to treatment for people who are chemically dependent.
Republicans have a reputation, justified or not, of paying short shrift to social issues. Ramstad is an exception. Not only has he championed efforts to help people with chemical dependency problems, he was also one of the chief proponents of the prescription drug legislation passed by the House - a starting point, he said. He also believes generic drugs should be made more available.
In addition, he has been working with members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation on both sides of the aisle to change what Ramstad calls the inequitable Medicare funding formula, which penalizes Minnesota.
Stanton, Ramstad’s opponent Nov. 5, is a newcomer to the political arena. But the small businessman and inventor who worked in the administration of Hamline University, St. Paul, for a decade has been a political activist and has made one attempt at political office before - the mayor of Marshall after graduating from Southwest State University.
Stanton is an articulate candidate who has a strong grasp of the issues. His is a liberal viewpoint in the progressive tradition of the Minnesota DFL Party. He is critical of special interests’ influence in Congress - he is not beholden to special interests, he said - and of the federal government’s failure to fund its 40 percent share of special education, he opposes privatizing Social Security, and calls the prescription drug legislation weak because of special interests.
Like Ramstad, he wants to make it easier for manufacturers to make generic drugs to save seniors’ money, but he also wants a drug bill that covers all seniors under Medicare. Both Ramstad and Stanton also support multimodal transportation solutions and the Northstar Corridor commuter rail system.
Ramstad has the elective experience at both the state and federal levels, and we believe, as a fiscal conservative, social moderate, bipartisan approach and well deserved reputation for constituent service, best fits the make up of the new 3rd District. Stanton is an impressive candidate, whom we urge to run for election for office - possibly to the Minnesota Legislature. But, we endorse Ramstad for re-election. -- An editorial opinion of the ECM Editorial Board. ABC Newspapers is part of ECM Publishers, Inc.
