WINONA, Minn. – State Senator Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, was accused of letting Winona projects fall by the wayside in the state Legislature, including state funding for a new Winona jail. Miller’s Democratic challenger, Sarah Kruger, told a voter forum that Miller sponsored a jail bill and reveled in positive local reaction, then went to St. Paul and voted against funding the $5 million project. Said Kruger: “My opponent authored and introduced a bill for updating the Winona County Jail, and he voted against his own bill.” Miller responded that Kruger had her facts wrong. Indeed, Miller wrote a bill proposing money for the jail, but acknowledged that the bill didn’t go anywhere. Kruger’s responded that Miller didn’t fight for the funding. In effect, she said, he let the ball drop. In her door-to-door campaigning, Kruger has made the same charge regarding a new building to replace two aging classroom buildings at Winona State. Miller, she said, supported the project to local fanfare but went to St. Paul and let it get lost in the legislative process. Miller hit back, calling Kruger “incredibly dishonest” in attempting to discredit his accomplishments.

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