Rep. Sabo Calls It a Career
Roll Call Staff
Rep. Martin Sabo (D-Minn.) announced Saturday that he will retire at the end the 109th Congress instead of seeking a 15th term, as he previously said he would.
“It’s time to move on,” he said in a statement. “In my gut, I know the time is right.”
The 68-year-old Congressman’s announcement quickly set off a barrage of interest among potential candidates to succeed him in his heavily Democratic seat and on the Appropriations Committee.
Many Minnesota political observers believe that Sabo’s chief of staff, Mike Erlandson, who surrendered the chairmanship of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party last year, is the early frontrunner.
“It’s a solid Democratic district so the question will be who will get the nomination and win the primary,” said Jim Farrell, one-time spokesman to the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). “I know Mike Erlandson is oft-talked about as a successor for that seat so I would think he would have the advantage.”
Erlandson confirmed in an interview Friday evening that he hopes to succeed Sabo in the Minneapolis-based 5th district.
Other potential contenders, according to Minnesota Democratic sources, include: Peter McLauglin, who recently lost the Minneapolis mayoral contest; Sharon Sayles Belton, a former two-term Minneapolis mayor who lost to Mayor P.T. Rybak; state Sens. Scott Dibble and Satveer Chaudhury; state Rep. Keith Ellison; Minnesota House Minority Leader Margaret Anderson Kelliher; Julie Sabo, the Congressman’s daughter and a former state Senator; Minneapolis City Council Majority Leader Scott Benson; and City Councilmembers Lisa Goodman and Gary Schiff.
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (D), a professor at the University of St. Thomas, opened a campaign office and was challenging Sabo at party precinct caucus, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Republicans are not expected to seriously contest the 5th district, which gave Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) 71 percent of the vote in the 2004 presidential election.
Minnesota and national Democrats said they were surprised and saddened by the news that the 44-year public servant was leaving elective office.
“For his nearly 30 years in Congress, Martin Sabo has provided expertise and insight on crucial issues from national security to economic security,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “In his tenure as the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, Congressman Sabo has worked tirelessly to strengthen the security of our nation. From Chairman of the Democratic Study Group to Chairman of the Budget Committee, he has always been a leader in our Caucus. His knowledge and commitment has earned him the respect and trust of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
“He will be missed,” Pelosi concluded.
For his part Sabo said in prepared remarks that he will continue to “fight for peace and for more responsible budget policies” during the remainder of his term, adding that he’s “looking forward to having more time for other things.”
Sabo, a ranking member on an Appropriations subcommittee, briefly led the Budget Committee, ascending to the chairmanship in 1993 but relinquishing the gavel in 1995 after Republicans won control of the House.
While chairman he helped pass the largest deficit-reduction package in history, which led to surpluses at the end of former President Bill Clinton’s administration.
The son of Norwegian immigrants, Sabo was first elected to the Minnesota state House in 1960 at the age of 22. He served as Speaker from 1969 to 1973 and was sent to Congress in 1978.
A pet issue of Sabo’s is economic disparity. With regularity he has unsuccessfully introduced an Income Equity Act, which puts a cap on the wages of corporate CEOs.
Sabo is an avid baseball fan and did not let his passion for the game lie while serving in Congress.
He has managed the Democrats in the Annual Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game for 20 years, and while his team has lost more than it has won, Sabo will head back to Minnesota with the coveted Roll Call trophy he won in 1994.
It’s too soon to determine who will succeed Sabo as manager, although Erlandson, who worked the game for Sabo for many years, could be a contender for that job as well.
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