Skeeter Tomczak's service in the U.S. Army and Minnesota National Guard spanned 16 years and left him decorated with two Purple Hearts. His combat unit was the last out of Iraq. A previous tour of duty was the Army's longest overseas, at 22 months, since World War II.
"I would have no problem going back again and putting my life on the line for this country that I love," Tomczak said. "But at this point, physically, my body can't serve this country that way anymore. So I want to serve this country another way. I want to serve it politically - which sometimes can seem more dangerous than the military."
A Republican running for elected office on the Iron Range, Tomczak, of Eveleth, may indeed be facing his fiercest battle yet.
But political winds seem to be shifting. A Republican won a Minnesota House seat in the Grand Rapids area two years ago. Republican President Donald Trump won Northeastern Minnesota's 8th Congressional District by 15.6 percentage points in 2016, according to the New York Times, which cited DailyKos Elections as its source.
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In this election, with extreme-left DFLers staunchly opposing copper-nickel mining and other aspects of Northeastern Minnesota's natural resources-based economy, a Republican with Tomczak's clear commitment and clearer focus and goals will be attractive on Election Day.
Eligible voters in Minnesota House District 6B - which includes Virginia, Biwabik, and Gilbert - can stand up for economic stability and prosperity by voting for Tomczak on Nov. 6.
"I am running to ... speak for the people," Tomczak said at a News Tribune-sponsored candidate forum on Oct. 1 in Virginia in the Northland Building. "This area has been ignored by the state for a long time, and we have a lot of issues to deal with. First off, it's mining. Mining is under attack. ... Time and again PolyMet has been asked to reach a goal and has met that goal and has met a standard. And time and again (opponents have attempted to then) move the goalposts."
Tomczak's first action as a lawmaker won't have anything to do with mining, however. He pledged he'd eliminate Minnesota's Social Security tax.
"The fact that we tax seniors until the day they die is disgusting," Tomczak said. Minnesota is one of only 13 states that still does.
Tomczak will work effectively with DFLers both in St. Paul and across northern Minnesota, he promised.
"It's time to get out of (being) hyper-partisan, but not to be bipartisan just to be bipartisan," he said. "A Democrat comes up with a bad idea, it's a bad idea; a Republican comes up with a bad idea, it's a bad idea. Good ideas are good ideas. We need to work together, and we need to stop playing politics."
If we do, we can end the gridlock in St. Paul that's preventing the Legislature from more effectively serving Minnesotans, Tomczak said.
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Tomczak's DFL opponent in the race to replace Rep. Jason Metsa - he ran for Congress instead this fall - is Aurora Mayor Dave Lislegard.
"Life here on the Iron Range hasn't always been easy," Lislegard wrote in a commentary for the News Tribune this month. "Our entire region is blessed with many opportunities, and working together we will ensure that those opportunities translate into greater success."
It's Tomczak, though, the decorated Army veteran who'll fight wasteful spending and for an Iron Range made strong by responsible industry who emerged this campaign as the more-visible, stronger leader for Minnesota House District 6B.
"It's time that we change who we vote for based on the letters behind their name," he said.
About this endorsement
This News Tribune endorsement editorial was determined entirely by the newspaper's Editorial Board. The board's members are Publisher Neal Ronquist, Editorial Page Editor Chuck Frederick, employee representative Kris Vereecken, citizen representative Julene Boe and citizen representative Denise Wise.
