Karl Struck is just 21 years old and was in diapers when his likely opponent was first elected, but the Bethany Lutheran College junior isn’t naive about what he’s getting into.

Struck officially announced his campaign Thursday to win the state House seat held for 20 years by Rep. John Dorn. Struck knows, however, that beating Dorn is a major challenge for Republicans after working on Louise Dickmeyer’s failed effort in 2004.

“We kind of face an uphill battle,” Struck told a crowd of mostly college-age supporters at the Minnesota State University student union. “But it’s going to be fun.”

While the rural St. Peter native’s previous electoral runs involve only school-related campaigns — both successful — for student body president at Bethany and at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School, he’s far from a political neophyte. Struck goes to the Norseland Lutheran Church attended by Allen Quist, a former state lawmaker and Republican-endorsed candidate for governor, and Howard Swenson, a five-term state representative.

“I worked on Howard’s campaign,” Struck said. “I’d always do the parades and that sort of thing with him.”

Struck has also been active in the College Republicans and said the success of his campaign for Dorn’s seat will depend in part on energetic support from members of that organization’s chapters at Bethany and MSU. He also hopes to attract volunteers from campus pro-life organizations and other socially conservative student groups.

Dorn said he hasn’t decided whether to seek another term, a decision he traditionally makes after the legislative session. Because the 2006 session, which begins Wednesday, is starting so much later that usual, Dorn said he will need to break that tradition and make a decision sooner.

The former Mankato East High School English teacher has been an unbeatable opponent for a wide range of Republican candidates ever since knocking off incumbent state Rep. Mark Piepho in 1986. No Republican has held Dorn to less than 56 percent of the vote since his first re-election — a squeaker in 1988 when he won a rematch with Piepho.

Struck said working on the Dickmeyer campaign taught him lessons about how to win in District 23B, which is made up of Mankato, a small portion of lower North Mankato and nearby townships. The foremost lesson was that even a candidate like Dickmeyer, who was well known among civic and business leaders, needs to spend a lot of time knocking on doors, Struck said.

“We’re going to start out hitting every one once,” he said of the homes in the district. “I would like to do it twice.”

He also promises surprises and hinted that his campaign already has a very creative idea for next fall’s MSU homecoming parade. And everything from color schemes to campaign theme songs will be non-traditional.

“It can’t be your normal run-of-the-mill bore-fest that a lot of these state representative campaigns turn into,” he said.

But ultimately, Struck said he intends to win on his ideas — small government, opposition to tax increases, more accountable schools, road-focused transportation funding, working toward the elimination of abortion and support for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

And there will probably be a lot of campaign talk about the value of having a young, vigorous representative with fresh ideas.

“(Dorn) might be a good grandpa but not a very good representative in my eyes,” Struck said.