Woodbury Bulletin

On Saturday area Republicans gathered at Oak-Land Junior High in Lake Elmo to endorse candidates for District 56 races for the state Legislature.

Republican delegates endorsed Lillie Suburban Newspapers co-owner Ted Lillie as their choice to run for the Senate District 56 seat against DFL incumbent Kathy Saltzman. Lillie, of Lake Elmo, beat out challengers Dustin Endres and Kelly Parker, both of Woodbury for the Republican endorsement.

The Woodbury Bulletin is not part of Lillie Suburban Newspapers.

Lillie said he plans to campaign on fostering an “environment in which our private sector can create sustainable jobs and help contribute to our progress of putting Minnesotans back to work.”

In District 56A, which includes Lake Elmo and a portion of Woodbury, Kathy Lohmer beat out Erik Ogren in a hotly contested race for the Republican endorsement. Lohmer, of Lake Elmo, garnered 74 delegate votes to Ogren’s 47.

Lohmer will run again this fall against incumbent Julie Bunn. In 2008 Bunn beat Lohmer by slightly less than a 5 percent mergin.

In District 56B, which includes most of Woodbury and Landfall, Andrea Kieffer earned the Republican endorsement unopposed. Kieffer, a Woodbury resident, will challenge incumbent Marsha Swails.

Bunn and Swails were first elected in 2006 and won reelection in 2008. Saltzman was elected to a four-year term in 2006. She said she plans to focus on her reelection campaign after the legislative session comes to a close.

“I will be focused for the next two months on helping bring legislators together to solve the budget deficit, grow jobs and seek reform,” Saltzman said. “But I do look forward to election season.”