Nornes retains Dist. 10A seat

By Jeff Hage (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Originally published 11:43 p.m., November 4, 2008
Updated 01:14 a.m., November 5, 2008

New people. New issues. New goals.

That’s what Rep. Bud Nornes (R-Fergus Falls) looks forward to now that the six-term legislator will be returning to the Minnesota House after being re-elected Tuesday to represent District 10A, which includes Fergus Falls and western Otter Tail County.

Nornes fended off a challenge from Fergus Falls businessman and city council member Greg Stumbo, defeating the Democratic challenger 11,212 to 8,981 — a difference of 2,231 votes.

Nornes received approximately 55 percent of the vote, in line with the margins he earned in his previous bids for the House.

“”If you look at the other years, that’s kind of been the percentage,” Nornes said. “I’m pleased with the consistency of the voting in the county.”

But in this election Nornes faced one of his stiffest challengers to date in Stumbo.

With an anti-Bush, anti-Republican sentiment in the nation combined with the unrest America is experiencing with the turn in the economy, Nornes wasn’t sure what to expect in the 2008 election.

“As a candidate, I didn’t know how much those things would factor in the vote,” he said.

Not much, as things turned out.

Nornes felt confident heading into Tuesday’s election because while campaigning not any large issue stood out among constituents he visited.

“Change was was word everyone was using in this election, but the people I talked to said they were pretty satisfied with the representation they were getting — and they must have been because they gave me another two years,” Nornes said.

Stumbo was disappointed with the loss but believes his running will make Nornes a better state representative because of the issues raised during the campaign and dialog the two engaged in during a series of candidate forums.

Stumbo is also encouraged about the future of the region because of the lessons learned during the campaign.

“This is all about our cities working together with the state legislature,” Stumbo said.

With two years left to serve on the Fergus Falls City Council, Stumbo is confident he can forge a stronger relationship between state government and rural Minnesota.

Nornes compared the campaign to a sports team.

“Sometimes your plan works, but unfortunately it then doesn’t for the other side,” Nornes said.

Stumbo was a respectful candidate who worked very hard, Nornes said.

“I give him credit for his hard work. Elections are hard things for both the incumbent and the challenger. He put up a good campaign, talked to a lot of voters and put in more of an effort and received more support than I have seen from a challenger in a while,” he said.

Nornes will head back to St. Paul with some unfinished business and some new challenges.

He said there is a lot of work to do in regards to the Green Acres legislation that calls for bare farmland to be valued for tax purposes on its agricultural value, rather than its future development potential or highest and best use value.

He is also introducing legislation calling for seat belts on motorcoaches and is committed to seeing Emily’s Law making its way to law.

Stumbo exits the race knowing that his campaign team gave the race its all and left nothing on the table.

“We left nothing to chance. I can honestly say we worked as hard as we could and won’t wake in a few days saying we should have done this differently or done that differently,” Stumbo said.

“In every facet of this campaign I believe we were even — except when it came to the election results,” Stumbo said.