UpTake Editorial

Tom Rukavina, Running for Governor?

By Grace Kelly

While Tom Rukavina has not formerly declared, Tom spoke in the time sent aside for candidates for governor at a Minnesota DFL central committee meeting. Tom Rukavina is a DFL Representative to the Minnesota State House from Virginia. This a country of wide open spaces with many bars, a drinking culture. So it will probably not surprise you to find out that Tom Rukavina was driving erratically and was therefore cited for a fourth-degree DUI in 2004. Tom Rukavina totally cooperated with the Sheriff. In the next election, Tom Rukavina won by a higher percentage than before. Minnesota Brown described Tom this way:

State Rep. Tom Rukavina is one of the great characters of the Iron Range. I mean great in that he personifies our unusual culture rather well and that his heart is usually in the right place, too. (Minnesota Brown)

Tom Rukavina can champion surprising populist causes. Tom championed into law the requirement that alcohol be available to all legal-age buyers at the new TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota or that no alcohol at all be available. Previously, the U of M’s plan was just to offer alcohol in the premium seats.

“There was an overwhelming feeling in the Legislature that what the Board of Regents did was elitist,” Rukavina said. “If you can afford to sit in the premium seats, you can drink chardonnay, and if you sit in the cheap seats, you get water or pop … We didn’t think that was right.” (Uwire)

Tom Rukavina has Ventura like appeal that captures many media stories.