photo by Bryan Clapper

In the winter of '05, three-term U.S. Congressman Kennedy returned to Pequot Lakes after announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate - to pump gas.

Kennedy was in Pequot Lakes briefly Thursday morning, long enough to pump gas for a handful of customers and meet with them.

Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Mark Dayton last month, and has already made over 20 campaign stops within the state. He was widely rumored to challenge Dayton in 2006, and said that Dayton's announcement that he would not seek a second term pushed his own announcement up.

Kennedy is a 1975 Pequot Lakes High School graduate who went on to win and retain a seat in the U.S. Congress, narrowly defeating powerful DFL incumbent David Minge in 2000, surviving redistricting and negative campaigning against multi-millionaire Janet Robert in 2002, and beating out nationally revered child protection advocate Patty Wetterling to keep his seat in 2004.

Among Republican leaders statewide and nationally, Kennedy is considered a bright and rising star. He beat the odds in all three of his Congressional races, and party faithfuls are hoping he can do the same in his first statewide race.

During his campaign stop in Pequot Lakes and later in Baxter, Kennedy stressed his rural Minnesota upbringing and said it shaped him and prepared him for national politics.

"I believe we need someone in Washington who represents the finest points of our character," Kennedy said. "We need to replace petty politics with common sense."

Kennedy said his mother's guidance has taught him to adapt his personal values in tackling larger political issues.

"She used to sit all seven of us down in the living room and read newspaper clippings to teach us to apply our values to current topics," he said, adding that his mother still sends him packets of clippings from local newspapers.

"I'm constantly getting clippings from the Brainerd Daily Dispatch and the [Lake] Country Echo, and then she calls me to make sure I'm reading them," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said his father's 27-year tenure on the school board also shaped his voting record.

Kennedy said his father, Eugene, would return from school board meetings complaining about strict federal regulations. Those experiences led him to oppose President Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative, which Kennedy rejected in favor of more local control.

Kennedy used what is becoming his standard biographical stump speech on Thursday: that he shared a bedroom with three brothers, got his first job picking strawberries at 14 and was the first man in his family to attend college.

"I believe I can represent the hopes and dreams of Minnesota because I've lived them," Kennedy said.

However, Kennedy used the opportunity of a local crowd, including his parents, one of his brothers and one of his nephews, to connect on a more personal level, joking about his look-alike brother, David, and reminiscing about the lake country.

Kennedy acknowledges that his will be a hotly contested and closely watched Senate race. Republicans gained four seats in 2004, but most of the Democrats they replaced were southern conservatives. Replacing one of the Senate's most liberal members, Dayton, with Kennedy, who votes with the Bush administration over 90 percent of the time, will likely lead to a pivotal race for the state and national Republican leadership.

"This will probably be...one of the top races in the country," Kennedy said.

Asked if his conservative message could weather the DFL strongholds in the Twin Cities and the Iron Range, Kennedy pointed out that he has lived in, worked in or represented all eight of Minnesota's congressional districts.

Kennedy has already won the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who said he endorsed Kennedy even before seeing which other Republicans may seek the seat. Former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams (R-Minn.), who was defeated by Dayton in 2000, has said he is exploring running for his old seat. U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn) was expected to make an announcement March 1 whether he will run or not, though rumors on several websites have said his announcement would be that he will not run.

Kennedy said he will abide by the endorsement of the Republican party. If the party endorses someone else, he will drop out, he said.