FARGO -- Three challengers aim to unseat Rep. Collin Peterson in the U.S. House race in the Minnesota 7th District.
Mostly rural and conservative, the 7th District is Minnesota's largest, covering 35 western counties -- including Moorhead and Clay County.
The party-endorsed candidates -- Peterson, Republican Lee Byberg and Glen Menze of the Independence Party -- have squared off in two half-hour debates this week, one on Prairie Public and another Wednesday on Minnesota Public Radio.
Peterson, 66, is a Detroit Lakes Democrat seeking an 11th two-year term. He has emphasized his chairmanship of the House Agriculture Committee and counts deficit reduction, the next farm bill and flood control as top platform items.
"I don't think we can afford to be starting any new programs," he said in the MPR debate Wednesday.
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Lee Byberg is a 48-year-old Republican from Willmar running his first campaign for office. He's put a focus on fiscal issues, saying the national debt is the biggest challenge for the U.S. since World War II. He has pushed for lower taxes, less regulation and scrutinizing every federal agency for spending cuts.
"It's really generational theft," Byberg said of the national debt -- which he said is $100 trillion if entitlements are included.
Glen Menze, 51, of Starbuck, is trying to knock off Peterson for a third time, after running as a Republican in 2008 and 2000. He's tried to run as the straight shooter in the race, tagging the other party candidates as supporting energy taxes -- claims they both deny.
"I think we need a reliable vote that says that's not where we need to go," said Menze, who's pledged better constituent service and town-hall meetings.
After a more calm debate Tuesday on Prairie Public, Peterson and Menze had it out on MPR over a vote the incumbent made in favor of a cap-and-trade bill earlier this year. Peterson said it was a strategic maneuver to negotiate exemptions for agriculture emissions.
"Votes mean things," Menze countered.
Byberg also pushed back against Menze's claims he had lobbied in support of carbon regulations, saying science doesn't show climate change is man-made.
"I don't believe in global warming. I don't believe in cap-and-trade," he said.
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Retired engineer and ex-state lawmaker Gene Waldorf, 74, of Grey Eagle, is mounting an independent campaign for the post. He's run as a fiscal conservative seeking to shrink government spending by opposing further stimulus and taxes and backing steep cuts.
Members of Congress are paid annual base salaries of $174,000.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
