Although voters returned most Iron Range DFLers to office, Republicans seized control of both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature for the first time in 38 years.

And that outcome, combined with the loss of Rep. Jim Oberstar in Washington, will significantly diminish the influence of Iron Range politicians in St. Paul.

GOP candidates snatched 16 Senate seats from Democrats and picked up at least 12 House seats in a stunning turnaround.

Among the losses were long-serving senior Democrats, including Bernie Lieder, a 26-year veteran who chairs the House Transportation Committee, and Iron Range Rep. Loren Solberg, who has served 28 years and heads the powerful Ways and Means Committee,

Locally, State Rep. David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, received 11,668 votes (or about 66 percent of the vote) to best Republican challenger Jim Tuomala, who got 6,021 votes, in the race for the District 6A House seat.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, tallied 21,556 votes (or about 63 percent of the vote) to defeat Republican Jennifer Havlick, who collected 12,632 votes, in the Senate District 6 race.

Other DFL candidates returned to office included District 5A Rep. Tom Rukavina, District 5B Rep. Tony Sertich and District 5 Sen. David J. Tomassoni,

Even those DFL legislators who did win re-election, will lose influence serving in the minority, and that’s especially true on the Iron Range, where Rep. Tony Sertich had been in line to serve as House Speaker, but now will be lucky to remain as minority leader. In addition, Sen. Tom Bakk will no longer serve as Tax Chair, and Rep. Tom Rukavina will be out as chair of the Higher Education Committee.

Although Dill survived the tide that swept several of his DFL colleagues out of office, he didn’t take his victory lightly.

“I got the message,” he said. “People believe in some instances that our leadership has led us too far to the left and they want us to govern more from the center,” said Dill.

Although Dill will take those concerns into account, he doesn’t want to preside over the dismantling of state government. “We can’t just chop the legs off of government,” he said. “I’m going to do my very best to look for opportunities to reform government and not forsake people in need or kids that need a good education.”

Bakk said he was surprised by the outcome. “I thought we would lose 10, 11 or maybe as much as a dozen seats in the Senate,” said Bakk, who added his party would be in the minority for the Senate for the first time since 1972. “Republicans won every seat that was in play plus a couple more.”

Iron Range legislators who survived the purge didn’t come away unscathed, added Bakk, who said most carried fewer voters this election. “The last election I was at 71 percent and was down to 63 percent this year,” said Bakk. “Rukavina was at 71 percent and historically has been about 80 percent. We all gave up some ground.”

Bakk chalked it up to the struggling economy. “I’ve felt for a long time that people just don’t feel good,” said Bakk. “There’s just so much uncertainty and they want to take it out on somebody.”

The party shift in the Legislature clears the way for bills long bottled up, such as a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and a photo identification requirement at the polls. Republicans are also expected to take a new approach toward health and welfare spending.

Bakk said his goal will be to protect his district and minimize the damage. “The Republicans don’t like Duluth and the Iron Range.”

While voters turned control of the Legislature over to Republicans, they put a Democrat in the governor’s chair, narrowly electing Mark Dayton over Republican Tom Emmer. Dayton led Emmer by just under 9,000 votes, a margin that will trigger an automatic recount.

That brings risk, said Bakk, who said a court challenge of the governor’s race could delay the swearing in of the new governor for months. In the interim, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty would remain governor and would have a Republican-controlled Legislature to do his bidding.

“Between the time a new governor is sworn in, they could run the table,” Bakk said.

Dill said the split reflected voters’ view that a more conservative approach is needed on some issues, but also signaled unhappiness with the increase in property taxes and cuts to education that have occurred during Gov. Pawlenty’s administration.

Meanwhile, Dill said he will continue to be effective even though a Republican-controlled Legislature means a loss of committee chairmanships for himself and other DFLers.

“I don’t pick fights down here,” said Dill, who said he served successfully in a Republican-controlled House in 2003. “I try to find areas of consensus.”

Bakk, who chaired the Senate Tax Committee, and Sertich, who was the House Majority Leader and was poised to becomed the House Speaker, will also lose power.

However, Bakk is a likely candidate for the Senate Minority Leader. Senate DFLers had been scheduled to caucus Thursday afternoon to make their selection while the House DFLers were slated to caucus later the same day.

The biggest challenge for the state will be dealing with a projected $6 billion deficit. While Republicans have argued for deeper spending cuts to balance the budget, Dill promotes a balanced approach that combines cuts with new sources of revenue for the state.

One potential avenue is additional gambling opportunities in the state. According to Dill, Dayton is willing to consider that option and Republicans have lobbied for racetrack gambling. Another source of revenue might be derived from closing tax loopholes exploited by businesses conducting transactions in foreign countries.

Bakk agrees that an expansion of legalized gambling is likely with a racino or a casino in the Twin Cities being the most likely scenarios. That won’t affect Fortune Bay Resort Casino, he said, but would have an impact on Native American casinos at Hinckley and Shakopee.

While the revenue from gaming may help ease the state’s budget woes, it won’t deliver significant relief. Bakk said Minnesotans should probably prepare for multi-billion-dollar budget cuts and big increases in property taxes if Republicans prevail.

“Local Government Aid may not survive as a program,” Bakk predicted.

Although Republicans made huge gains in this election cycle, they might just as swiftly fall out of favor with voters.

“If statistically in two years we still have unemployment like we have now and property taxes keep creeping up, the pendulum which swung far right will swing back,” Bakk concluded.