ST. PAUL -- Western Minnesota's first Republican congressional candidate for the fall election says there are times when President Bush ignores rural America.
"I think the president from time to time needs to be reminded that our rural area tends to be overlooked," David Sturrock said Tuesday in announcing his candidacy for the 7th Congressional District.
Like past Republican candidates, Sturrock said Rep. Collin Peterson doesn't do a good job representing the agriculture-dominated district and has not provided leadership for the district.
"Unlike the incumbent, my words and actions in Washington will match my words back home," the new candidate said.
Sturrock, saying he will fight for western Minnesota farmers, opened is campaign in St. Paul before heading to Moorhead to begin a 12-city tour of western Minnesota.
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The 46-year-old college professor is optimistic about his chances, in part because the district appears to like Republican Bush, he said.
Peterson, a Detroit Lakes accountant who attended college in Moorhead, has been in the U.S. House since 1991. In recent years he has won by large margins.
He considers himself a conservative and last year was courted by the Republican Party.
He regularly says his conservative votes fit the district, which stretches from the Canadian border nearly to Iowa.
Sturrock said Peterson supports liberal Democrats as the party's leaders, something that does not match a conservative.
No other Republicans have announced a challenge to Peterson.
Peterson says 7th district farmers will not accept a professor as their congressman.
"I am a very practical fellow," Sturrock responded.
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Sturrock is a political science professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and serves on the Marshall City Council. He was raised near Rochester, N.Y., and attended college in San Jose and Riverside, Calif., before moving to Marshall in the mid-1990s.
More attention is expected to be paid to U.S. House races this year because Minnesota will feature the shortest ballot in 36 years. The state has no statewide races, leaving the state House and U.S. House as highlight contests.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Don Davis at (651) 290-0707
