House District 15A
- Steve Gottwalt - R (Campaign Finance Bd.)
- Joanne Dorsher - DFL (Campaign Finance Bd.)
80% urban/suburban, 20% rural. Strip malls and discount stores line the three main thoroughfares in Waite Park, making it a destination for area shoppers in search of school clothes and Christmas presents. One of the biggest districts for annexation, St. Augusta Township incorporated as Ventura, in honor of the Governor Jess Ventura, in 2000 to avoid becoming part of St. Cloud (voters changed the name to St. Augusta later that year) and in 2002, Rockville merged with Rockville Township and the community of Pleasant Lake to also prevent annexation by St. Cloud. Besides commercial development, city planners focus just as much on making Waite Park attractive to new home-buyers and senior citizens. Major employers include Gold'n Plump, Bankers Systems, Electrolux's freezer plant and the cabinetry and optics industries. Politically, the district leans Republican but has a strong independent streak.
To get a much better picture of each candidate's prospects, your best bet is to order the 2007-2008 Politics in Minnesota Directory, which includes election histories for each incumbent, the vote percentages for major candidates in each district and much more in addition to the maps and district descriptions below. Buy the Directory here. Please note that the district maps and written descriptions are copyrighted. We encourage you to link to the pages, but printing them for dissemination requires the permission of the publisher. To get permission, write to staff@politicsinminnesota.com.
Also, please note that some incumbents do not yet have opponents. Candidate filings close July 15, 2008.
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