Elections: 2006 Candidate Profiles

Minnesota - House (2)

District Geography | Summary | History | Outlook | Polls

John Kline (Republican, 2-term incumbent)

Website: www.klineforcongress.org

Coleen Rowley (DFL)

Website: www.coleenrowley.com

Douglas Williams (Independence)

Website: N/A

District Geography:

Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District comprises the south central counties of Carver, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Rice, Scott, most of Dakota, the southern part of Washington County, and one district in Hennepin County.

Summary:

Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District is home to the junior member of the state's delegation to the U.S. House - two-term Republican incumbent John Kline. Kline is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Education and the Workforce Committee. Kline is campaigning for a strong national defense, reducing the federal deficit, keeping taxes down, and creating jobs.

Coleen Rowley is an ex-FBI agent who rose to prominence when she brought some of the pre 9/11 lapses in the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui to the public. In June of 2002, Rowley testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about some of the pervasive problems faced by the nation's intelligence community. As her "Agent for Change" campaign slogan indicates, Rowley is pushing hard for ethics reform in Congress, making it her platform issue. Rowley is also campaigning for better services for veterans, immigration reform that includes an 'earned path to citizenship,' and a graduated withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Douglas Williams ran on the Independence Party ticket in 2004 as well, garnering 3 percent of the vote in that election.

History:

Kline, a retired Marine colonel, had the narrowest margin of victory in Minnesota U.S. House races in the 2002 election when he shocked the state by defeating DFL incumbent Bill Luther by 11 points in the newly drawn district. In 2004 Kline cruised to a 16-point victory over DFL candidate Teresa Daly. Kline was an expert fundraiser in that race, and he has raised more than twice as much money as Rowley for the 2006 campaign.

Outlook:

Kline is considered the favorite by all national pundits, although Rowley's campaign appears to be gaining traction; Rowley closed the deficit from 20 to 8 points in less than three weeks, according to polls released by SurveyUSA in late September and mid-October. Williams' campaign could prove key: he is currently polling around 5%, receiving twice as much support from those likely voters who self-identify as democrats as those who identify as republicans.

Polls:

1 "If the election for U.S. House of Representatives were today, and you were standing in the voting booth right now, who would you vote for? Republican John Kline? DFL candidate Coleen Rowley? Or Independence Party candidate Douglas Williams?"