Steve Sarvi was expected to announce plans this morning to seek the DFL nomination to challenge incumbent John Kline, a Republican, for his 2nd District congressional seat. Sarvi was scheduled to hold a news conference at the State Office Building in St. Paul.

Sarvi, 42, was elected mayor of Watertown three times and has 13 years’ experience as a city administrator in rural and suburban communities. Sarvi also is a decorated Army veteran who returned from Iraq in July after serving there with the Minnesota National Guard 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, also known as the Red Bulls, for 16 months — the longest tour of duty for any National Guard unit in the country. Sarvi also served in Kosovo in 2004.

In the past, Sarvi has criticized Kline for what he called his “far right-wing agenda of the Bush administration instead of values like equality, justice, neighborliness, and service — values Minnesotans and Americans used to represent throughout the world. It’s time for politics that reclaim these values in the Second District. It’s time to change course.”

Kline, elected in 2002, is serving his third term in Congress.