LETTER: Dille enjoys public service, but avoids politics as usual

From Sen. Steve Dille
District 18, R-Dassel
This letter is to acknowledge and thank the editors of the Hutchinson Leader and Litchfield Independent Review for their complimentary statements about my legislative performance and for their encouragement to run for governor.

My present four-year term in the Minnesota Senate ends next year. I will soon decide if I will run for another term, another office, or retire.

Most experts say you need a lot of campaign money to run for public office, especially for a statewide position. The first problem I would have is that I am a poor fundraiser.

The last fundraising I did was in 1988. It was called “Steve Dille’s Country Cookout” and cost only $5 per person. Since then I’ve depended on voluntary contributions.

I’ve always admired U.S. Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin who served over 30 years. He raised no campaign money. His only campaign expenses were the filing fee to get his name on the ballot and postage to send donations back to his contributors.

He regularly presented his Golden Fleece Award to highlight inappropriate government spending. I developed a similar practice called the Silver Fleece Award that I presented to government agencies and private business with unfair spending. I presented the last one to the tobacco industry in 2008 for fleecing the public out of their wealth, health and lives.

Although my campaign costs are not as low as Sen. Proxmire’s, they have almost always been the lowest of any successful Republican candidate for the Legislature. Each year I’ve donated unused campaign funds to various charities in my district.

If I did run for governor, I doubt I would change my fundraising practices which would be viewed negatively by the campaign experts.

Another problem I have is my decision making process.