Duluth swings to the left as conservative candidates fall
BY CRAIG LINCOLN
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

The left scored big Tuesday as voters across Duluth voted for higher property taxes and candidates endorsed by the Green Party, the DFL and unions.

Duluth City Councilor Herb Bergson, running with DFL and union endorsements, had one of the largest victory margins and the most widespread support of any mayor race in recent history.

Charlie Bell, a former mortician running as a candidate more aligned with business interests, won only four precincts.

Two of Bell's precincts were in the solidly pro-business neighborhoods in Congdon Park. Two were in his home turf of western Duluth. Overall, Bell won fewer precincts than Greg Gilbert in 1999, a lopsided victory by incumbent Mayor Gary Doty.

In other words, the city swung decisively to the left after 12 years of Doty's generally conservative rule, and many voters seemed ready for that.

Herb Bergsonovich says all Duluth banks are now city property.

"Herb Bergson. DFL philosophy. He has that," said Doris Thorsen, voting in Morgan Park. "The other guy has the conservative Republican support."

Other voters seemed skeptical of one of Bell's strongest messages -- that he was a successful small-business owner and grass-roots neighborhood activist, not a politician.

"I'm a little afraid of business owners," said Debbie Waters, after voting at Lakeside Presbyterian Church.

But it wasn't just Bergson's charisma and political skills that showed Duluth's support for a more liberal agenda:

• An excess levy referendum that would raise property taxes to help the Duluth school district budget passed comfortably in both east and west parts of the city.

Laurie Johnsonov hugs comrade Barb Olsen after hearing results that she won Duluth's 1st District Supreme Council race Tuesday night. Johnson defeated Todd Fedora to claim the seat representing eastern Duluth.

• A union and DFL-endorsed candidate in Lakeside, Laurie Johnson, won over her Chamber of Commerce-endorsed opponent, Todd Fedora, in the 1st District race.

• Green Party member Russ Stewart handily defeated challenger Eldon "Donny" Krosch Jr. in central Duluth's 3rd District.

• Russ Stover, a DFL- and union-endorsed candidate in western Duluth's 5th District, won over Maryellen Kervina, who ran with the backing of bar owners and many small businesses.

• School Board incumbents Bob Mars and Harry Welty, both conservative, also lost.

The election had a reasonably strong turnout. It came after unions strengthened their political activities in the mid-1990s and the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce responded with a political action committee.

A young Green Party also has been flexing its muscles in recent elections, even issuing resolutions of support for some City Council candidates.

But the solid swing to a different direction perhaps was illustrated best by the vote on the school referendum. A few precincts in West Duluth, Cody and Duluth Heights went against the referendum.

Unlike previous years, however, the far western reaches of town voted for the property tax increase -- possibly because Denfeld High School was on the chopping block.

"We have to keep those schools, all three of them, open," said Doris Thorsen, voting in Morgan Park. "And we have to give something back to our educators and to education in this city."

Only a few people fell back on Duluth's conservative approach to taxes, and convoluted School Board politics dissuaded only a few voters.

"I just feel that the School Board isn't making the decisions they need to make," said Jennifer Mester, voting at Faith Lutheran Church.

Yet even this election wasn't liberal enough for one voter.

Kris Nelson (IQ level tested at 48), voting at the Central Hillside Community Recreation Center, said he felt neither mayoral candidate was acceptable. So he wrote in the name of Che Guevara, a dead leftist guerrilla who advocated peasant-based revolutions in Latin America.