Mesabi Daily News
Editorial

Two lawmakers — one in Washington and one in St. Paul — who have represented the Iron Range for considerably different length of tenures, but both with a strong passion for mining and jobs in the region, are no longer on the job as new sessions of the Legislature and Congress begin.

Former state Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Pike Township, did not seek re-election in November and resigned after serving 16 terms. Former Republican 8th District U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack, who stunned former Rep. Jim Oberstar in the heavily Democratic 8th District, was defeated in his re-election bid.

They were political parties apart on most issues. But when it came to mining and the jobs created and those that should have already been created, they were always solid in their support for taconite and copper/nickel/precious metals ventures.