Caucuses are 1st heat for Minn. governor candidates

Published 9:35 am Monday, February 1, 2010

Minnesota could field a football team from all the candidates angling to be governor. And a baseball team. And a hockey team, too, with a few left over for the bench besides.

In all, 30 candidates — most of them chasing the Democratic or Republican nominations — think they should fill the state’s top office after Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty steps down.

The political endurance test reaches its first official checkpoint Tuesday as citizens head to precinct caucuses. Those gatherings around the state feature nonbinding preference ballots, which will establish a pecking order and could prompt some candidates to drop out.

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The caucuses are the opening stage in a party endorsement process that will prove more decisive for Republicans than Democrats, given that some big-name DFL candidates intend to press on to a primary election this summer regardless of what happens this spring.

The state of play in each party:

Republican Party

The pressure is on to keep a governor’s office the GOP has held for all but four of the last 20 years — the party’s sole base of power in a state government otherwise dominated by Democrats.

Two seasoned state legislators lead a pack of eight Republican candidates.

Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall, a former House minority leader, and Rep. Tom Emmer of Delano, Seifert’s former deputy, have emerged as the favorites for party endorsement through fundraising and courtship of influential activists.

Freeborn County caucuses Tuesday

What: Freeborn County DFL Party Precinct Caucus

Where: Moose Club, 1623 W. Main St., Albert Lea

When: Registration at 6:30 p.m.; caucus to start at 7 p.m.

What: Freeborn County Republican Party Caucus

Where: Albert Lea High School, 2000 Tiger Lane

When: Registration at 6:30 p.m.; caucus to start at 7 p.m.

Both are pinning their campaigns on the endorsement due to be decided May 1, vowing not to press ahead without it.

For them, caucus night is a vital first step: Attendees are the GOP faithful who can move on to local party conventions and eventually become delegates to the state party convention.

The GOP candidates embrace a similar platform. They promise to hold the line on — or cut — taxes, to shrink the size of government and to keep to conservative doctrine on issues like abortion and gun laws.

So the fight has largely come down to personalities and pasts.

Seifert is cultivating a nose-to-the-grindstone image: a lifelong Minnesotan who grew up on a farm and spent time as a public school teacher and college admissions counselor. And he’s campaigning as someone who knows the ins and outs of the job he’s seeking. Only 37, he has 13 years of government experience, including a few at the helm of House Republicans.

“What I’ve stressed to delegates is we need someone who is principled and electable, someone who can raise the resources,” Seifert said, noting his fundraising lead among Republicans.

Emmer, 48, is a lawyer by trade and has served in the House since 2005. He’s not afraid to ruffle feathers to press a point, saying voters crave the blunt talk he’s known for. And he plays up the fact he’s a hockey dad in a hockey-crazed state.

He finished second to Seifert during an October GOP straw poll, although the slate of candidates was much different then. Emmer said he won’t read too much into Tuesday’s results either.

“We’re in the second period of the game now,” he said, drawing a hockey analogy. The four weeks that follow will bring far more clarity to the race as state delegates are chosen, he said.

State Sen. David Hann of Eden Prairie concedes that he lags Seifert and Emmer in support, but said he believes delegates will see him as the fallback option if his opponents stall.

“I don’t think either one of them has the support to win. There is a pathway for us to be successful,” Hann said, adding, “We’re going to stay with this until it becomes clear that either we don’t have any chance at all or until we can see our way to win.”

Also in the race are former state Rep. Bill Haas, environmental activist Leslie Davis, frequent candidate Bob Carney, contractor Philip Herwig and businessman Peter Roess.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Democrats are eager to get back into the governor’s office after a generation on the outside. They’ve lost the last five elections. The last time Minnesota voters went for their party’s gubernatorial nominee was in 1986.

Fourteen candidates have lined up for the job, including former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and a host of current and former state legislators.

In this race, party activists won’t have the final word in the contest when they endorse at their state convention in Duluth in April.

At least three serious candidates — former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza of St. Paul, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and Dayton — plan to keeping running until the primary. Dayton isn’t even asking for the party’s support. Both he and Entenza have family money to fall back on, giving them an edge once the race shifts beyond the party gatekeepers.

The Democrats aren’t too far apart on the issues: They talk of putting more people to work, spending more on public schools and overhauling the health care system. Most include state tax increases in their plans to mend the state’s tattered budget — with proposals ranging from higher income taxes for the wealthy to sales tax on clothing and surtaxes on all incomes.

“We need the money,” said Dayton, whose plan would raise taxes on households making $136,000 a year and up.

A common theme is disdain for Pawlenty and other Republicans for refusing to consider higher state taxes. State Rep. Tom Rukavina bought cable-TV commercials to show himself rescuing a mother and son who are struggling over “Sugar-Coated Pawlenty Flakes” for breakfast. As a group, the Democrats blame Pawlenty policies for pushing up local property taxes and eroding Minnesota’s storied quality of life.

“The real problem is the economy,” said state Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook, who heads his chamber’s Taxes Committee. “Until we can get the economy turned around, there’s not revenue to do things that Minnesotans want.”

The candidates have spent months traveling the state, reaching out mainly to Democrats who are likely to attend precinct caucuses and be elected delegates to the state convention.

“People are very worried about right now and about into the future, jobs and what’s going to be happening for their families,” Kelliher said.

Also running are former state Sen. Steve Kelley, state Sen. John Marty, state Rep. Paul Thissen, artist Ole Savior, frequent candidate Felix Montez and one-time congressional candidates Scott Raskiewicz and Peter Idusogie.

Independence Party

The Independence Party held the keys to the governor’s mansion more recently than Democrats, but hasn’t had any luck since Jesse Ventura bowed out in 2002.

But the IP has been a differencemaker in recent gubernatorial campaigns. The party ran left-of-center candidates in the 2002 and 2006 elections that Pawlenty barely won, with those candidates taking more votes than the margin between he and his Democratic rival.

This time, a couple of ex-Republicans — retired Army officer Joe Repya and public relations executive Tom Horner — are among five candidates seeking the nomination, which brings public campaign subsidies and automatic ballot access. Publisher Rob Hahn, retired businessman John Uldrich and frequent candidate Rahn Workcuff round out the field.

The IP will also conduct a straw poll, but the party allows its members to attend virtual caucuses online for the entire month of February.