Jeff Anderson is expected to announce his candidacy today for the House District 27B seat held by three-term incumbent state Rep.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

Jeff Anderson is expected to announce his candidacy today for the House District 27B seat held by three-term incumbent state Rep. Rob Leighton (DFL-Austin).

Anderson, a Republican, scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m. today at the Austin Public Library.

A teacher with Austin Public Schools, Anderson is the first Republican to step forward to challenge the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party’s incumbent.

Leighton was first elected in 1994 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of long-time legislator Leo Reding.

He defeated Brian Slowinski in the 1994 DFL primary and went on to defeat Walt Baldus in the 1994 general election. Slowinski and Baldus were former long-time DFL activists until switching to the Republican Party.

Leighton had no primary election opposition in 1996 and 1998, when he defeated Chris Boik and Baldus in general elections. Rich Osness, a Libertarian Party candidate, finished third in the 1998 race.

The GOP has endorsed Grace Schwab as its candidate for Senate

District 27 in an effort to unseat long-term incumbent state Sen. Pat Piper (DFL-Austin).

Leighton said today he welcomes Anderson’s candidacy.

"I certainly expected there would be competition," he said. "We’ve always had contests in both the Senate and the House district races, which is good."

Leighton also said that because it is a presidential election year and because the entire Minnesota House and Senate members are up for re-election, "It makes this an exciting election year for everyone.

"My view is that it will be a good year for Democrats," Leighton said. "We have a strong national economy and that and other issues such as education and health care are what I will focus on in my campaign."

On May 9, Leighton, an Austin attorney, entered a plea of guilty to drunken driving and will begin service a 30-day home monitoring sentence Thursday. He was also fined $900 and placed on two years probation and ordered to participate in a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel.

A Ramsey County District Court judge stayed a one-year jail sentence and $3,000 fine.

The legislator was arrested April 24 after a night out at a St. Paul bar.

When arrested, St. Paul police found him to have a 0.23 blood-alcohol level, more than twice the legal limit.

Leighton’s opponent in the House District 27B election, Anderson, is expected to obtain the GOP’s endorsement at an endorsing convention scheduled Monday in Austin.

It will mark Anderson’s debut in politics and, therefore, an uphill battle to develop name recognition, while cracking the DFL’s strangle-hold in recent years on the House seat held by Leighton.