Endorsements draw criticism in Eden Prairie

Whether endorsed Republicans will continue their control of the Eden Prairie City Council is a key question in the upcoming election of a new mayor and two City Council members, and candidates for city offices disagree about whether such party endorsements have a place in the race.

Nancy Tyra-Lukens, who opposes political endorsement for city offices, is running for mayor against Jon Duckstad, who was elected to the City Council in 2006 with Republican backing and is again carrying the party's endorsement in his run for mayor.

In a field of six candidates for two City Council seats, just one -- Donna Azarian -- is running with Republican endorsement. No one is running with DFL endorsement.

In 2006, Mayor Phil Young and council members Duckstad and Brad Aho were all elected with Republican Party endorsement. They have routinely voted together as the council majority. Young decided not to seek a second term as mayor after it was revealed this year that he had filed inaccurate expense statements.

Hoping to keep the Republican majority on the council, the Senate District 42 Republicans of Eden Prairie again endorsed candidates. Although candidates for city offices in Minneapolis and St. Paul routinely run with party affiliation -- and in the big cities, the DFL dominates -- party backing is still rare in most suburban elections.

Azarian, who until August was party secretary for the District 42 Republican Party, said the reason for the endorsements in Eden Prairie is simple: "We have a very active Republican Party. [Our members] are very engaged. And they are very concerned about the direction in which everything is going."

Azarian, who also has the endorsement of the Voice of Conservative Women, said party support is no different from endorsements from unions or other organizations. "This is a group of people that have said you are the candidate that we want."

Disapproval of party politics in city elections is a key reason Tyra-Lukens, who was mayor from 2002 to 2006, decided to seek the mayor's office again.

"I have always adamantly maintained that when you serve as an elected official in a small city like this, that it's important to be impartial and not affiliate yourself with a national party," Tyra-Lukens said after announcing her candidacy. At the city level, "You are so close to the people and making decisions that affect your next-door neighbors." To win a political endorsement, "your affiliations are towards the party; they are not toward the community."

Duckstad said political party endorsements give voters good information about candidates. "It would indicate at least in part that that candidate may have some beliefs or leanings that comport with the party," Duckstad said. "It creates more of a disclosure for voters."

There are "very few real sharp political issues at the local level, except spending," Duckstad said. Republican endorsement "tells voters that one might have a different inclination as to how to spend my taxpayer money."

The endorsement worked in Duckstad's favor when he was new to the community and running for City Council, he said. "I hadn't lived here for 30 or 40 years like some people. I knocked on a lot of doors and talked to a lot of people, but I felt it was probably better that I had an endorsement because it gave the voters some indication of my leanings."

The subject of party endorsements came up during the League of Women Voters forum in Eden Prairie in September, where city candidates were asked for a yes or no on whether they approve of political affiliation for city office-seekers. Four of the City Council candidates -- Kathy Nelson, Sherry Butcher Wickstrom, Scott Pollino and Jeremiah Pilon -- said they opposed political endorsement. Two -- Azarian and Dan Kitrell -- said they approve of endorsements.

"I am running as a citizen, not a politician," Kitrell said. But if the question is raised whether political parties should be allowed to endorse candidates, he said his answer would be yes.

Voters are well aware of party endorsements in the city's elections and aren't happy about them, said Pilon, a first-time office-seeker running for City Council without party backing. "Overwhelmingly the people I have spoken to, they don't think it's a good idea. They don't want national politics injected into the city level."

Pilon said he ends his door-knocking visits by asking residents, "If there is one thing you want to talk about today, what is important to you?" He estimates that 6 out of 10 people have brought up the endorsement issue. "They want to make sure that the divisiveness that they see everywhere is not at the city level."

The current City Council routinely splits along party lines and residents have noticed that, Pilon said. "They feel like over the last four and sometimes eight years that has been an impediment to progress."

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711