Minnesota Gov Race Wide Open
Historically, Minnesota's governor's mansion has tended to be occupied by moderates. This year's race though features a sharply partisan field.
The Minnesota gubernatorial primaries have concluded with a somewhat unusual result, a sharply partisan field. The Governor’s mansion has in the past tended to be occupied by moderates, from moderate Republican Arnie Carlson, to the bombastic independent Jesse Ventura, to the conservative yet innovative Tim Pawlenty, who has opted not to seek reelection. The field pits the tax cutting Republican, Tom Emmer, against the “tax the rich” (this is literally his slogan) former U.S. Senator, Democrat Mark Dayton. In proper Minnesota fashion, the independent Tom Horner fills out the field. Independents almost always pull significant portions of the electorate in Minnesota. Dean Barkley garnered 15% of the vote in the infamous Coleman vs. Franken senate battle, which dragged on for nearly a year.
The aggressively conservative Tom Emmer was a relative unknown statewide when GOP hopefuls began their campaigns last summer, Marty Seifert, the Minnesota House Minority Leader began as the presumptive favorite. Through the winter though, Emmer’s stock rose, and he emerged with the GOP nomination on April 30th, which is effectively when he won the primary, facing scant opposition on Tuesday. Significantly, Sarah Palin endorsed Emmer just one day earlier, on the 29th. Emmer’s campaign is centered on reducing the size of government in Minnesota and continuing to reduce taxes. He has interesting ideas on healthcare, including allowing purchase of health insurance across state boarders. On social issues he is conservative, including being opposed to marriage equality.
Mark Dayton is quite the opposite, steaming ahead with a soak the rich theme. On his website he proclaims “read my lips, ‘Tax the rich”, promising that “As Governor of Minnesota I will raise taxes on the rich of Minnesota, NOT the rest of Minnesota.” Dayton, a former U.S. Senator from Minnesota, upset the DFL endorsed favorite, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, in what has been an unorthodox primary season nationwide.
Perhaps most interestingly, as ABC reports, this race is becoming a focal point of the new realities of campaign finance following the Citizens United case. Target, Best Buy, and the snowmobile manufacturer Polaris have contributed a combined $350,000 to the pro-business group MN Forward, which supports the Emmer campaign. Target, which markets itself as a socially responsible corporation, quickly came under significant pressure for supporting Emmer because of his opposition to marriage equality. Interestingly, this forced Target CEO Gregg Steinhaffel to issue an apology for Target’s donation to MN Forward. While many news outlets have noted this apology, the actual text of the release reads as though Target will continue to contribute to Emmer, as they decide how best to frame it as a purely pro-business oriented decision. It seems to me that this episode demonstrates the beauty of direct, transparent, corporate participation in an election. Target supports a pro-business candidate, but catches fire for a sensitive social issue, and potentially suffers for it. Much better than Target funneling money for favors through a lobbyist in a chintzy hotel bar.
Whatever the result may be of corporate and union participation (Minnesota has a very strong and politically active teachers union) in the gubernatorial contest this year, the race is worth watching for the politics. Minnesota has a tradition of being a civil, and moderately progressive state. This year politics are black and white, either support slamming the rich with new taxes to pay for healthcare and close the yawning budget deficit, or shrink government and slash taxes. If Minnesota faces options of such stark contrast, the rest of the nation is most certainly in turmoil.