Linda Runbeck (R)	31%
Betty McCollum (D)	48%

Race Recap:

In the 4th District Congressional race, voters were faced with replacing widely respected environmental leader, 12-term Congressman Bruce Vento (D).  Minnesota voters clearly care about the environment, and this race presented a real choice between the consistently anti-environment State Senator Linda Runbeck (R), Tom Foley, an Independence Party candidate with no environmental record, and LCV-endorsed State Representative Betty McCollumÆs (D) strong environmental record.  Contrasting the significant differences between the three candidates on the environment, the Dirty Dozen campaign against Runbeck helped elevate the environment as a key voting issue in this race and a major reason for RunbeckÆs defeat.

RunbeckÆs votes against clean air and clean water, her votes to store hazardous nuclear waste at Prairie Island, and her affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Committee (ALEC), an ultra-conservative legislative group that advocates for polluters to police themselves, have helped demonstrate to voters that she does not share their commitment to environmental protection. 

Key Polling Results:

Working with Greenberg Quinlan Research, Inc., LCV polled district voters September 17-20 to evaluate the salience of environmental arguments. 

• In September, 40 percent of district voters said the environment is a primary factor in their voting decision.
  
• RunbeckÆs votes to allow the storage of radioactive hazardous waste at Prairie Island raised serious doubts among 60 percent of likely voters.  Her adoption of ALECÆs environmental policies raises serious doubts among 57 percent of likely voters.  RunbeckÆs designation to the Dirty Dozen raised serious doubts among 73 of Democratic voters. 

Dirty Dozen Campaign Activities:

Linda Runbeck was named to the Dirty Dozen on October 10, 2000, during a news conference in St. Paul.  LCV spent $182,000 primarily in direct mail and telephone calls to inform voters of RunbeckÆs poor environmental record.   On October 24, LCV launched a five-piece mail program that sent 231,000 mailings to 82,000 households.  The mail campaign included two mailings to a block of independent voters exposing RunbeckÆs votes to store hazardous nuclear waste at the Prairie Island nuclear waste plant and her membership in ALEC, casting her as out-of-step with the more moderate and progressive voters of the 4th District.  To shore up support for McCollum, LCV sent three persuasion pieces to Democrats that contrasted RunbeckÆs poor environmental record with the strong record of Betty McCollum, and Tom FoleyÆs lack of an environmental record.  Endorsing McCollum, both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press pointed to her leadership on environmental issues and characterized RunbeckÆs philosophies as too conservative for the 4th District.