Two lawmakers — one in Washington and one in St. Paul — who have represented the Iron Range for considerably different length of tenures, but both with a strong passion for mining and jobs in the region, are no longer on the job as new sessions of the Legislature and Congress begin.
Former state Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Pike Township, did not seek re-election in November and resigned after serving 16 terms. Former Republican 8th District U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, who stunned former Rep. Jim Oberstar in the heavily Democratic 8th District, was defeated in his re-election bid.
They were political parties apart on most issues. But when it came to mining and the jobs created and those that should have already been created, they were always solid in their support for taconite and copper/nickel/precious metals ventures.
For Rukavina, that meant he would often bump noggins with other DFLers, especially from the Twin Cities area, who are controlled on mining issues by far-left preservationist groups such as the Sierra Club. Those groups couldn’t care less about jobs on the Range. But Rukavina always did and always will. It is in his heart and soul; and a major element of his DNA.
For Cravaack, that meant he was a sincere and hard worker for the most important issue on the Iron Range during his two years in Congress, even though he was from the southern part of the vast 8th District. And also even though he was a Republican in an area of the state — the Iron Range — that has some people who too often demonize good people just because they happen to have a political “R” by their name.
We wish their successors well — Jason Metsa in the Legislature and Rick Nolan in Congress. They would serve their constituents well on the mining issue by following the lead of Rukavina and Cravaack.
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So I wonder when Rep. Nolan will have his first townhall meeting? Chip had 29 townhall meetings all across the 8th District in his two years.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.