mudflies

MUD FLIES FURIOUSLY

CHMIELEWSKI, LOUREY FIGHT CONTINUES

   ''BEWARE OF FLYING RHETORIC.'' That sign should have been posted in Minnesota Senate District 8 last week.
   The competition between state Sen. Florian Chmielewski and challenger Becky Lourey was already the most-watched race of Minnesota's primary season. It has become a bona fide brawl in the final days before Tuesday's DFL primary.
   In Lourey's case, voters were reminded that the state representative from Kerrick is liberal on abortion and flag-burning.
   But Chmielewski and some of his supporters got caught playing with the truth in the process.
   The campaign had begun with Chmielewski on the defensive. The eight-term senator from Sturgeon Lake was chastised by a legislative ethics panel for letting relatives misuse a state phone account last year.
   Lourey, 52, a three-term state representative from Kerrick, made restoring trust in public officials her theme and got the local DFL's endorsement. Chmielewski, 69, responded by trying to raise doubts about Lourey's ideology.
   Here's a rundown on the end-of-the-campaign charges:

Burning the flag

   --A handbill circulated in recent days by Chmielewski's campaign says Lourey ''voted for . . .(the) individual right to burn or desecrate the American flag.'' Analysis: True.
   Lourey opposed asking Congress to ban flag-burning. Chmielewski hopes that's a killer issue in District 8, which runs from Hermantown to Aitkin and Hinckley.
   ''The people here . . . will tell you the red stands for the bloodshed, the blue stands for the sky, the white stands for something,'' Chmielewski said. ''They really are emotional about it.''
   Lourey says she has to be true to free speech. ''That does not mean that I advocate desecrating the flag. I abhor it. I just believe that we have to support all of our freedoms.''

Abortion

   --Chmielewski's handbill said Lourey voted for ''taxpayer-funding of abortions.'' Analysis: Not really.
   The amendment to which Chmielewski says he was referring would have reinforced a prohibition that already existed.
   --In an interview Thursday, Chmielewski said the state's health-care program for the working poor, MinnesotaCare, funds elective abortions. Analysis: False.
   --Friday, Chmielewski said MinnesotaCare funds some abortions. Analysis: Not exactly.
   State law prohibits MinnesotaCare money from funding abortions, said the program's state director, Kathie Henry. But some MinnesotaCare recipients are also eligible for Medicaid. Under federal law, that program does fund abortions in cases of rape, incest or danger to the woman's life or health.
   Chmielewski said he was relying on information from the anti-abortion Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, which has endorsed him.
   The discussion did, however, elicit Lourey's acknowledgment that she personally supports public funding of abortion.
   ''I think procedures that are constitutional should be available to all people'' including those on state medical aid, Lourey said.

Highway funding

   --The handbill said Lourey voted to transfer rural highway funds to the Twin Cities area. Analysis: False.
   Thursday, Chmielewski said proposals to change a state funding formula in 1994 would have caused a net decrease in roadwork money to local counties.
   The same allegation went before Carlton County Attorney Marv Ketola in 1994, when it was leveled by a GOP rival for Lourey's House seat. Ketola concluded, ''There (would have been) no loss to any county; rather, a smaller increase.''
   Reminded of Ketola's decision, Chmielewski at first said he was unfamiliar with the details of the '94 discussions. At the time, he chaired the Senate Transportation Committee. Later, Chmielewski agreed the '94 proposal would have led to a smaller increase, not a decrease. Chmielewski said the formula change would hurt rural areas in future years.
   Lourey called the charge an ''absolute lie.'' For her part, what Ketola called a ''smaller increase,'' she called a ''substantial increase.''

Crime and public safety

   --The handbill said Lourey voted against ''three-strikes, you're-out'' sentencing. Analysis: Not really.
   Lourey said Chmielewski's referring to a vote against one version without discussion or funding provisions. She voted for other versions that became law, she said. Chmielewski said he would research her claim.
   --Chmielewski's camp said he was endorsed by statewide police organizations. Analysis: False.
   He was endorsed by the Minneapolis police union; Lourey was endorsed by a statewide police lobbying group. A leaflet printed by the Minneapolis union said Chmielewski was backed by the Minnesota Police Pension Council, but that group's former secretary-treasurer says it's defunct.
   Chmielewski said he doesn't know whether the council is still active, and assumed the original leaflet was correct.

Down to the wire

   ''I understand people struggling with how they're going to vote,'' Lourey said. ''I'm for free speech. I'm pro-choice. I support all our freedoms including the right to hunt and own guns. If people want to vote against me on those . . . at least I put them out there for discussion.''
   She scolded Chmielewski for ''fibbing and stretching the truth.''
   Chmielewski said Lourey was ''splitting hairs'' and that his literature is aimed at showing voters Lourey's true colors.
   ''This is the biggest ideological difference between two Democrats,'' Chmielewski said. ''We're running hard in different philosophical directions.''