DFL's mining split sets up new election hurdles - Mesabi Daily News

VIRGINIA — Minnesota Democrats, who as a whole furiously distanced themselves from an intraparty scrap over mining last year, found the wound reopened this week after environmental leaders made critical remarks about miners, forcing high-ranking DFLers to condemn them.

Becky Rom and Reid Carron, known for their activity with the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, a group dedicated to stop an underground copper-nickel mine from making its home near Ely, provided a sharp critique of Iron Range miners in an interview with The New York Times Magazine that quickly circulated across northern Minnesota.

Less than a year removed from the defeat of Resolution 54, which would have put the DFL on the record against mining, party leaders are on their heels once again, facing the notion that their progressive and environmental base is gaining more power and squeezing out labor Democrats that favor copper-nickel’s future in Minnesota.

That could come home to roost in the 8th District where Congressman Rick Nolan, a popular DFL incumbent, is expected to face a strong Republican challenge for the third straight cycle. In 2014, Nolan defeated challenger Stewart Mills by 1.3 percent, a gap that narrowed to 0.6 percent in 2016, despite Nolan outperforming Republican president Donald Trump on the Iron Range.

“The DFL is a party that welcomes individuals from all walks of life, promoting constructive discussions on the various issues that confront our communities on the Iron Range, the 8th Congressional District, and across Minnesota,” said Justin Perpich, chair of the 8th District DFL, responding to the Rom and Carron comments. “Republicans are salivating at the opportunity to use the mining issue to splinter our community.”

Republicans acknowledged before this week’s controversial comments that they were gaining strength on the Iron Range, due in part to a base that supports mining.

House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, is located in the 8th District and said the party gained critical ground in Legislature last year by winning a House seat in Bemidji, and House and Senate seats in Grand Rapids. DFL incumbents across rural Minnesota that won their races in 2016 found themselves with tighter margins of victory almost across the board.

Daudt recognized Nolan’s effort in the district, especially his pro-mining agenda that has seen him author or support bills and amendments to clear the PolyMet land exchange, and reverse an Obama administration order to halt mining exploration on 234,000 acres of the Superior National Forest near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

He also thinks Nolan genuinely works from the middle, but the progressive caucus in the DFL fueled a primary challenger in former FBI analyst Leah Phifer. Phifer and the incumbent appear in line with each other on most issues, but the newcomer has come out against the congressman’s support of the mining bills.

“The politics of the state are changing, and a lot of that is going on in greater Minnesota,” Daudt said. “The environmentalists control the party.”

In her statement Friday, Phifer pointed to a “splintering” division in the 8th District and called on the party not to lose sight of its common ground through divisive language.

“At the end of the day, there are far more people like Brandy Forsman in the district — those who respect the importance of mining while acknowledging environmental concerns,” she said. “Voices like hers will be the ones that unite us and carry the 8th District into the future.”

For Republicans, however, the very public nature of the DFL’s issue in containing the mining versus environmental division bodes well entering 2018. This week’s firestorm is needed fodder for the 8th District race and the governor’s seat, a field that potentially includes Daudt.

Where DFL candidates for the state’s top executive seat may be forced to walk a fine line on the mining issue, Republicans can use it a chance to flip more of the Range away from being the traditional stronghold for Democrats.

It will be more difficult for GOP challengers in the 8th District if Nolan prevails in the primary, as he’s both a popular incumbent and an avid mining supporter.

One challenger,Pete Stauber has a strong voting record for mining as a St. Louis County Commissioner, and Mills — if he joins the race — has a base of established voters. Mills is reportedly waiting to see how Stauber ranks with voters in the southern part of the district — the traditional GOP bastion in the 8th — before he makes a decision.

What remains to be seen is if the DFL’s rebuke of Rom and Carron’s comments, which they apologized for Friday, appeases its labor caucus.

Union and labor leaders urged the DFL to condemn the message on Twitter after the Times article published online Thursday. Many of those same voices were heard loud and clear in December when Resolution 54 failed.

“The disdain for Minnesota workers, and the belittlement of highly skilled work exhibited by environmental activists and low wage conservatives alike must be rejected by the majority of us,” said Jason George, political director for IUOE Local 49, calling it a bipartisan attack on American workers. “We must stand up, and stand strong for the workers that make our lives better every day.”