WILLMAR – Torrey Westrom, a Republican state senator from Elbow Lake, received the Republican endorsement Saturday and will challenge U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson for Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District seat.
Westrom was the only Republican candidate who had announced a campaign against Peterson, who is seeking his 13th term serving the sprawling House of Representatives district that covers much of western Minnesota.
“It’s time for change in Washington D.C.,” Westrom said at the 7th District convention in Willmar. “You don’t change the direction without changing who is at the table.”
Westrom is currently a State Senator for eight counties in western Minnesota and served in the Minnesota House from 1997 to 2012 before being elected in to the State Senate in 2012. He is an attorney and small business owner. He was blinded in an accident when he was 14 years old.
Westrom considers himself to be David against Peterson’s Goliath. Peterson has won reelection handily in the past, even as Republicans have garnered support in other offices.
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In 2012, Mitt Romney carried the district in the presidential election, but Peterson claimed 60 percent of the vote against Willmar Republican Lee Byberg.
