G-SL teens grill Minnesota gubernatorial candidates

A bevy of Minnesota gubernatorial candidates are spending quality face time with a local audience that’s not quite old enough to vote.

Glencoe-Silver Lake students in Tom Schoper’s 10th-grade social studies class have met with DFLer Paul Thissen and Republican candidates Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert. Up next? Matt Entenza, Margaret Anderson-Kelliher, R.T. Rybak, Chris Coleman, Mark Dayton and John Marty.

“I’m working on Tom Bakk,” Schoper said. “We’re also on working on Pat Anderson.”

Schoper’s goal is to book as many candidates in the crowded 2010 governor’s race as possible. “You know, I used to do this over in McLeod West, too, so it’s just kind of a continuance, I guess,” he said.

Candidates give their young audience a stump speech, then answer students’ questions. When Schoper’s class met with Seifert Tuesday, many of the questions could generally be boiled down to a single theme: As governor, what are you going to do for me?

“Their questions tend to relate to their own experiences,” Schoper said. “I think that’s the way it is for most people.”

The questions Tuesday ranged from “Are you going to change the drinking age?” (Seifert: “My short answer is ‘no.’”) to “What’s your favorite color?” (Seifert: “Blue.”)

For more on this story, see the Leader’s Oct. 29 print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)