House District 04A
- Frank Moe (retiring) - DFL (Campaign Finance Bd.)
- John Persell - DFL (Campaign Finance Bd.)
- John Carlson - R [Endorsed] (Campaign Finance Bd.)
- Adam Steele - R (Campaign Finance Bd.)
- Blake Sharatin - Independence (Campaign Finance Bd.)
100% rural. Welcome to Lake Country. Bemidji is the first city along the Mississippi River and a major regional service center. Home to Bemidji State University, Bemidji is a large college community that includes an influx of students from outside the area. The Bemidji School District is geographically one of the largest in the state. The district has large wooded areas, several small cities and thousands of lakes. At the southwest edge of Lake Bemidji are statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Bemidji is the only city in the country where police officers wear arm patches of Paul and Babe. People here are independent and strong-willed. Bemidji is a regional retail and medical center and home to two large wood processing plants. There are more than 600 lakes within 30 miles of Bemidji. The district is also home to Leech Lake Indian Reservation and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Politically, the district is conservative, but neither party dominates.
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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