Published: October 24, 2008 02:21 am         

The Land's Vote 2008 Election Guide

Originally published in the Oct. 24, 2008, print edition.

Candidates vying to represent Minnesotans in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives were given the opportunity to complete an agricultural survey from The Land.

Candidates were asked to respond to a series of questions, on topics such as ethanol subsidies, illegal immigration, agricultural trade policy, environmental quality issues and how Minnesota can keep young people in farming.

Ultimately, it came down to one final question for all the candidates: “Why should a rural Minnesota voter cast their ballot for you?”

Surveys were mailed in late September to Republican, DFL and Independence Party candidates for U.S. Senate and Minnesota’s eight congressional districts. Due to constraints of space, some responses were edited for length.

Presented here are responses from U.S. Senate candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken (PDF download), 1st District candidates Tim Walz and Greg Mikkelson (PDF download), 7th District candidates Collin Peterson and Glen Menze (PDF download), 2nd District candidate Steve Sarvi and 8th District candidate Michael Cummins (PDF download).

Incumbents John Kline, R-2nd, and Jim Oberstar, DFL-8th, did not return the survey. The Land did not receive responses from any candidate in Minnesota’s 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Congressional districts.

     

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