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8th District: Jim Oberstar


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James L. Oberstar is the dean of the Minnesota congressional delegation with 16 terms under his belt. He is the longest-serving member of Congress in Minnesota's history. The seniority has brought a powerful committee position and more clout than other politicians from the state. He has an independent streak and is perceived as something of a maverick.

Creole-speaking Oberstar, who served the U.S. Navy in Haiti, came to the House in 1974, seeking to succeed Rep. John Blatnik, his former employer. He lost the DFL endorsement for the seat to state Sen. Tony Perpich, but ran in the primary and defeated Perpich handily.

He had few serious challenges in his subsequent re-election bids. In 1984, he lost a primary bid for the U.S. Senate.

His district is one of the nation's largest. It stretches north from Chisago and Isanti counties in east-central Minnesota, through Duluth and the Iron Range to the Canadian border. He opposes abortion and is against the death penalty.

James Oberstar was elected to the U.S. House in 1974 with 62 percent of the vote. He has been re-elected 14 times, all with ease. Oberstar's three most recent contests are prime examples. In 1998 he defeated Republican Jerry Shuster with 66 percent of the vote in a race that also featured Stan "The Man" Estes. In the 2000 general election he faced another nicknamed challenger, "Cowboy" Bob Lemen, a native Texan who has settled in Grand Rapids. He beat Lemen with 68 percent of the vote. He outspent Lemen $1 million to $22,000. In 2002, he again beat Lemen by a 69-to-31-percent margin.

In 2004, Oberstar faced Mark Groettum, a Republican, and Van Presley, a member of the Green Party. Oberstar cruised to re-election, capturing 65 percent of the vote in the three-way race, the 5th straight election in which he captured at least 65 percent of the votes cast.

Candidate Bio

James Oberstar
Political affiliation:
DFL Party
Born:
September 10, 1934
Chisholm, Minn.
Personal:
Married to Jean Oberstar.
Four children from his marriage to Jo, who died in 1991.
Catholic.
Occupation:
8th District congressman. Navy civilian language teacher, Haiti, 1959-63.
Education:
Bachelor's degree from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., in 1956 and a master's degree from the College of Europe in Belgium in 1957.
Major political experience:
Administrative assistant to Rep. John Blatnik, 1963-74; Elected to U.S. House of Representatives, 1974.

Show Appearances

Audio MPR's Stephanie Hemphill interviews Oberstar.
(9/23/06)

Campaign Finances

Total contributions
$1,198,362
Total disbursements
$943,938
Cash on hand
$479,734
Source: Federal Election Commission. October 2006

Links and Resources

House Web site:
Document Rep. Jim Oberstar
Campaign contributors
Document Political Moneyline

Candidate Pages

Democrat Tim Walz spent his first day as 1st District congressman-elect with family and supporters in Mankato. Walz beat six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht in Tuesday's election. (11/08/2006)
Democrat Keith Ellison campaigned heavily against the war in Iraq, and has put environmental and health care issues at the top of his list of priorities. (11/08/2006)
Bachmann defeated Democrat Patty Wetterling in a hard-fought contest that will go down as the state's most expensive U.S. House race. (11/08/2006)
As a result of the Democrats' taking control of the U.S. House, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, a DFLer from the 7th District, is in line to become chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He spoke with MPR's Cathy Wurzer. (11/08/2006)
Minnesota's 3rd District Rep. Jim Ramstad joins Gary Eichten on Midday to discuss his decision to retire from Congress. (Midday, 09/27/2007)
Minnesota 8th District Congressman Jim Oberstar is about to become really important in the transportation world. As the ranking Democrat, Oberstar is expected to become chair of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in January. (11/09/2006)
In one of the state's biggest election upsets, Minnesota's 1st Congressional District has gone democratic. First-time candidate Tim Walz won the race with 53 percent of the vote, defeating Republican six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht. (11/08/2006)
Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation's first Muslim member of Congress on Tuesday, easily winning a Minneapolis-area district Republicans had not carried since 1962. He is also Minnesota's first nonwhite representative in Washington. (11/07/2006)
The congressional candidate made the comments during tough questioning at a free-for-all forum in Andover, in the wake of an appearance at a church service last month in which she said "God called me to run for the United States Congress." (11/01/2006)
In less than a week, voters in Minnesota's 5th District will elect a new representative to Congress for the first time in nearly three decades. (11/01/2006)
The candidates for Congress in Minnesota's 2nd District -- incumbent Republican John Kline and his DFL challenger Colleen Rowley -- discuss the issues as part of Midday's "Meet the Candidates" series. (Midday, 11/01/2006)
U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., debates his DFL challenger, Wendy Wilde, as part of Midday's "Meet the Candidates" series. (Midday, 11/01/2006)
The race between U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., and his DFL challenger Tim Walz has been attracting national attention and money. Gutknecht and Walz sparred in a recent debate. (Midday, 10/31/2006)
Rep. Collin Peterson won the 7th Congressional District seat for the first time in 1990. In the past 16 years, the Democrat has solidified his bond with voters in the conservative district. This year he's challenged by Republican Michael Barrett. (10/31/2006)
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of the biggest names in the Democratic Party, spent Monday in Minnesota -- campaigning for Democrats and signing copies of his new book. The atmosphere at the book signing was worthy of a rock star. (10/30/2006)
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