Arlan Stangeland | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMinnesota's7th district | |
| In office February 22, 1977 – January 3, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Bergland |
| Succeeded by | Collin Peterson |
| Member of theMinnesota House of Representatives | |
| In office 1966–1975 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arlan Inghart Stangeland (1930-02-08)February 8, 1930 Fargo, North Dakota, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 2013(2013-07-02) (aged 83) Lake Lizzie,Minnesota, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Virginia |
| Children | 7 |
Arlan Inghart Stangeland (February 8, 1930 – July 2, 2013) was anAmerican politician fromMinnesota. As aRepublican, Stangeland served in theUnited States House of Representatives from February 22, 1977, to January 3, 1991. He lost his campaign for reelection in the1990 House election and subsequently retired from politics.
He attended grades 1–8 at Oak Mound School inKragnes Township, Minnesota and graduated fromMoorhead High School inMoorhead, Minnesota in 1948. While growing up, he was active in the Oak Mound 4-H Club, Oak Mound Parent-Teacher Association, and the Oak Mound Community Club. Following high school, he worked as afarmer raising Purebred Shorthorns and grew his family. He married Virginia (Trowbridge) Stangeland and fathered seven children, two girls and five boys. Stangeland was a long-time member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Stangeland was adelegate to the Minnesota State Republican conventions from 1964 to 1968.
Stangeland served on theBarnesville, Minnesotaschool board (1966–1975) and then as a member of theMinnesota House of Representatives (1976–1977) before being elected to theU.S. House of Representatives as the Representative fromMinnesota's 7th congressional district in aspecial election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofRobert Bergland.
Stangeland sought election as aRepublican to the95th congress in a special election on February 22, 1977, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofRobert Bergland (D), who left the House to becomeU.S. Secretary of Agriculture. In the Republican primary on February 8, Stangeland defeated Richard Franson, "afrequent candidate who lived inMinneapolis, far from the district,"[1] with 97 percent of the vote.[1]
Stangeland ran against theDemocratic–Farmer–Labor Party nominee Michael J. Sullivan, a formerWalter Mondale aide, in the general election. During the campaign one controversy erupted whenRoman CatholicbishopVictor Hermann Balke encouraged voters in theDiocese of Crookston to vote for Sullivan, whom he described as "very pro-church", and against Stangeland, whom he described as having a "very negative" voting record in the state house.[1] Stangeland campaigned "on the theme that the heavily rural northwestern Minnesota needed another farmer, like Mr. Bergland, in Congress"[1] and won the election, receiving 71,251 votes to Sullivan's 43,467.[2] (Stangeland also defeated minor candidates Jim Born of theAmerican Party and independent candidate Jack Bibeau).[1]
Stangeland's victory was a political upset. TheNew York Times headline the day after the election read "Minnesota victory elates Republicans" and attributed Stangeland's success to "his lifelong residence in the district, his roots as a farmer in a mostly rural area, and his identification as aLutheran in an area that is predominantlyProtestant".[2] and said Sullivan had been "handicapped by his Roman Catholic faith and his reliance on the support of name Democrats rather than grass-roots organizations."[2]
In January 1990, it was reported that Stangeland had made several hundred long-distance phone calls from 1986 to 1987 on his Minnesota House credit card to and from the residences of a female lobbyist from Virginia. Stangeland admitted that he had made the calls, acknowledged that some of them may have been personal, but denied having a romantic relationship with the woman.[3][4][5]
Nonetheless, his popularity sharply dropped and Stangeland lost the election toDemocratic State SenatorCollin Peterson, who had run against him twice before, nearly defeating him in 1986.[5]
Stangeland died peacefully at his home on Lake Lizzie in Northwestern Minnesota, outside of Detroit Lakes, on July 2, 2013.[6]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Representative fromMinnesota's 7th congressional district 1977–1991 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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