Byline: Rochelle Olson; Staff Writer
In the piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room five days after Sept. 11, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge watched her 83-year-old father, Norbert Reichgott, lead a packed room in 'God Bless America.'
Then she joined her father, who was in a wheelchair and needed an oxygen tank, in a duet of 'I Wish You Love.'
He died early the next morning, the third of what would be four deaths in the small family over a short period. Her mother, Diane Reichgott, had died months before. Her brother-in-law committed suicide in 1999. A beloved cousin's death followed them all. And they all took place shortly after Reichgott Junge lost the DFL primary for attorney general.
The losses - personal and professional - taught the high-achieving Reichgott Junge a lesson and led to the centerpiece issue in her campaign for Congress: universal health care. 'Sometimes you have to give up the life you planned to know what life had planned for you,' she said, in what has become a refrain. 'I needed to be there for my family.'
Since leaving the Senate, where she was the first female assistant majority leader, she continued the work she had done for years as a lawyer at General Counsel Limited, working for some of the state's biggest companies, including 3M, SuperValu and Carlson Companies as general counsel. 'I like to help people solve problems,' she said. 'I don't want to go to the courtroom to litigate.' She's also hosted a radio show, helped other female candidates and worked on the board of the Greater Twin Cities United Way. Now she wants to represent the Minneapolis-centered Fifth District, running in the competitive DFL primary on Tuesday.
The same stories of personal loss and memories she shared in an interview for this story turned up within a couple of weeks in campaign commercials.
As might be expected of someone who traveled in 1971-72 with the singing group 'Up With People,' she does 7 a.m. elliptical machine workouts at Lifetime Fitness near her home to gear her up for long days.
Reichgott Junge's ambition surfaced early: She was the valedictorian of her Robbinsdale High School class of 1970 and she shared the valedictory spot at St. Olaf College. She has been married for 13 years to McLeod County Attorney Michael Junge. He keeps a home in Hutchinson and has one in New Hope.
She admits to mistakes early in her legislative career. 'I thought I could pretty much change the world all by myself and I let people know about that when I got to the Senate,' she said. Five years into her Senate tenure, colleagues took her aside and told her the value of being part of the team. She quickly became Senate majority whip and then assistant majority leader.
Reichgott Junge, 53, said it's time for more Minnesota women in Congress.
She said women changed the focus of debate in the state Senate. Early childhood matters, for one, used to be considered women's issues. She describes her record as a 'strong progressive one' of fighting for children, health care and the protection of families.
From her years in the Senate, she says, she's most proud of the increased protections for families from domestic violence, sexual assault and child sex assault.
Blois Olson, copublisher of Politics in Minnesota, has known Reichgott Junge for 10 years. He says she is 'hyper-organized.'
'That overzealous goal to achieve has turned off people over the years,' Olson said. 'It's made her in many people's eyes less authentic. Frankly, I think women get unfairly tainted when they're hyper-achievers versus men. 'You want somebody who wants to achieve going to Congress because it's all about who's going to get something done.'
Rochelle Olson - 612-673-1747
EMBER REICHGOTT JUNGE
Pets: Miniature schnauzer, Molly
Favorite movie: 'Forrest Gump'
Comfort food: Ice cream
Hobbies: Ballroom dancing
Good book: 'Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics,' by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
Three people she'd invite to dinner: Eleanor Roosevelt, Nadine Blacklock (her best friend, the nature photographer who died in a car accident in 1998), former President Bill Clinton.
MORE ON THE FIFTH DISTRICT
This is the last of four profiles of the main candidates in the DFL primary election for Congress in the Fifth District, which includes Minneapolis and suburbs.
Tuesday: Keith Ellison
Wednesday: Mike Erlandson
Thursday: Paul Ostrow
Today: Ember Reichgott Junge
Also running are Andrew Vincent Favorite, 40, Gregg Iverson, 61, and Patrick J. Wiles, 46.
