Oberstar emotional as he departs after 36 years in Congress

“I go in peace of mind and heart but with sadness,” Rep. James Oberstar told reporters at a press conference in Duluth Wednesday as he tried to hold back tears. “I loved the opportunity to serve the people of this district.” Oberstar, the longest serving member of Congress in Minnesota’s history, was defeated by Republican Chip Cravaack by a margin of fewer than 2 percent.

“It’s been an extraordinary honor and privilege to serve the disparate interests and the regions of this congressional district and to the wonderful people, those that support you and those with dignity and respect, take an opposing view,” he said, “after each of those 18 elections I’ve said, ‘Thank you.’ I say ‘thank you’ again today.”

Polling showed a tight race between Oberstar and Cravaack especially the weekend before the election, when a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll showed Oberstar up by a single point.

Just a day before the election, the Cook Political Report rated the race a tossup.

Oberstar’s typical margin of victory in past elections has been above 30 percent.

Cravaack picked up endorsements by local and national anti-abortion groups, a move dubbed partisan by Oberstar’s campaign, which defended his anti-abortion position.

Oberstar was targeted by anti-abortion and Republican groups with independent expenditures reaching $82,000. Some of the ads these groups ran contained information that was questionable, including the claim that health care reform — which Oberstar voted for — will fund abortion.

But Oberstar told reporters it was likely turnout that tipped the election in Cravaack’s favor.

“There’s no one factor. We’ll have to look more closely at the voter turnout,” he said. “In St. Louis County, turnout was down by 20,000 votes. I think with those votes, the outcome likely would have been different.”

He noted that everybody on his campaign “worked themselves to the fringe.”

Ultimately, he blamed himself for the loss. “In this arena you look into the mirror and say, ‘It was me,’ but there is nothing I would take back, and I can’t change and wouldn’t change any of the votes I cast this year.”

Oberstar recounted the successful projects he’d brought to the district and said he was proud that many will stand even after his successor is gone.

“I had to stand up for the right things, and I knew that in the health care vote lay the seeds of widespread dissension,” he said noting that he’s run on the platform of “Health Care for All” since 1974. “This was our opportunity.”

On his future, Oberstar said he will “reflect for a while and then look for something in the public sector.”