WILLMAR -- The only time any tension was felt and voices were even slightly raised during the Senate District 13 political debate Tuesday was when candidates responded to the final question of the evening.
Even some audience members squirmed a bit or snickered.
At the end of what had been a rather routine discussion of issues during the Willmar League of Women Voters debate, Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, and his Republican challenger Joe Gimse, were asked what "one thing" they would change in the Minnesota Legislature.
Gimse, a low-key 49-year-old land developer who lost to Johnson four years ago, launched into a strongly-worded indictment of the lack of "diplomacy" and "statesmanship" in the Legislature that he said is "intolerable to citizens."
Gimse didn't directly name Johnson as the cause for the "gridlock," but the insinuation was strong that Johnson's role as Senate Majority Leader was at least partly to blame.
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Gimse said there needs to be a "change of tone" in the Legislature and that he would work with metro and rural legislators from all political parties so that metro and rural needs could be met.
Gimse said he would apply the philosophy of "I'll throw you a bone, you throw me a bone," when negotiating in the Senate.
In a comment made earlier in the debate, Gimse said voters were tired of the "political bickering" and pro-family constituents were "frustrated" they weren't able to vote on the marriage amendment.
Johnson took a long pause before responding to the final question. In a terse response tinged with emotion, Johnson said his wish is that people who run for office "tell the truth" about their opponent's voting records.
Making reference to his September primary race against Michael Cruze, Johnson said the campaign focused on two issues -- abortion and gay marriage -- and erroneously portrayed Johnson as not being pro-life and being in support of gay marriage.
Johnson said he voted in 1997 that marriage is between one man and one woman, and in 2003 he co-authored the women's right-to-know bill, which requires a 24-hour waiting period so women can review information on alternative options to abortion. Johnson said he has been endorsed by Democrats for Life.
Candidates, Johnson said, should be required to be truthful in their campaigns and what they tell voters about their opponents.
Other than that one exchange, most of the debate dealt with the bread and butter issues of education, health care and transportation, with Johnson and Gimse seeming to agree that more attention and money need to be placed in all three areas.
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Johnson has made education, including funding all-day kindergarten and slowing the soaring college tuition rates, as his top priority for Legislative action. Gimse said college students are bearing the burden of high tuition and more grants should be available.
Gimse said he wants to allocate $10 million to conduct a comprehensive study of how Minnesota spends all of its health care dollars and explore the possibility of developing a partnership between the state and private insurance companies to protect the state's "most vulnerable" citizens.
Johnson discussed options for expanding the state's health insurance program, Minnesota Care, to small businesses and farmers and exploring a new catastrophic health program that's underway in Massachusetts.
Both Johnson and Gimse support the constitutional amendment that will dedicate 100 percent of the motor vehicle tax to transportation.
