Winning his fourth term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Rob Leighton said his goals depend on whether the Democrats are able to get control of the house.

Wednesday, November 08, 2000

Winning his fourth term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Rob Leighton said his goals depend on whether the Democrats are able to get control of the house.

"I’m fairly optimistic that the Democrats will get control of the House," Leighton said last night. "If that happens, I will continue to focus on the issues that have always been important – health care and issues that face working families, education. A democratic house would focus on education and health care."

During his three terms, Leighton, who will represent State House District 27B, has served on the civil law, jobs and economic development policy and the rules and legislation administration committees.

His campaign has focused, in part, on tax equity.

"More people are working, but they’re not making that much more," Leighton said, pointing out that tax cuts should benefit all.

As with other candidates in state races, the availability of prescription drugs has been an issue of this campaign. Leighton favored the fair drug pricing act to provide for the more than one million Minnesotans who lack health insurance and access to affordable prescription drugs.

Leighton has also fought to attain funding for local projects, the Paramount Theatre among them.

He has felt the surplus needs to be used, in part, to fund K-12 education. He would like to see reduced class sizes and all-day kindergarten classes.

Leighton was please Mark Dayton was predicted the winner in the U.S. Senate race, beating incumbent Rod Grams.

"I think he’s going to do a good job," Leighton said. "He has the best interests of rural Minnesota and Mower County at heart."

Leighton said his opponent Jeff Anderson ran an aggressive campaign, and Leighton said his campaign focused on the issues.

"This is the fourth race, and I’ve never made a personal attack on any of my opponents. But I think we are seeing more negative campaigns at the local level," he said.

Anderson, an Austin High School teacher making his first attempt for the house seat, focused on similar issues – taxes, education and prescription drugs – but offered different solutions.

Regarding prescription drugs, Anderson felt re-importing the drugs from other countries that charge less for the same drug would help seniors faced with large prescription medicine bills.

Anderson also believed that metro schools received more funding per pupil than does rural schools. He also felt there has been a loss of local control. Anderson also was not in favor of the Profiles of Learning.

Taxes were also a big part of Anderson’s campaign.

"When we have this many surpluses, it’s time to look at tax relief," he said. "We can’t give it all back, but it’s time to look at investment and relief."

Anderson also opposed the light rail project in the Twin Cities. "I haven’t seen how that’s going to benefit people in Lyle."

The campaign has been a good experience for Anderson.

"I’m proud of what we did," Anderson said. "We ran an upbeat and competitive campaign."

In addition to being a learning experience for the teacher, the campaign was also fun.

"It was very enjoyable," Anderson said. "I like the opportunity to meet people and see what was important to them."

Anderson felt the final numbers showed there is growing support for the Republican party in the area.

"It shows that we ran a good campaign," Anderson said. "We had a good message, one of balance."

Anderson’s visibility within the community also helped him throughout the race, he said.

"The fact that I’m a life long resident helped," Anderson said. "And being a teacher helped too. It showed people that I really do care."

Anderson’s focus will return to his family and career, although a period of rest is also on the agenda. Anderson said he wasn’t sure if he would run again in the future.

"I haven’t thought about it much. I’ve been concentrating on winning this race," he said.

Leighton received 7,767 votes to Anderson’s 7,273.