The storm before the quiet: Parry, Quist trade increasingly bitter blows

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But campaign barely registering with voters

Republican 1st Congressional District candidates Mike Parry and Allen Quist may have spent the last few weeks trading barbs in press releases and news accounts, but many of those who actually live in the state’s southernmost district haven’t seemed to notice.

With just weeks before the August primary election that will decide who gets to take on DFL Rep. Tim Walz this fall, Parry, a state senator from Waseca, kicked off a week-long media barrage with an email blast pointing to a few eyebrow-raising remarks made by Quist about two decades ago. In particular, Parry pointed to a 1994 comment from Quist comparing a center for gays to a center for the Ku Klux Klan, a comment about men’s “genetic predisposition” to be the heads of households, and Quist’s comments about visiting adult bookstores (to assess the public health conditions, he said) during his time in the House.

Quist countered that Parry was making it all up and was attacking out of desperation, but before long Twin Cities media reporter David Brauer jumped into the mix, digging up the tape of the interview in which Quist made his remark about men’s leadership DNA. Quist came clean, responding to the attacks in a long email blast in which he said his religious beliefs and dedication to constituent service were the reasons for some of his remarks. And as for comparing a college gay center to a center for the KKK, Quist claimed he did not remember ever saying that. “The words were poorly chosen,” Quist wrote. “I would not say anything like that today.”

But despite all the hullabaloo the exchange has created on Twitter and political blogs, Steve Perkins, a former congressional district chair in the district, says things have been relatively quiet on the front lines.

“Surprisingly, I don’t think that there’s as much discussion about it down here as I would have thought,” Perkins said. “I think it’s summer, people are busy doing other things, and a lot of it has been through email. I’m just surprised there’s not been very much talk about this.”

All quiet on the southern front

Other local GOP officials agree that the mudslinging between the two candidates has barely pierced the consciousness of the sprawling district, which stretches from the state’s South Dakota border all the way to the edge of Wisconsin. In fact, they say the campaigns have been surprisingly low-key since April, when Parry and Quist deadlocked in a historic, 23-ballot endorsing convention.

“I don’t know if that’s due to the fact that people went to the convention and were all geared up to get something done, and when they didn’t, it seemed like it was game over,” said Rhett Zenke, head of the Winona Republicans. “I’ve been waiting for calls and things from the campaigns, and they’re just not coming yet.”

Bruce Kaskubar, head of the Olmsted County Republicans, says the same is true in his area. “There’s just not as much activity as I thought,” he said. “I think it’s been tough for these two guys to get their name out there. The district is large, and I think there are a lot of people who don’t even know there is a primary for the congressional candidate yet.”

Turnout in the district this year is expected to be lower than even a typical primary election. Some projections have turnout at 15 percent or lower. There are a handful of local mayor and county commissioner elections that may drive voters to the polls in a few areas, but no single race is expected to be a major draw for area Republicans in August.

Candidates lay campaign plans

Because the race is close and turnout is likely to be meager, Kaskubar says, the primary will likely be won by the candidate with the better get-out-the-vote effort.

Both campaigns say they are escalating their efforts ahead of the primary. According to the latest campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission, Quist raised $18,800 in July, but has $117,878 in the bank, most of it from his own pocket.  “A dollar is a dollar, regardless of where it comes from, in terms of buying billboards and ads and putting people out on the road,” Perkins said. “That’s incredibly important.”

Quist has already spent more than $66,000 on a handful of campaign essentials, including newspaper advertisements in the Mankato Free Press, Rochester Post Bulletin, Faribault Daily News and Albert Lea Tribune, radio advertising in Rochester, and a $42,500 cable TV ad buy with Charter Media out of Wisconsin.

Quist says most of his advertising will be done on TV. “In the district, 55 percent of the homes are on cable TV, and the average person watches five hours of TV a day, and the average senior citizen watches seven hours a day,” Quist said. “If you want to reach the public, you have to make use of cable TV.”

He also spent several thousand dollars on 1st Congressional District data from Borgendale Strategy Data, LLC, and is using several databases to compile a master list of likely Republican and independent voters in the district.

Parry’s campaign committee raised $8,890 in July, spent $11,701, and has $27,797 in the bank for the final two weeks of the campaign. Most of his expenses were for things like travel reimbursements, food and beverages, and parade costs, but Parry did write out several larger checks for printing costs, radio advertisements and “management consulting” from Dave Gardner of Plymouth.

“I’m not as wealthy as [Quist] says he is. Like Mark Dayton, he says he can buy his campaign,” Parry said. “My [personal] money is invested in keeping my small pizza place going.” Parry says he will do all the standard campaigning in weeks leading up to an election – direct mail, ads, meet-and-greets, door knocking and voter identification. He says he plans to do more “shoe-leather campaigning” than Quist.

Two weeks to go

Most GOP campaign watchers in the area hesitate to predict which one will get the chance to take on Walz this fall, but some point to Quist’s self-funded campaign and developed ground game as factors that bode well for his chances. Quist also polled better than Parry in an unscientific poll done by the Mankato Free Press in July. The poll surveyed more than 200 voters, with Quist pulling in about 54 percent support, Parry earning 20 percent and a “neither” option winning 25 percent of the vote.

“I think Quist probably has a better ground game,” Zenke said. “His volunteers have more time to do calling and advocate for Allen and show up for his events.”

By most accounts, Quist also has more name recognition. “Allen has been in politics longer than most people have been alive,” noted Kaskubar, who is supporting Parry.

Quist says he isn’t fazed by the week-that-was in the news, and by his account, neither are the people showing up to his events. So far he has held nine town hall meetings. “I’ve had two town hall meetings since he put out all of this negative stuff. And at my town hall meetings, I give anyone a chance to ask anything they want. In the two town hall meetings since, I have not had one question or one comment about it,” Quist said. “The Mike Parry is campaign is on another planet.”

He also says Parry has not come up in any of his events. “Mike Parry is almost a non-issue. Nobody asked or commented or said anything about who my opposition is,” Quist said. “He is not on the table.”

Team Parry is hitting the anti-Quist message hard, also criticizing his conservative credentials for past legislative votes in favor of a gas tax and light rail projects, Parry spokesman Ben Golnik said.

That’s not going to change in the next few weeks. “Republicans are united around replacing elected officials,” Golnik said. “We don’t want voters to have buyer’s remorse if Allen Quist is a candidate. If Parry is the candidate, this race will be a referendum on Tim Walz.”

Parry says people are asking him about what Quist has said in the past. “People are very concerned that if Allen Quist is the general election candidate, knowing the DFL campaign machine, they will go in for television ads and radio ads showing Allen Quist at a triple-X porn shop, and point out the gas tax,” he said. “It will be all on him, and he will have to respond to that.”