Election endorsements: Our choices in House Districts 38B, 42A, 44B and 48A
October 30, 2018 Link to story
Star Tribune Editorial Board
District 44B: Patty Acomb
Legislators with prior service in nonpartisan local government are often strong performers at the State Capitol. That’s the experience that three-term Minnetonka City Council member Patty Acomb would bring if she’s elected to an open Minnetonka seat. She gets our nod over Republican Gary Porter to succeed retiring DFL Rep. Jon Applebaum.
DFLer Acomb, 53, is knowledgeable not only about the many ways state and local governments interact, but also about natural resource management, environmental protection and the coming clean energy revolution. Her career included staff positions at the state Department of Natural Resources and Hennepin County Environmental Services; she has also worked on energy policy for the National League of Cities. As a breast cancer survivor, she also has a keen interest in health care policy.
Her candidacy was motivated by dismay over the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting. Acomb’s family owns guns and enjoys hunting. She aims to strike a balance between protection of recreational use of firearms and prevention of mass shootings.
Her opponent also has experience in elective office — in North Dakota. Porter, 70, moved to Plymouth from Fargo early last year after the death of his wife and the sale of his business, Boppa’s Bagels. He served two terms in the North Dakota House in the 1990s, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and served four years as executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party.
Porter would bring fresh perspective to Minnesota policies. He’s appalled by Twin Cities traffic and says — unlike most of this state’s Republicans — that he would support a gas tax increase as a “last resort” to improve highways. But he does not seem ready to hit the ground running in St. Paul. Acomb does.
