Owatonna’s Jensen faces DFL primary challenge from first-time candidate

Aug. 04--First-term state Sen. Vicki Jensen, DFL-Owatonna, has competition for her District 24 seat -- from challengers on the left and right.

Jensen will face Rich Bailey, who registered as a Democrat for this election, during Tuesday's primary to determine who gets the DFL nod for her seat in the November election.

"I want to keep doing this, and working on the issues I started to work on when I was first elected," Jensen said.

An insurance broker by trade, Jensen served on the Owatonna School Board prior to her 2012 campaign to serve in the Minnesota Senate. Since then, Jensen has served on school finance and transportation committees within the Senate.

Jensen sponsored several bills attempting to secure funding to expand Highway 14 to a four-lane stretch of road between Rochester and New Ulm during her time in the Senate, sponsored legislation to form more private-public education partnerships for school districts, as well as expand criminal sexual assault charges for persons in authority positions over children.

She was named the First Term Legislator of the Year in 2013 by the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and earned awards from the coalition and the League of Minnesota Cities in 2014 and 2016. Jensen was recognized this year for her work on business development infrastructure funding during the 2016 legislative session.

While Jensen is a well-known Democrat in her area, her primary opponent Bailey is not. The Faribault man said he registered as DFL to run in this election because he couldn't run as an independent candidate.

Bailey has worked in government in some form or fashion since 1988. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served in Desert Storm and left the service in 1994. Since then, he's worked in prisons, for the Department of Motor Vehicles and Minnesota State Patrol, and recently left a 15-year stint as a police officer in Northfield for an office job with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Story continues below video

"I've had a lot of experience and insight in how government works," he said.

His main reason for running this year is to work on state budgets and cut down on government waste.

"As you get through life, and you see money being spent unwisely, it bothers you," he said. "You do what you can to streamline the system, improve the system."

Though Bailey agrees with many DFL positions -- he's pro union and against the state's Right to Work policies -- he agrees more with conservatives on gun control and abortion.

With little name recognition, Bailey may face a tough campaign against Jensen, a former chair of the Steele County DFL.

The winner of the primary race will face Republican challenger John Jasinski, who has served as Faribault mayor since 2008.

District 24 stretches from Faribault to Waseca and includes Owatonna. The district has leaned conservative over the past two years -- its two state representatives are Republican. Both John Petersburg, R-Waseca, and Brian Daniels, R-Faribault, are up for re-election this fall.

___

(c)2016 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)

Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.