DFLer Mike Obermueller is aiming to unseat Rep. Lynn Wardlow (R-Eagan) in the 38B House race. Mike lost by 163 votes last time despite starting late -- he admits he was shocked about how close he came to winning. This time around he's ready and preparing early. I first met Mike at the Take Action Minnesota screening. This is our chance to turn Governor Pawlenty's home town blue!

Mike is earnest, charming and funny. This is important, because when voters meet him (and they will), they are impressed. He comes across as a very believable guy and the voters are going to meet him as he knocked on 17,000 doors in 2006. He's running the kind of grassroots campaign that wins and he's planning on talking to them all again.

Let's start with his sense of humor before we delve into the issues:

That's at the top of his About Mike page. Obviously, he's having fun running. It shows and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Mike is a married father of two boys. His wife is his college sweetheart. He comes across as an all-American kinda guy. Plus he's got a great message:

Minnesota is a great place to live. As the world around us changes, it is critical that we regain our status as a national leader in education, health care, transportation, and environmental issues. Our current representatives have focused on wedge issues and partisan bickering.
Meanwhile, we've missed opportunities to fund our schools, take charge of skyrocketing health care costs, and improve Minnesota's economic growth. We can do better for Minnesotans. That's why I'm running for State Representative. I'm committed to providing consistent funding for our education system, ensuring that every child has access to quality health care, creating more jobs for our community, protecting our natural resources, and developing a comprehensive transportation plan to meet our needs for years to come. Together, we can move Minnesota in the right direction.

It's time for our leaders to start working for you. As your representative, I'll work toward common sense solutions to the problems facing Minnesotans today, and ensure we meet the challenges in our future. Please vote Mike Obermueller for State Representative.
(Mike's Message)

Transportation

Transportation is a critical issue in Eagan. He thinks its wrong for people to have to spend more and more time away from their families stuck in traffic. Mike's opponent follows the Governor's lead on this issue. (They don't call him Governor Gridlock for nothing.) This issue has two aspects from an Eagan perspective. First, congestion keeps getting worse and we're not maintaining the roads and bridges we have nor building the ones we need. Secondly, there needs to be alternatives to driving to work ... he wants a comprehensive transportation plan for the state.

One solution Mike likes is putting light rail along the Robert Street corridor. However it gets developed he wants the bridge across the Mississippi be able to accomodate trains. He remarked about how many people drive to the Mall of America or Fort Snelling and take the LRT downtown. He believes a commuter rail line to downtown St. Paul that could one day connect with the University LRT to downtown Minneapolis is what his community needs.

The good news about the development of the Robert Street corridor is it already has some funding from other projects.

Sprawl

Mike is worried that if light rail comes to Eagan that people will just move farther out. Eagan is facing the end of their ability to grow outwards, they are about 95% built out. He wants a statewide solution that defines what the metro area is. In other words, Once light rail stretches into Apple Valley, developers would want to build huge development projects in Cannon Falls, for example. They would have extra hoops to jump through because we've defined where the metro area is. A huge build-up in rural areas would hurt the rural or small town residents because their taxes would skyrocket.

Mike believes we need to beginning thoughtfully considering density. "We need to start thinking about building up and not out," Mike said. "Once the light rail stretches to Eagan people will say 'I can buy/build a bigger house cheaper farther out now' and we need to get away from that type of development."

Education

"We're cutting the things out like art, band and such things that make better citizens," Mike explained. Mike thinks that teachers have been forced to stop teaching for all-around excellence and merely teach to the test. Plus we haven't been funding our schools adequately nor given them consistent funding. "The principals and district administrators keep telling me that if they only knew exactly what they'd be getting from year to year, they'd be able to work within what they have. Their problem is that they never know."

Mike wants more local control of schools. He believes that when parents can get involved and take control, people who are motivated will find the ways to succeed. We've seen plenty of results of mandating from afar how schools should be run with the disaster that No Child Left Behind is.

Environment & Economy

"Now is the time to lead," Mike said. "We need to make Minnesota a leader in renewable energy." Mike wants Minnesota to be building the wind turbines, solar panel and other green tech instead of importing them from Europe. He also wants to fund more research into green technology at the University of Minnesota. He realizes we need to adapt our economy to the future.

Education also ties into the economy because if we have well-educated people, companies will come here because of our good workforce. Here's a bit straight from his website:

To achieve a consistently strong economy, Mike believes Minnesota must encourage and support small business growth. Therefore, Mike supports tax incentives for those making equity investments in small businesses and supports the ability of small businesses to band together to provide affordable and reliable health insurance for their workers.

He also realizes how important hunting, fishing and going to the cabin is. He realizes that many Eagan residents want their rivers, streams and woods protected so they can enjoy them.

Crime

Mike believevs that the cuts at Dakota County have made Eagan less safe. Because of the Governor's no-new-taxes pledge and Rep. Wardlow's doing mostly what the Governor wants, Dakota County have had to slash the number of sheriffs and this has hit Eagan hard as so many cities in the southern suburbs rely on the Dakota County force for the majority of their law enforcement needs.

Summary: Mike is great

Mike Obermueller sees the big picture about how the education, transportation, the economy and the environment all tie together. He sees the damage that the Republican no new taxes have been doing to our cities and communities. He sees that crime and education are tied together because the irresponsible no-new-taxes pledge are making our communities less safe and our schools struggle.

Mike will make a great addition to the DFL delegation in the Minnesota House!