The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 5, 2008

Cornish wins in tight race

By Dan Nienaber

MANKATO — Newcomer John Branstad kept his race with state Rep. Tony Cornish close Tuesday, losing to the incumbent by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin in the District 24B race.

Another new name to the political scene, Dale Hansen, lost by a much wider margin to Rep. Bob Gunther, who has held the District 24A seat since winning a special election in 1995.

Cornish, R-Vernon Center, said he makes decisions based on what’s best for his constituents. The Lake Crystal police chief earned 10,275 compared to Branstad’s 9781 votes.

This will be Cornish’s fourth term.

“I’m not acting cocky at all about this one,” he said. “I know this was a squeaker and I’ve got work to do.”

Branstad of Madison Lake said the rising cost of health-care was the issue he heard about most. He also said Cornish should work more with other rural representatives.

Cornish pointed out, however, he has been able to work closely with Democrats.

The amount of money the state DFL and others backing Branstad put into the race helped make it close, Cornish said.

Gunther, R-Fairmont, hasn’t faced a close race since his first term in 1995. He won by more than 4,000 votes with 10,752 compared to Hansen’s 6,697, or a margin of nearly 62 percent to just over 38 percent.

Guessing the DFL would hold its strong majority in the House, Gunther emphasized his ability to reach across the aisle.

“I think Mr. Hansen gave me a very good run,” Gunther said. “We had a very clean race.”

Hansen cited education and transportation as two issues where he differed most with Gunther. Hansen said the state should be responsible for 100 percent of school funding.

Gunther said he would continue to do what he can to make sure rural Minnesota gets its fair share of funding for transportation and schools. But he opposes any tax hikes proposed to deal with the state’s projected budget shortfalls.

Deciding what to cut to make up for a projected multi-million dollar deficit won’t be easy, he said. “That is where our challenge lies.”

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