ST. PETER — Amid the clink of coffee cups and the clatter of silverware at Ooodles Cafe, former St. Peter City Councilman Joel Brinker announced Thursday he will run for the state House of Representatives.

During what Brinker called “my first-ever press conference,” the Republican candidate spoke to a small audience of reporters and waitresses. Most of the customers fled the cafe when the media barged in at 10:30 a.m.

Brinker said he would bring common sense to the Capitol, defining the term by quoting Harriet Beecher Stowe: “Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.”

Brinker said he will bring his common sense to bear on several key issues, including property-tax reform and the fair distribution of Local Government Aid. He would also strengthen local control of education and promote the renewable fuels produced by local farmers.

In July, Brinker announced he would not seek re-election to the City Council, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. They include his wife, Kim, and a teenage son and daughter.

But in November, Rep. Ruth Johnson, DFL-St. Peter, made public her plans to retire. That reignited Brinker’s interest in running for state office, and his children told him: “Go ahead, dad.”

“With her dropping out of the race, I thought, ‘Here’s my opportunity,’” he said.

He added he would not have run against Johnson, whom he had worked with and respected. Instead, his likely DFL opponent will be Terry Morrow, a Gustavus Adolphus College communications professor.

Brinker was raised in St. Peter and now works as a real estate agent for HomStar USA. Morrow is a New York transplant, but the two regularly cross paths in the small town; Morrow coaches Brinker’s son’s soccer team.

Gustavus students have traditionally turned out in droves to support DFLers with ties to their school. DFL representatives Johnson, a former administrator, and Don Ostrom, a former political science professor, both won multiple terms based, in part, on student support.

When asked if this history gave Morrow an advantage, Brinker retorted: “I don’t see why we can’t have our own Republican buses coming down (to the polls) from Gustavus.”

Brinker said two prominent state Republicans recently phoned him with their support: Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum.

He said the strong ties he forged as a councilman with local business leaders and county commissioners will serve him well at the Capitol. The experience also taught him to be an “independent thinker,” who can “make tough decisions.”

He said the transition to state legislator would not be a move up, but across — across a district that covers both St. Peter and North Mankato, as well as the small towns and farmland that stretch out around them.