By Mark Fischenich
If it was baseball, they’d probably call it “The Conway Curse.”
Ever since popular DFL state Rep. Jerry Schoenfeld resigned from the Legislature to take a job with the state Department of Trade and Economic Development, and Democratic financial adviser Jeff Conway was elected to replace him, and then Conway had to resign from the Legislature after embezzling money from his clients, it hasn’t gone very well for Democrats in Waseca County legislative races.
The losing streak grew to 20 years. The Democrats got beat by Richard Anderson (1990). They got beat and rebeat by Gary Worke (1992 and 1994) and Doug Reuter (1996 and 1998). They made a habit of getting beat by Connie Ruth (2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.)
Nine swings, nine misses in the legislative district that now stretches from Waseca to Owatonna.
This year, the Democrats finally found their stopper. And it was a rookie who had never run for public office before — Kory Kath, Gustavus Adolphus College political science graduate and Owatonna High School teacher.
Kath is 31 years old, married and the father of two children. But, at least to older folks, he looks young enough to be mistaken for a student at Owatonna High.
He was far from naive, however, about the challenge involved when he was thinking about running for the District 26A House seat. Ruth had decided to retire, so it was going to be an open seat. Still, the GOP had owned Waseca for two decades and the Owatonna portion of the district for even longer.
“I definitely knew the statistics,” Kath said.
He decided to try anyway.
“I’m not easily discouraged.”
Unexpected blow-out
Like lifelong fans of the Chicago Cubs each spring, Democrats in Waseca and Steele counties went into the fall with hope that this year might be different — and with the knowledge that, in the end, “close” is about as good as it gets for their team.
“Even on election night, most of us couldn’t really imagine this,” said Kathy Muellerleile, who ran for the seat in 2004 and 2006 and lost both times. “We thought it could be close. ... Then the results came in and it was just overwhelming.”
Kath won 57 percent of the vote to 43 percent for two-term Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, a lopsided margin in a district that typically votes for Republicans by that margin in everything from presidential to gubernatorial elections.
It’s not unprecedented that a south-central Minnesota school teacher would pull off a political upset.
Mankato English teacher John Dorn knocked off incumbent Republican state Rep. Mark Piepho in 1986 and went on to win nine more times. Mankato geography teacher Tim Walz shocked Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht in 2006. Neither teacher had run for political office previously.
Walz was praised for his high-energy campaigning. Dorn attributed his success partly to the relationships and trust he built with students and their parents during his teaching career — and joked that he had enough relatives in Mankato to tip most elections his way.
Kath’s energy is brought up often by people talking about him. He echoed Dorn’s comments about the relationships that teaching builds within a community. And the native of the village of Meriden, midway between Waseca and Owatonna, said his list of relatives just doesn’t stop.
Winning attributes
Kath, who estimates he knocked on 10,000 doors during the campaign, made it sound like the fourth most common question he heard from residents of Waseca and Steele counties was some variation of: “How are you related to so-and-so Kath?”
But the top three questions were about the ailing economy, his position on education issues and where he stood on health care. As a teacher of political science and economics at Owatonna High, he could talk with a ready knowledge of the economy and the looming recession.
His nine years of teaching gave him a strong background in education and school finance. An advocate of accessible and affordable medical care, he organized a community forum on the problems and possible solutions to the growing health-care crisis — bringing in local and statewide experts.
Mostly, though, he showed voters a moderate political philosophy, a quick mind and a willingness to listen, said Muellerleile, who volunteered on his campaign.
Laughing, Muellerleile said she sometimes wished she could tape a black mustache below his nose to make him look older. Because once people got past his youthful appearance, they saw he had a lot to offer.
“He looks far younger than he is, but don’t let that fool you,” Muellerleile said. “He is a bright, bright young man. ... He has the knowledge. And now he can put it to use.”
The science of politics
Richard Leitch, an associate professor of political science at Gustavus and an adviser to Kath when he was a student there, said Kath’s attributes were difficult to miss even during their first meeting when he was a prospective student at Gustavus.
“We were just shooting the breeze,” Leitch said. “I thought, ‘Boy, this guy’s just a really nice guy.’ ... He’s just so genuinely honest and sincere.”
After he enrolled and majored in political science and secondary education, Kath was never one of the kids occasionally drawn to political science because of an extreme partisan viewpoint, Leitch said.
“He just seemed very tolerant and open-minded and willing to listen to other people’s ideas,” he said.
Kath also has drawn interest because of his apparent campaign instincts. While some, including his Republican opponent, attributed his victory to a Democratic wave produced by President-elect Barack Obama, that wave didn’t show up in very many legislative races. South-central Minnesota Republicans held onto four out of their five House seats, including an open seat in the New Ulm area.
Muellerleile said Kath won because he was an impressive candidate, aided by a strong group of supporters, who appealed both to progressives and to self-identified Republicans who were dissatisfied with their party’s ineffectiveness in recent years.
Hard work ahead
Kath said he and his team — knowing that traditional approaches to campaigning hadn’t been successful for Democrats — tried to think of fresh ideas for everything from direct-mail pieces to yard signs. But mainly, it was about working tirelessly to connect with voters and listen to their concerns.
“That’s one thing I heard from so many people, ‘You have so much energy,’” Kath said. “... I think it’s a testament to how hard I’m going to work, too. I think people recognized this is somebody who’s going to fight for us.”
Along with crediting his campaign workers and extended family, Kath said Walz and his congressional campaign were very helpful with advice.
“One statement he used was ‘Run as if you’re always two votes behind,’” Kath said of Walz.
He took the advice and ended up 2,817 votes ahead.
The reward that comes with his surprising victory is a trip to St. Paul next week for the beginning of the 2009 legislative session. What will follow is five or more months of extremely difficult choices in how to deal with a $5.2 billion budget shortfall.
“No, that doesn’t discourage me at all,” Kath said. “Anybody who wants to provide leadership has to provide leadership in good times and in bad. ... At this time, more than any, we need people with fresh ideas and a willingness to question the status quo.”
