Mr. Dahle Goes to St. Paul

Kevin Dahle is a big fan of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the 1939 James Stewart flick about a political novice who’s convinced he can make a difference in the U.S. Senate. But if he wrote a screenplay about his first five months in the state Senate, the Democrat from Northfield says it would look more like Groundhog Day, the 1993 comedy in which Bill Murray lives the same day over and over.

Dahle, 48, dove headfirst into his new job after winning a special election on Jan. 3 for the state House seat in District 25 representing the Northfield area. The high school civics teacher, stand-up comedian and former teachers union president says educating himself on the complex issues that come before the Senate has been his greatest challenge.

“I didn’t come with an agenda—that I’d change health care, for example. It was more like, ‘This session, let’s get familiar, see how it works and not bite off more than I can chew,’” he says.

After a whirlwind four-week campaign, Dahle was elected after Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed the office-holder at the time, Republican Tom Neuville, to a district judge position. Dahle’s win gave Senate DFLers a 45-vote majority, which they used to their advantage in February when overriding Pawlenty’s transportation bill veto.

“I think it also gave some people a lot of confidence that with the gains that were made in ’06, there was still some desire for that change in ’07-’08,” Dahle says.

When he returns to the Capitol in January, no longer a freshman, he aims to tackle bigger issues. “For me to actually say I’ve made a difference,” says Dahle, “I think that’s when I can say I’ll give myself an A or a B.”

Always the teacher.