State Political Profile: Minnesota
Governor
Minnesota has two big prizes on the November ballot, starting with the governor's race. GOP incumbent Tim Pawlenty intends to seek a second term after winning a four-way race in 2002.
Several Democrats are jockeying for the right to take on Pawlentyand hoping to end a long electoral drought in gubernatorial campaigns. Its been two decades since a Democrat won the governor's office.
The main Democratic contenders are Attorney General Mike Hatch and state Sens. Becky Lourey and Steve Kelley. Shopping center developer Kelly Doran has dropped out of the race. The party hopes to endorse a candidate in June, although a contested September primary is all but certain.
The Independence Party, which counts former Gov. Jesse Ventura among its members, has factored prominently into the last two races. It will again field a candidate, but so far no big-name candidate has come forward.
Pawlenty rode a No New Taxes slogan into office, but learned a month after his election that the state was facing a $4.5 billion deficit. He leaned heavily on fees and program cuts to bridge the gap. But Democrats say the moves effectively drove up local property taxes.
In 2005, he proposed and implemented a new 75-cent-per-pack charge on cigarettes to balance another budget. He called it a fee, but critics accused him of violating the tax pledge. Pawlenty defended the decision as necessary to end a budget impasse that forced a partial government shutdown.
Pawlenty, a former House majority leader, has burnished his record as a strong social conservative -- pushing for new abortion restrictions, eased access to concealed weapons permits and promoting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Recently, he's focused on tighter controls on illegal immigration.
U.S. Senate
After spending more than $11 million of his own money to win a Senate seat, Democrat Mark Dayton is walking away after one term. With or without him, though, the Senate race was shaping up to be a hot one.
Three-term Republican congressman Mark Kennedy has essentially sealed up his party's nomination. The Democratic field was large at first, but it narrowed as prosecutor Amy Klobuchar pulled away from the pack in fundraising and courtship of party activists.
Klobuchar is chief prosecutor in Hennepin County, which is the most populous in the state. The only other Democratic candidate still battling it out is veterinarian Ford Bell. Prominent trial lawyer Michael Ciresi hasn't ruled out a run but hasn't taken any public steps toward a 2006 campaign.
U.S. House
Of Minnesota's eight congressional seats, only a couple are drawing significant notice.
Rep. Mark Kennedy's run for U.S. Senate has set off a spirited contest in the 6th District, which is considered Republican territory. A handful of well-known Republicans are hoping to be his successor. On the Democratic side, former Ventura transportation commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg is unopposed so far.
In the 2nd District, which lies south of the Twin Cities, two-term Rep. John Kline has a well-known challenger. Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley, who gained attention as a post-9/11 whistleblower, is taking him on and using the campaign to speak out against the war in Iraq. But Rowley has struggled to excite her party base, leading some other Democrats to consider running for the nomination.
Ballot Issues
Legislative Republicans continue to push for a ballot measure that would ban gay marriage, and presumably drive up turnout that could benefit the GOP ticket. The proposed constitutional amendment has passed the GOP-led House and would be a close call if Democratic leaders in the Senate ever allow it to come to a vote.
Legislature
Control of the Legislature itself is up in the air as the election draws closer. Republicans hold a one-seat edge in the House after suffering huge losses in 2004. Democrats have been out of power since 1998. Democrats are positioned to retain the Senate, where they have a 38-29 edge.
Other State Races
Usually an afterthought, the state's judicial elections are worth watching in 2006. Loosened rules on how judicial candidates can conduct campaigns and talk to voters might make them more partisan than they've been.
-- Associated Press
