Republican candidate Struck drops out of race against Dorn

By Mark Fischenich
The Free Press

MANKATO April 10, 2006 11:30 am

— Karl Struck, a student and baseball player at Bethany Lutheran College, is out after less than two months as the Republican candidate for the state House seat held by Rep. John Dorn.
Struck announced to Republican activists at the District 23 endorsing convention Saturday that he’s decided he can’t run the aggressive campaign necessary to beat Dorn, DFL-Mankato, while also juggling his responsibilities as a student, student government leader, Bethany Vikings outfielder and worker in his father’s garden center business.
Republicans will reschedule their endorsing convention for a later date, but a pinch hitter for Struck has already stepped up. Mankato attorney Luke Robinson said Saturday that he is running for the seat and began introducing himself to party delegates.
Struck and Robinson have scheduled a joint press conference for Tuesday in the Hearth Lounge of Minnesota State University’s student union, the same place Struck announced his run on Feb. 23 to a crowd of college-age supporters.
Robinson grew up in Mahtomedi, came to Mankato to work in a local law firm and now operates a solo practice.
“We love the community,” Robinson said. “My wife and I are both from small towns, and we fell in love with it.”
Robinson said he will save for Tuesday’s news conference any discussion of issues and his motivation for running. But he said he’s had a long-standing interest in politics, participated in youth government programs prior to his high school graduation in 1993 and assumed he would run for office someday.
“It’s something that I had always thought about doing,” Robinson said. “It turned out the timing is right this time around.”
Dorn, a popular incumbent who regularly wins around 60 percent of the vote in reelection bids, hasn’t announced whether he will seek an 11th term in the House.
Delegates to the District 23B endorsing convention in St. Peter weren’t left completely without an agenda Saturday.
They, along with delegates from District 23A, unanimously endorsed former state lawmaker Mark Piepho for the District 23 Senate seat now held by the retiring Sen. John Hottinger.
Piepho, a Skyline resident who manages Piepho Moving and Storage, was unopposed for the endorsement.