While the other members of the Scott County Board might not have agreed, Commissioner Barb Weckman Brekke did what she believed was the right thing to do when she publicly backed Rep. Angie Craig’s unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate post representing Minnesota.
Commissioner Weckman Brekke, whose district includes the portion of New Prague in Scott County, appeared in a commercial endorsing Craig’s failed bid for Senate. Craig currently serves as a U.S. Representative representing Minnesota’s Second Congressional District, which includes Scott and Le Sueur counties. Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan ran in a primary to replace Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. Smith backed Flannagan.
In a world of Republican red and blue Democrats, Rep. Craig has represented the Second Congressional District by being moderate purple. She was once asked how she navigates a district and wins re-election tending to switch from blue to red right around Interstate Highway 35. Craig said she survives by being open to the interests, expectations and requests from the ideological left and right.
Usually, county commissioners are generally non-partisan. They tend to stay out of the partisan cesspool, although their political leanings are more often than not easily determined by the positions they support on local issues. On a board where they enact policy most often dictated by the state, commissioners win election and re-election by representing and supporting the sensibilities of their constituents even though most county surveys have indicated a majority of residents don’t readily know who their county commissioner is.
Think about it, can you name your county commissioner without looking it up?
Based on elections of state and federal candidates, New Prague, along with most of Scott County, is a Republican stronghold, a change from decades ago, before suburbanization, when the county had stronger DFL leanings.
Weckman Brekke was asked to appear in a TV commercial supporting Rep. Craig. When it comes to her commissioner work, Weckman Brekke doesn’t do much off the cuff. She thinks about it long and hard, considering the initial impact and the down-the-road tails of decisions. She decided to appear in the commercial because Craig has delivered a ton of funding for Scott County, most often supporting funding for law enforcement, road projects and Head Start programming for needed initiatives the board didn’t have to consider including in the next property tax levy. That’s a big change from her predecessor, Rep. John Kline of Lakeville, who decided in late-2007 he would no longer support what he deemed a wasteful and corrupt process for earmarks for specific initiatives.
Flanagan is among the leaders of a state government sending unfunded mandates to counties for taxpayers to endure along with rampant fraud the GOP is repeatedly reminding voters about. As columns submitted by your state representatives and senators indicate, the party is quicker to point out the problem than support workable solutions.
In Tuesday’s Aug. 11 primary election, Scott County voters casting ballots for Democrats favored Craig over Flanagan, 7,212 to 6,936. In Le Sueur County, Craig won 1,310 to 817. Craig won in Rice County by 26 votes, 3,499 to 3,473.
Weckman Brekke agreed to appear in the TV commercial without notifying the county board’s chairman or vice chairman, a decision she seemingly second-guessed. Would Weckman Brekke have gone ahead with her part in the commercial if the board’s leaders opposed her decision? We’ll never know. Weckman Brekke has heard, she said, from residents indicating their disapproval of her decision to support Craig.
Arguably, Craig lost to Flanagan because she was one of 46 of 212 Democrats in the House to support the Laken Riley Act, an act requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for injury and property crimes. Of course, Craig never expected DHS and its ICE agents would, as court rulings indicate, violate the constitutional rights of people.
While she can be second-guessed internally for not providing her colleagues on the board a heads-up, Weckman Brekke took a stand for what she believed was best for county residents. Rather than hide on the sidelines, she backed a moderate rather than a progressive.