The Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.

Monday, November 13, 2000

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) – Despite his role in leading Republicans to back-to-back House majorities, Rep. Steve Sviggum endured an hour of party soul searching Saturday before he won the GOP endorsement for a second term as speaker.

Behind closed doors, Republicans hashed out their differences over Sviggum’s leadership style, his handling of budget negotiations and his approach to other legislative matters. Sviggum’s nomination, which will be considered by the full House on Jan. 3, was secured on a divided, but near-unanimous voice vote.

No one stepped forward to challenge Sviggum, but he needed support from at least 60 percent of his 69-member caucus to keep his post. Eagan Rep. Tim Pawlenty retained the position of majority leader.

"All is not well in the caucus," Pawlenty said. "And it’s not a good idea to leave here and think our work is done for now. … We’ve got some issues that need to be addressed."

With recounts pending in a couple of races, Republicans head into the 2001 session with a 69-65 vote margin, a net loss of one member. The narrow lead means no more than one Republican can defect if the party expects to pass bills opposed by a unified DFL.

"We have to be united, there’s no doubt about it," said Sviggum, of Kenyon. "There’s little room for error."

About a dozen of the caucus’ most conservative members are said to be upset with Sviggum, partly because of the budget deal he and other party leaders worked out with Senate DFLers and Gov. Jesse Ventura. Each side got a third of the budget surplus to use how they wanted, resulting in too much spending and too few tax cuts for some Republicans.

Rep. Mike Osskopp, R-Lake City, said removing Sviggum would do more harm than good. He pointed the DFL’s decision to oust Rep. Irv Anderson, of International Falls, after the party came back with a slimmer majority in 1996.

"That caucus stayed divided for the entire two years and then in ’98 they got thrown out of power," Osskopp said. "They came back with only 63 members in the next session. That was a mistake we should learn from."

At their organizing meeting, Republicans also lamented dirty campaigning in several races and indicated they would make campaign finance legislation a priority. Due to a court ruling, parties were allowed to spend as much as they want on each race this year, resulting in more-expensive-than-ever House races.

Outside groups also pumped large sums into some districts. In a New Hope-area race, an abortion rights group sent a mailing to Republicans the day before the election that Sviggum said distorted his candidate’s position and cost her the race.

Sviggum said Republicans plan to pursue criminal charges. A court cannot overturn the election, but Sviggum said the outcome of the case could lead his party to block DFLer Mark Thompson from taking office. The House can vote to not seat a member, which it has done before.