Election brings back memories

• John Blatnik

As we kept hearing about the now historic Oberstar-Cravaack race, the length of time Democrats Jim Oberstar and John Blatnik have held the Eighth Congressional seat in Washington kept coming up. So we began to wonder just who was in the seat in 1946 when Blatnik first won. He ended up there until 1974, when aide Oberstar took over until losing the election Tuesday.

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As we kept hearing about the now historic Oberstar-Cravaack race, the length of time Democrats Jim Oberstar and John Blatnik have held the Eighth Congressional seat in Washington kept coming up. So we began to wonder just who was in the seat in 1946 when Blatnik first won. He ended up there until 1974, when aide Oberstar took over until losing the election Tuesday.

Blatnik defeated William Alvin Pittenger. Who was he? He was born on a farm in Indiana and began practicing law in Duluth in 1912. He served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1917 to 1920 and was elected to Congress twice, serving from 1929 to 1933. He ran unsuccessfully in 1932 but was elected again in 1934. He was defeated in 1936 but served again for four terms before losing to Blatnik.

The Two Harbors paper in 1946 screamed a lot like today’s paper, with Lake County bucking a wider trend. It also reported on the beginning of a 64-year hold on the Congress seat in District Eight.

Tags: election 2010, opinion, elections