Local sugar industry officials pledged Wednesday to continue working with the Bush administration on trade policy differences in the wake of Tuesday's election results.

"We have said all along that no matter who ends up in Washington, we have to work with them," said Nick Sinner, executive director of the Red River Valley Sugar Beet Growers Association.

Echoing Sinner's comments was Kevin Price, director of government affairs for Moorhead-based American Crystal Sugar.

"That's always been our strategy and will always remain our strategy," Price said of working with the administration.

Sugar became a regional election issue after sugar beet growers and factory workers started vocally criticizing in May the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Local sugar growers say the trade pact, which Congress is expected to consider approving early next year, would damage the sugar industry by giving foreign countries tariff-free access to an additional 100,000 tons of sugar.

Last month, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry vowed in a letter to Rep. Collin Peterson to scrap the pact if elected.

In a pre-election visit to Moorhead, Vice President Dick Cheney said the administration will be "very sensitive" on sugar.

While industry officials declined to say how beet farmers may have affected the election in the Red River Valley, they were encouraged the candidates talked about sugar.

"What was heartening out of the whole process was that sugar found its way on to the radar screen of both of those campaigns," said Dave Roche, CEO and president of Minn-Dak Farmer's Cooperative.

While losing to President Bush nationwide, Kerry appeared to make some small gains in historically conservative sugar-growing counties in western Minnesota.

For instance, Bush carried Norman County by 7 percentage points in the 2000 election. In 2004, he lost by 4 percent.

Diane Ista, who farms sugar beets near Ada, Norman's county seat, said she does not think Kerry's CAFTA stance had much effect in the traditionally Republican county.

"I just think it was hard for them to pull the lever," she said of GOP sugar growers. "I think they voted for their party philosophy instead of a single issue."

In Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, Kerry finished 4 percentage points higher than Democratic candidate Al Gore did in 2000, though he still trailed Bush, said Peterson, who won re-election Tuesday in the 7th District.

"So I think Kerry did better because of the position he took on sugar and people being unhappy with Bush pushing CAFTA," said Peterson, whose district is the nation's largest sugar producer.

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