The team’s new coach: Zellers to call the shots for House GOP

After the former House minority leader, Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall), jumped into the 2010 governor’s race, his likely replacements among the House GOP leadership [in particular, Reps. Laura Brod (R-New Prague), Paul Kohls (R-Victoria) and Tom Emmer (R-Delano)] also jumped right in. Thus, the diligent and affable, but not highly visible, Rep. Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove), threw his hat into the House minority leader race, opposing Rep. Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield).

During the session, Zellers told us that Saucony brand running shoes are best for door knocking; now he’ll have to draft GOP House candidates from across the state and coordinate fundraising, as well as back up GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s agenda in the House. We hear that the House GOP’s leadership structure won’t change, leaving Rep. Steve Smith (R-Mound) as deputy minority leader.

Zellers has been the lead Republican on the Commerce and Labor Committee this biennium. Discussing his policy agenda for the PIM Directory during the early session, Zellers stressed the importance of jobs and economic development, and proposed eliminating the corporate income tax, saying that the Dakotas and Wisconsin are "eating our lunch every day" due to the tax disparity. He’s even proposed eliminating the corporate income tax by 2019.

It’s not just about big business, though: Zellers stressed that small business owners have no time to lobby, and he wants to look out for their interests in particular. He also criticized the arbitrary unpredictability of federal bailout programs, since the programs don’t distribute aid evenly.

Zellers has long worked on enhancing Maple Grove’s suburban commercial growth, including developing the transit station and more walkable, transit-friendly "New Urbanist" style development. He says he was a supporter of buses when it "wasn’t cool," and notes that about 35 or 40 percent of his constituents ride the bus regularly. The hospital development battle in Maple Grove was another major policy area on which Zellers workedrecently (it was a lobbying battle royale).

Zellers grew up on a farm in North Dakota, where his first job was clearing rocks for a dollar an hour. He played football at the University of North Dakota (hence, the plethora of coach metaphors at today’s press conference), but an injury ended his days as a strong safety and cornerback.

After college, Zellers moved to the Twin Cities and worked in sales. He soon became a field staffer for then-U.S. Sen. Rod Grams‘ 1994 campaign, and then Grams’ communications director after the election. After that, Zellers got a job with an advertising agency as an account representative, and also worked on Norm Coleman’s 2002 U.S. Senate campaign. Just before running himself, Zellers took the job of House GOP Caucus communications director.

Zellers has generally been much less rhetorically bombastic, than, say, Emmer, but as DFL blogger Dusty Trice notes in a rundown of Zellers-related flaps, he said former GOP Governor Arne Carlson should "get off my team" in May, after Carlson criticized Pawlenty’s budgeting.