Interview with Andy Luger, candidate for Hennepin County Attorney

Andy Luger grew up in New Jersey and later attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, graduating Summa Cum Laude.  He graduated in 1980, and went to work building the Parker Coltrane PAC, a political action committee focusing on electing black leaders in the South.  After attending Georgetown Law, he eventually got into criminal justice, becoming an Assistant US Attorney in Brooklyn, intentionally focusing his efforts on cases no one else wanted.  Since moving to Minnesota in 1992, he has been busy, prosecuting big white collar criminal cases and building a private practice focused on the concept of complete democracy – every lawyer in the firm has a voice, including on the salaries distributed around the table.  Now working hard to obtain more responsibility and less annual pay, Mr. Luger says that the campaign has been a real life lesson for his two kids about what is really important.

I sat down with Andy on Sunday to discuss the campaign and various issues.  Thoughtful and knowledgeable about the issues in his race, Mr. Luger was also kind enough to speak slowly so I could keep up with my notepad – extra bonus MNCR points for that.

MNCR:  Your group at Camp Wellstone (early 2005) contained some rising stars in DFL politics. How did the event influence your decisions at the beginning of the campaign?

A. Luger:  I had already decided to run before Camp Wellstone.  But what it really instills is the belief that yes, you can do this.  It energized me, being surrounded by people with the same energy, the same passion for public service.  It’s lonely when you decide to run for office – friends are great, and their encouragement is great, but they’re not feeling the same things you are.  The biggest thing was asking about finding a campaign manager – I met Gia in February of last year, and she started soon after, sending me to ward conventions for the local and mayoral races.MNCR:  Later on, you actively sought the DFL endorsement for this office.

A. Luger:  Very early on, we had to decide whether to seek and whether to honor the endorsement, and in both cases, the answer was “yes.”  As a result, we started working hard to build our support list in 2005 going into the precinct caucuses and county convention in early 2006.  June 3rd (the day of the Hennepin County DFL Convention) was really one of the best days of my life.

MNCR:  What sets this campaign apart from previous campaigns for this office?

A. Luger:  I think the visibility of this race is up this year.  We had a thousand delegates show up to the county convention, and people in the DFL are really excited about the race.  Since the convention, it’s unique because I’m running as a DFL-endorsed candidate against another DFLer and no Republican.  No Green.  No Independent.  So in November, Democrats, Republicans, everyone in Hennepin County will be deciding which Democrat they want to vote for.

MNCR:  Hennepin County cuts a pretty wide swath across the state – you have Minneapolis, obviously, but also suburbs and some pretty small towns.  What issues really resonate in this sort of district?

A. Luger:  Regardless of the location, I’ve seen two general themes.  One, people want to move forward, not backward.  Two, people want a prosecutor, not a politician.  They want someone who has hands-on experience in this kind of office.

In terms of substantive issues, the primary issue is gang violence.  It goes beyond just residents of Minneapolis – if you live in Minnetonka and work in Minneapolis, you’re still worrying about the gang violence on our streets.  Most people I’ve talked to recognize that Minneapolis is the lifeblood of the county and of the state, and we need to turn this situation around.

MNCR:  So that’s an identification of the problem – how does County Attorney Luger go about doing that?

A. Luger:  First, we need to start with the understanding that gang violence is a form of organized crime.  We need to address it as we would address organized crime.  When the Feds looked at the mob as an organization instead of prosecuting one crime here, one criminal there, that’s when they started having success against the Mafia.  We need to go after the organization instead of each crime as an isolated event.

Second, there are some basic tools that we don’t have right now, namely a local Witness Protection program.  There’s no money for it right now, but other communities are building them and we need to do the same thing.  I’m not going to ask a witness to come down to the county courthouse to testify against gang leaders, and then send that witness back on the bus to their listed address where they live with their mom.  If we’re going to go after these organizations, we need to be able to protect those witnesses.

Third, I’m going to beef up the gang units, and focus more legal resources on prosecuting these cases effectively.  One area we’ve been neglecting is life after prison – 97% of convicted felons eventually get out, and we need to make it possible for them to turn their lives around if the way to.  We have a high recidivism rate right now, and there’s more we can do to reduce it.  There’s federal money available for these programs – the Bush Administration has put a strong focus on them because they work.  Money spent on preventing crime and reducing recivism is money that doesn’t have to be spent building prisons.

MNCR:  You mentioned earlier that this race is different, given that the only candidates in the race are DFLers.  How does that change the dynamic?

A. Luger:  I think it’s generally a positive thing -  people want a debate about experience and about the issues.  It’s a lot less about ideology and labels as in other partisan races.  It’s frustrating to me when I see a friend who’s running for office and gets hit with a label instead of getting to talk about the real issues.  Here, there’s less of that, so we’re able to get to “What will you do” rather than fighting over labels.  It’s led to some very fruitful and informative discussions with Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.  A lot of people have told me specifically that “party labels don’t matter to me in this race” and I think that’s a good thing.

MNCR:  You’ve just been sworn in as County Attorney.  What does County Attorney Luger do similarly to his predecessor Amy Klobuchar, and what does he do differently?

A. Luger:  The same – I’ll work with school administrators and school boards on truancy and safety issues in schools.  I worked on Amy’s ’98 campaign, and that’s one area she was and is passionate about, and I’ll continue that.  Different – there are a number of things, but initially I’ll work to build a partnership with law enforcement to dismantle the gangs, and I’m committed to personally prosecuting cases on occasion.

MNCR:  What/Who is your favorite…
Ice Cream Flavor: Easy – Oreo.
Baseball Player:  Mickey Mantle.  I have his autograph.
Local Political Figure:  Wellstone.  He said what he believed, and he stood by it whether you agreed or not.  He truly cared about the issues he talked about.
National Political Figure:  Mario Cuomo.  I’ve never been in the presence of a politician so inspiring.  He had a way about him of caring honestly and intellectually about the issues.  Brilliant and caring at the same time, and always discusses issues through the prism of family.  His speech at the 1984 DNC is my favorite political speech.
Leisure Activity:  Music
Political Blogs:  I read you, of course, MN Publius, MNBlue, Minvolved, some conservative ones. I read KvM from time to time, and Wind Beneath the Right Wing.

MNCR:  You mention Cuomo – how does he compare to another former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, especially given Giuliani’s position regarding the 2008 GOP presidential nomination?

A. Luger:  Cuomo was the smartest politician I could imagine – he could quote philosophers and art historians in context and really connect them to current issues.  Giuliani is more of a tactician, and a good one at that.  But I knew Rudy mainly as a prosecutor, not a politician.  I’m really don’t know what’s going to happen there.

MNCR:  [I didn't actually ask this question, but Mr. Luger notified me of this travesty before we parted]  Why are you running?

A. Luger:  First is the standard reason, I think – I care about the criminal justice system, and I want to make a difference.  But second, I’ve always liked it when candidates inspired me.  Most people feel that doesn’t happen enough anymore.  One thought was to try to inspire people, and there have been points along the campaign trail where that’s happened.  The excitement we’ve seen shows that we’ve inspired people to get involved in politics in a positive way.

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Following great success in fundraising, the Luger campaign is making a TV ad buy, starting this week – watch for the ads on cable and later on broadcast TV, and of course keep an eye on your ballot in November for Andy Luger.