Rep. Kurt Bills waves to Republican delegates in St. Cloud today (May 18) after winning the Republican Party endorsement for U.S. Senate. Behind Bills is wife Cindy and some of the couple’s four children. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

If U.S. Senate campaigns officially begin with a candidate kissing a baby, Rep. Kurt Bills’ campaign is underway.

Bills, 42, placed a smacker on the cheek of 9-month-old Kaylene Hensley of Alexandria today in St. Cloud shortly after winning the Republican Party’s endorsement for U.S. Senate.

Bills performed the campaign ritual before the blue backdrop of his campaign’s converted school bus, now sporting slogans like “Let’s Bring Econ 101 To Washington” and a mock stop sign proclaiming a stop to government spending.

He said he and his family intend to “rattle around” the state in the bus campaigning. The back of the bus may get an upgrade from a church group to make it more comfortable for Bills, his wife Cindy, and the couple’s four children.

Prior to his father speaking, Bills’ son Hayden could be seen peeking and smiling from the bus driver’s window.

“We’re going to come out of this race united,” Bills told some 2,000 Republican delegates at the St. Cloud Civic Center today after defeating former state representative Dan Severson and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Pete Hegseth for the endorsement on the second ballot.

Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge echoed the sentiment, saying voters crave noncareer politicians — Bills is currently serving his first year in the House.

Rep. Kurt Bills kisses 9-month-old Kaylene Hensley of Alexandria shortly after winning the endorsement. Steve Hensley, the baby’s father, said he hadn’t meant for his daughter to steal the press conference. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

Republican delegates, said Shortridge, would readily and quickly rally behind their newly endorsed U.S. Senate candidate.

Bills indicated that if elected to the U.S. Senate he would serve no more than two terms.

“Yes, I would,” he said of setting a private term limit.

Bills argues his campaign will be able to compete with Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a popular, well-funded candidate.

“I think we’ll be able to raise millions of dollars,” Bills said.

Bills also spoke of networking and grassroot politics as sustaining his election bid.

When asked whether his political beliefs were too conservative for the average voter, Bills argued the number of endorsements that he has received shows he has political appeal to a wide base.

He had no intention of modifying his political stance on the issues for the general election, Bills indicated.

In his speech before the convention, Bills spoke of “Obamanomics” and Klobuchar’s support of perceived failed economic policies of the president.

Bills has taught high school economics for 15 years.

He explains his entrance into politics as stemming from questions his alarmed students have asked him concerning the ballooning national debt.

State Rep. Kurt Bills briefly spoke to the media after winning the endorsement while standing before his campaign bus. A high school teacher by profession, Bills and his family will be taking to the road this summer in the bus. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

Although Bills did not offer any details on the fiscal policies he would champion in the Senate, he indicated that the federal budget plan offered by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin constituted a sound approach.

“I think the biggest factor in his win was the fact that he understands economics,” said Apple Valley resident Kevin Ecker, Senate District 57 secretary. “In this economy and with this level of debt and overspending, that’s exactly the skill-set we need in Washington. If he can teach economics to his students, then perhaps he can help the other politicians in Washington understand that you don’t spend more than you have.”

Minnesota Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin argued that Klobuchar has been doing a good job.

“Senator Klobuchar has been a leader in the Senate and has a record of getting things done for Minnesota,” he said. “Nearly two-thirds of her bills have been with Republicans and she has consistently put Minnesota first to cut red tape and deliver results for our families and businesses.

“She’s Senator Effective for Minnesota,” Martin said.

Rep. Kurt Bills of Rosemount has won the Republican U.S. Senate endorsement, besting two other main challengers to take on Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar this election. Bills's daughters stand behind their father. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

Bills won in the second ballot at the Republican State Convention in St. Cloud today May 18, garnering some 1,353 votes — breaking the 60 percent endorsement mark — against contenders Pete Hegseth’s 316 votes and former state representative Dan Severson’s 439 votes.

“I have been teaching economics for 15 years, and I am running to bring ECON 101 to Washington,” said Bills, a high school economics and government teacher at Rosemount High School.

“Americans can’t afford another four years of Obamanomics. Amy Klobuchar has voted in lock step with (President) Barack Obama, and the result is a sluggish economy, more debt, and too much unemployment,” Bills said.

Asked what the first thing he would do as the endorsed U.S. Senate candidate, Bills said he would teach his first-hour advanced economics class at Rosemount High School.

Bills has been teaching the class through the legislative session and Senate campaign.

The Republican’s endorsed candidate was elected to the Rosemount City Council in 2008 and defeated Phillip Sterner for the 37B seat in 2010.

“All three people are quality men,” said Rep. Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake, of Bills, Severson, and Hegseth.

Dettmer, who supported Hegseth, a former student,  thought the first ballot would be closer.

It wasn’t.

Bills missed a first-ballot endorsement by only 146 votes.

Both Hegseth and Severson have indicated they would abide by the endorsement.

Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Pat Shortridge and Deputy Chairwoman Kelly Fenton said in a statement that Minnesota conservatives are united behind Bills and are willing to work hard on his behalf to ensure they send someone to Washington who is willing to make the tough decisions necessary to getting our country back on track.

Chris Gerlach

But a former neighbor of his changed all that.

After longtime Dakota County Commissioner Will Branning said he would not seek another term on the County Board, the wheels started spinning for Gerlach.

Gerlach said in a phone interview today that he had mentally prepared for not running for an office this fall, but after talking to a number of people who encouraged him to run for County Board now he’ll be doing a different kind of preparation – for a County Board campaign.

The open seat also is being sought by Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland, who announced her County Board bid last week on the same day Branning said he would retire.

With Hamann-Roland and Gerlach in the race, two very well-known and experienced political leaders who know how to win campaigns are pitted against each other.

“Both Mary and I have a long history in public service,” Gerlach said. “Both of us feel strongly that the county has been well run, and we both feel interested in continuing with that.”

He said he expects it to be a very competitive race.

“This is a way to continue to use what I have learned at the State Capitol,” he said of knowing how to get things done in the Legislature. “I think it would be useful to have someone who knows who is pulling the levers at the State Capitol.”

Gerlach, who said when retiring from the state Senate that he was doing so to spend more time with his two young children and managing his business (Eagan-based Capitol Direct), said in his release today that he was ready to retire from the high level of intensity and partisan politics of St. Paul, but was not ready to end his service and relationship with the people of Apple Valley and Rosemount.

He called working at the State Capitol very intense and a full-time job.

Gerlach was elected as a Republican to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1998 and to the state Senate in 2004. While serving in the legislature, Gerlach filled numerous leadership positions, ultimately as assistant majority leader and majority whip.  Most recently he was chairman of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee with jurisdiction over the regulation of financial institutions such as banking, insurance and real estate.

Gerlach is a native of Apple Valley who said he grew up on the same street where Branning lived. He and wife Shelli have two young children in Apple Valley schools, and he owns and operates a direct marketing and bulk mail processing company located in Eagan.

Rep. Kurt Bills, R-Rosemount, speaks with convention goers at the Republican Party State Convention today in St. Cloud. (Photo by T.W. Budig)

Convention-goers heard from the three main candidates — Rep. Kurt Bills of Rosemount, former state representative Dan Severson of Sauk Rapids, and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Pete Hegseth of Stillwater, and a lesser candidate — prior to the start of balloting at about 1:30 p.m.

In the first ballot, Bills won 1,135 votes to 501 for Severson and 450 for Hegseth.

But it was not enough for Bills to gain a first ballot endorsement — 1,281 votes are necessary — so balloting will continue.

Speaking prior to the speeches, Bills, pausing off the convention floor, indicated that his campaign had momentum.

“It’s going to tough to stop the force,” said Bills, an economics and government teacher at Rosemount High School.

The Bills campaign has a school bus parked in its hospitality room at the St. Cloud Civic Center painted with themes from the campaign, such as Bills bringing Economics 101 to Washington.

Bills discounted the idea that his fortune was linked to the strength the supporters of Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul could exert at the convention.

Paul has endorsed Bills.

“Follow the endorsements,” said Bills, arguing the breadth of the endorsements that he has gained reveals a broader base than just the Ron Paul contingent.

Rep. Keith Downey, R-Edina, a Bills campaign official, argued that Bills occupation as a teacher — a nontraditional kind of Republican candidate — would resonate with voters.

In his speech to the convention, Bills argued that the political forces confronting Republicans and the country of overspending and bloated federal government extend well beyond Democratic U.S Senator Amy Klobuchar.

“Trust me, Amy Klobuchar is not the giant we are facing,” he said.

“We need integrity — a leader,” said wife Cindy Bills, addressing the convention about her husband.

Hegseth, like the other two main candidates, showed a video in which fellow soldiers testified  to Hegseth’s fitness for office.

Hegseth announced his candidacy in March, shortly after the 31-year-old captain returned from deployment with the Minnesota National Guard in Afghanistan.

Addressing the convention, Hegseth joked that he had been in some dangerous places, but one of the riskiest is the space between Klobuchar and a photo opportunity.

He saved some of his fire for some of his fellow Republicans.

“They go to Washington and they vote like Democrats,” Hegseth said of the perceived failure of some Republicans in staying true to party principles.

Severson brought the gaudiest display before the convention, a contingent of dozens and a line of American flags.

Severson, echoing a main them of his campaign, argued the future of the Republican Party is linked to the growing minority population in Minnesota.

In order to win statewide races, Republicans need to pick up the votes of “New Americans” in the inner cities, he explained.

And the party can do this, Severson  argued.

T.W. Budig can be reached at tim.budig@ecm-inc.com or facebook.com/sunthisweek.

Chris Gerlach

“While I am ready to retire from the high level of intensity and partisan politics of St. Paul, I am not ready to end my service and relationship with the people of Apple Valley and Rosemount,” Gerlach said. “This is a great opportunity to continue working for my community and our shared values like low taxes and clean, safe neighborhoods.”

Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland announced she would be running for the District 7 seat last week the same day Branning announced his retirement decision.

Gerlach said he plans to use the knowledge and experiences gained at the state level to enhance the overall effectiveness of the County Board.

As far back as 1996, Gerlach said he was made aware of the importance of local government action when he served as an appointed community member to the Dakota County Human Services Advisory Committee.

“Decisions made at the local levels of government have a tremendous impact on our daily lives,” he said in a release. “It is so important and we all need to pay attention and get involved in what our local governments are doing to improve our quality of life.”

Gerlach was elected as a Republican to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1998 and subsequently to the state Senate in 2004. While serving in the Legislature, Gerlach filled numerous leadership positions, ultimately as assistant majority leader and majority whip.  Most recently he was chairman of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee with jurisdiction over the regulation of financial institutions such as banking, insurance and real estate.

Gerlach is a native of Apple Valley. He and wife Shelli have two young children in Apple Valley schools, and he owns and operates a direct marketing and bulk mail processing company located in Eagan.

Kurt Bills of Rosemount

Three Republican candidates are vying to take on the Democrat: Rep. Kurt Bills of Rosemount, former state representative Dan Severson of Sauk Rapids, and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Pete Hegseth of Stillwater.

Bills, 42, teaches economics and government at Rosemount High School and was elected to the House in 2010 by defeating a first-term Democrat, winning about 58 percent of the vote.

Bills and his wife Cindy have four children, and operate a home daycare.

Politically, Bills has ties to the Ron Paul presidential campaign.

He has stood in as a Paul surrogate, introduced the Texas congressman at rallies, and has been endorsed by Paul, expected to speak at the state convention following the U.S. Senate endorsement contest on Friday.

His rivals for endorsement view the Paul connection as an important factor in the endorsement.

Bills, at a recent Republican U.S. Senate debate in Inver Grove Heights, expressed a degree of resentment at the suggestion he walked lockstep with Paul.

“I’m a Kurt Bills Republican,” he said.

Bills depicts himself as offering a compelling, personal story.

Raised in a blue-collar home, he worked construction as a young man to pay for college and has been a card-carrying union member since the age of 18, he explains.

Bills views unions as monopolies and supported the so-call Right-to-Work amendment.

But he speaks of the Republican Party needing to be a party of addition, not subtraction.

He promotes a “big tent ideology,” one offering political sustenance to union members, college students and others.

One of Bills’ campaign issues is monetary policy.

He introduced legislation in the House designating that gold and silver coins be legal tender in the state of Minnesota.

Like his endorsement rivals, Bills depicts federal spending as running amok.

He cites the dismay of his high school students in learning about the massive federal debt awaiting them as part of his motivation for running for the U.S. Senate.

“These kids are literally scared,” he said.

He wants to change that, Bills explains.

Bills beckons to his classroom experience in campaign speeches, speaking of “bringing Economics 101 to Washington” and saying teaching was like campaign door knocking in reverse.

The Bills campaign did not return phone calls for comment for this story.

Carleton College Political Science Professor Steven Schier foresees the Republican U.S. Senate candidate facing an uphill struggle in defeating Klobuchar.

It will be a popular, well-financed Democratic candidate running against a poorly known, under-financed Republican candidate, he argued.

“End of story,” Schier said.

Although there will be two proposed constitutional amendments are on the November ballot and it’s a presidential election year, Schier suggested these dynamics will be a wash.

“I just don’t think lightning will strike in Minnesota,” he said.

And it’s certainly not likely that lightning will strike Amy Klobochar, Schier said.

All three Republican candidates have indicated that they would abide by the endorsement.

Farmington School District teachers will spend the summer learning to use iPads before every student is provided one next year.

School Board members unanimously approved spending $303,684 for a three-year lease of 630 iPads for teachers, the first phase of four in a district initiative to give every student an iPad by the third trimester of 2013.

“The possibilities are endless, what students can do with it,” Farmington School Board Member Melissa Sauser told Sun Thisweek.

Interactive textbooks, video, and applications designed to conquer learning disabilities are just some of the ways the iPad can help the district customize education to meet every student where they are at and encourage them forward, Sauser said.

Superintendent Jay Haugen has promoted iPads as helping the district develop a customized learning plan.

To help teachers learn how to use iPads for instruction, a four-day workshop is planned for early August. Teachers also will have constant access to an online support portal.

School Board Chair Tera Lee said student test scores and achievement has risen in other districts where students are provided iPads or iPods.

Approved funding will allow the district to purchase eight carts that are like mass-charging stations for iPads that remain in the building overnight, School Board Member Tim Burke said.

He added students will be expected to bring their iPads home daily and return with them fully charged the next day.

The district is planning that all classrooms will have access to an iPad when school starts next fall.

If all goes as planned, every student will have an iPad by the third trimester of 2013.

Laura Adelmann is at laura.adelmann@ecm-inc.com or facebook.com/sunthisweek.