Congressional Candidate Phil Krinkie Part 3
This is Part 3 of an interview I did with Republican Congressional Candidate for Minnesota’s 6th District, Phil Krinkie. (My preview of it can be found here , Part 1 here., & Part 2 here .)
Some members of the MN Legislature that I’ve talked to, feel that you walked out on some important issues this last session by resigning from the tax committee. What happened?
Here’s his story on the tax committee. Around July 1st, he met with Gov. Pawlenty and was given the order to have the tax working group come up with a total revenue amount. Something he had been proposing for some weeks beforehand. Then they could get together with the other groups and have actual revenue numbers.
He was told that all offers were off the table so far by the Governor. There was a “clean slateâ€. So he started from square one with the ‘fee’ and racinos out of his mind.
This was the beginning of the special session, and Phil had already planned to attend a family reunion for his wife’s side, but did stay home to do his work and missed the reunion.
On about the 7th, with out any notice, not a call, a note, a memo, nothing, the Governor sat down with the House and Senate and put the Cigarette fee and Racinos back on the table.
He then remembers that Speaker Sviggum asked him, “ Why have you negotiate if you don’t support tax increases?â€
At that point, he made the decision to go a separate way from Sviggum and Pawlenty. He felt the confidence and trust in him had diminished. He decided that ‘rather than get pushed off the cliff this time, he’d jump’. It wasn’t the first time he has butted heads with members of his own Party, and like before, the other Republicans decided he was in the way, not helping.
He did have an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. When he left the tax committee, ‘he felt like the goalie that had just let in the winning goal.’ He has worked 6 months, day and night, on a tax bill he thought was positive. It would have reduced taxes on millions of Minnesotans, small businesses, and others. It was very hard for him to leave, but he was not going to get it done. The other members of his Party’s leadership were not interested in his way of doing things during the special session.
Looking back, he feels he should’ve stuck it out, but the people above him in the Republican food chain were going to get what they wanted regardless.
He also had a big struggle with the Health and Human Services bill. He felt betrayed that his own Party leaders would force Republicans to choose between a tax increase (the fee) and fetal pain legislation. It was a no win situation for Republicans, either you’re for taxes, or against Pro-Life legislation. He voted against it, but he knew it would pass anyways (my words)- ‘it was a protest vote’. He just can’t believe the Governor would have put them in that position.
You recently moved out of the 4th District and into the 6th. Does that mean you are out of your House District and couldn’t run there again?
Actually where he lives now, Lino Lakes, is in his current House District. He has represented parts of Anoka County for 12 years through redistricting. He has a House District that encompasses parts of the 4th and 6th Congressional Districts.
He could stay in the MN House if things don’t work out, but he’s focused on Congress right now.
Have you been in the military?
No.
He was one of those Viet Nam era kids with a draft number of 296 and was in the first lottery. It was a very stressful time for college-aged guys like him, sitting around a TV with 30 other guys waiting. If your number was called, you knew exactly where you were going. It was not a “see the world tour.†He wasn’t picked, but he would have gone if selected.
His dad served. And his brother was in the Navy during Viet Nam, but he was not out at sea, he was on a landing craft running supplies and troops ashore, so he saw some action.
He feels there are 2 types of veterans.
- The kind that walk around talking about it all the time, telling you all about what they did.
- The kind that may or may not even tell you they are a veteran, but never talks about what they did.
I know you’re not planning for this, you’re focused on winning, but what will you do if you are not successful winning the Republican endorsement for the 6th?
He’s focused on winning the Congressional endorsement and then the seat. But if things don’t go as planned, he could run for his current MN House seat again. He is not making any decisions until after the endorsement this Spring. But there is someone getting ready in the event that he does win the 6th endorsement so his MN House seat will have a good replacement. (that is normal in Politics, there is always someone waiting in the wings)
If he does not get the endorsement, he will support the candidate and the Republican Party. He knows that we have a lot of heavy lifting ahead of us next year, with all of the elections coming up. Most importantly he’s focused on reelecting Governor Pawlenty, but also the US Senate seat, Congress, the State Senate, House, County Commissioners, City Councils, on down to School Boards. They are all very important.
What would you like to say to voters in the 6th that makes you different than your fellow Republican candidates and better suited to represent them?
He really wants to encourage people to do their due diligence. Ask questions of the candidates. Probe them.
Do your research on us, don’t just listen to us. Don’t take what we say at face value. Check to see if we are who we say we are. Look at our records.
Most importantly, choose a candidate for real reasons, not on promises or campaign hype.
He feels he is the candidate with the best record of proving he is the best candidate to represent the 6th Congressional District.
