House District 18A
- Ron Shimanski - R (Campaign Finance Bd.) (Elected)
- Eric Angvall - DFL (Campaign Finance Bd.)
100% rural. McLeod County was named for Martin McLeod, a Scotsman who was prominent in the area in the mid-1800s. Hutchinson lore is that 150 years ago, settlers stopped on a river bluff, looked out over a scenic river valley and exclaimed, "We have found it!" The city touts itself as still having what the settlers were looking for: a quiet and peaceful place to grow. Hutchinson was fortified and put under siege in the 1862 Dakota conflict. The Crow River flowing through the city bears the name of the great Dakota Chief Little Crow, who was killed in the conflict, and there's a statue in his honor near the city's dam. Leslie Kouba, an internationally known wildlife artist, was born and raised on a farm outside Hutchinson. Folks here are always on the lookout to match his paintings with landscape, farmstead and small town scenes from the area. Hutchinson is a thriving regional commercial center. Politically, this is staunch Republican territory.
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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