ST. PAUL -- There are two kinds of freshmen in the Minnesota Legislature: those who don't know a roll call from a germaneness ruling, and those who have experience navigating St. Paul's political waters.
Rep. Tom Anzelc is one who knows his way around government, but Wednesday's first day of the legislative session still was an event for the new legislator to remember.
"Now, I actually get to vote," the 60-year-old Balsam Township Democrat said a couple of hours after being sworn in. "This is another great adventure."
Anzelc worked for Gov. Rudy Perpich, was a St. Louis County Board member in the 1980s and is a longtime labor union official who worked on legislative issues from the other side.
Accompanied by his three adult daughters and one of four grandchildren, Anzelc joined 34 other newly elected House members and 18 first-time senators in taking an oath of office Wednesday, the first day of Minnesota's two-year legislative session. That means a quarter of the 201 legislators are rookies.
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For freshmen lawmakers, it was a day to show family and friends their offices and the chambers they'll be casting votes in.
Sen. Joe Gimse, R-Willmar, who ousted former Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson in November, called his first day as a legislator "special."
"Today was really the highlight of nine months of campaigning," Gimse said.
He was joined by his 86-year-old stepfather, Alden Smith, and about 20 other family members and friends. Gimse suspected that his taking the oath of office was a gratifying feeling for his stepfather, a former county commissioner from Mora, Minn.
"I think he was especially proud," he said.
Anzelc said Rep. Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, who on Wednesday ended eight years as speaker of the House, put more pressure on him by calling his predecessor an icon of the Legislature. Anzelc took over for Rep. Irv Anderson, an International Falls legislator for 34 years.
"That was priceless for Rep. Sviggum to recognize Irv," Anzelc said. "It became even more real that it is a privilege to follow Irv."
Anzelc called his new position "the last several chapters of work with and for people."
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Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, said he felt inspired after completing one of the session's essential Day 1 tasks.
"Delivering the certificate of election was powerful," he said, calling his first day "inspiring."
Lourey was joined in the chambers with a family member and a familiar face to legislators: his mother, Becky Lourey, a 16-year senator whose term expired after an unsuccessful 2006 gubernatorial run.
She and other former politicians, including Gov. Wendell Anderson, were recognized by Senate President James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul.
