Duluth School Board member Harry Welty said Monday he would seek election to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Welty, a Republican, will challenge Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party incumbent Tom Huntley for the House District 7A seat.

Predicting Republicans will again control the Minnesota House, Welty said it's important for Duluth to have a representative from the majority party.

A fiscal conservative and a moderate on social issues, Welty said that, if elected, he would focus on public education and improving the region's business and job climate.

He is no stranger to political campaigns and will model his service in St. Paul after other Republican lawmakers who represented Duluth's eastern neighborhoods before Huntley was elected in 1992, he said.

Welty has made at least three unsuccessful bids to win a seat in the Legislature -- challenging longtime incumbent Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-Tower, in 2000 and twice challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Jaros, DFL-Duluth in the 1970s, he said.

Welty, 51, is a former history teacher. He has served on the School Board since 1995. He is married to Claudia and has two children. His daughter, Keely, is a student at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and his son, Robb, is a senior at Duluth East High School.

Welty's campaign is being managed by former state representative Jim Gustafson and Duluth School Board member Mary Cameron