ALL EYES ON CIRESI, WHO IS EXPECTED TO ENTER RACE
All Eyes on Ciresi, Who Is Expected to Enter Race
A wealthy trial attorney may be about to pick the lock that Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar appears to have on the Democratic Senate primary.
Mike Ciresi, who sought the 2000 nomination, said he will announce whether he will try again next week, The Associated Press reported.
Minnesota political observers believe that Ciresi, who has been mulling a Senate bid for a year, will pull the trigger this time.
If he was disinclined to run, he would have just said so, they reason. Instead he told the AP:
"I'm very close to announcing what those plans may be."
Ciresi would be wise to enter the race now, as child safety advocate Patty Wetterling dropped her bid last week and is likely to run for lieutenant governor instead. That leaves only under-funded veterinarian Ford Bell to challenge Klobuchar, who seems assured of the Democratic nod unless another heavy-hitter jumps in and mixes things up.
Wetterling endorsed Klobuchar, as did Rep. Betty McCollum (D), after Wetterling withdrew.
Ciresi also said that he "learned the last time around that you don't need to get in too early."
In 2000, now-Sen. Mark Dayton (D) waited until April to decide that he wanted to challenge then-Sen. Rod Grams (R). Spending lavishly from his personal fortune, Dayton bypassed the state party's nominating process and forced the state party-backed candidate into a primary.
Dayton, who is retiring, will not be in the mix, but Ciresi has the ability to finance a campaign largely from his own wallet. He was the lead lawyer in Minnesota's successful $6.6 billion 1998 settlement with the nation's largest tobacco companies. No one is seriously challenging Rep. Mark Kennedy for the Republican nomination. Source: Roll Call, January 26, 2006
A wealthy trial attorney may be about to pick the lock that Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar appears to have on the Democratic Senate primary.
Mike Ciresi, who sought the 2000 nomination, said he will announce whether he will try again next week, The Associated Press reported.
Minnesota political observers believe that Ciresi, who has been mulling a Senate bid for a year, will pull the trigger this time.
If he was disinclined to run, he would have just said so, they reason. Instead he told the AP:
"I'm very close to announcing what those plans may be."
Ciresi would be wise to enter the race now, as child safety advocate Patty Wetterling dropped her bid last week and is likely to run for lieutenant governor instead. That leaves only under-funded veterinarian Ford Bell to challenge Klobuchar, who seems assured of the Democratic nod unless another heavy-hitter jumps in and mixes things up.
Wetterling endorsed Klobuchar, as did Rep. Betty McCollum (D), after Wetterling withdrew.
Ciresi also said that he "learned the last time around that you don't need to get in too early."
In 2000, now-Sen. Mark Dayton (D) waited until April to decide that he wanted to challenge then-Sen. Rod Grams (R). Spending lavishly from his personal fortune, Dayton bypassed the state party's nominating process and forced the state party-backed candidate into a primary.
Dayton, who is retiring, will not be in the mix, but Ciresi has the ability to finance a campaign largely from his own wallet. He was the lead lawyer in Minnesota's successful $6.6 billion 1998 settlement with the nation's largest tobacco companies. No one is seriously challenging Rep. Mark Kennedy for the Republican nomination. Source: Roll Call, January 26, 2006
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home