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EARLY INDICATIONS ON GOP GUBERNATORIAL RACE
By Ryan Flynn | June 4, 2009
I have talked with many people over the course of the past couple of days regarding the growing interest in Republicans running for Governor. It is still far too early to see how this race will shape up but in many of my conversations there are a few names that consistently have surfaced time and time again.
These names based on my conversations would be a current top-tier of candidates for the GOP nomination from numerous sources:
Former State Auditor Pat Anderson
Representative Laura Brod
Senator David Hann
Representative Marty Seifert
The two wild cards that are being talked about quite a bit and would completely alter the landscape of this race are:
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann
Congressman Jim Ramstad
Many people would like to see one or the other of those two run, the consensus is that Congressman Ramstad is more likely than Congresswoman Bachmann to run.
This list is in no way complete and I fully expect it to change and evolve. We are very early in this process but I have talked to many sources including some potential candidates in the past few days and these names are getting the most chatter at the moment.
As always, stay tuned to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for continuous updates regarding this developing story.
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59 Responses to “EARLY INDICATIONS ON GOP GUBERNATORIAL RACE”
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June 4th, 2009 at 8:41 AM
“As always, stay tuned to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for continuous updates regarding this developing story.”
I’m confused. Are you saying that one or more of these candidates is really a democrat and you need to expose them? I thought this site was only for trashing the DFL?
June 4th, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Again, why isn’t Former Senator Coleman on the short list?
June 4th, 2009 at 9:10 AM
AC, who ever runs as the GOP candidate will unltimately win, exposing their DFL opponent as a tax-and-spend loser. I hope that helps.
No get on over to KFC and express outrage that they have fish on their Menu.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:31 AM
how Carter’s policies are supposed to work in 2009 when they failed miserably thirty years ago.
Lists are just as often interesting for what they omit as for what they include. Norm is the obvious candidate for governor, and the fact from GOP provided lists, reflects concern that his inclusion would be a an admission that he is going to lose the senate race. If Republicans were more confident of their chances of winning, they would be less worried about analyzing the consequences of his losing.
Whenever you hear a politician speak, listen for what he doesn’t say, the elephant in the room he isn’t talking about. That can give you an insight into the political issue the politician sees as most politically damaging.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:41 AM
I agree Hiram, Carter was a terrible, but he couldn’t be any worse than other Democrats who might run for governor.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I agree chile, but your grammar is pathetic, regardless of which DFL candidate becomes our next governor in 2010.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:26 AM
The grammar looks fine to me.
What is your problem? LOL !!
June 4th, 2009 at 10:48 AM
I hate to say this, but as a Republican I wouldn’t consider some of those names on that list to be top-tier candidates. Pat Anderson has state-wide name ID and a lot of moxie so she would be a top-tier candidate. Marty Siefert has four years experience as minority leader and some state wide exposure from his leadership role. I can also think of other Republicans who have better name ID than Marty. The rest of the people on that list, while fine people, have zero name ID except among GOP State Central delegates. And even then, I don’t think anyone outside the metro knows who Senator Hann is. And even in the metro, Hann would not have much name ID outside his own district and very nearby communities in the western metro.
Ryan, I wouldn’t rush the list or be overly speculative just yet. There’s a reason Pawlenty announced early and we should just let the process work and see who actually has the moxie to throw their hat in the ring.
June 4th, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Thanks Chris, that is why I made sure to mention it is still very early and I fully expected that list to change. This list is indicative of some of the conversations I have been having with some very highly placed sources.
You might be surprised to know how much mention Laura Brod is getting in almost all of my conversations. I have personally not spoken to her about it. I mention her because you did not in your comment and her name has consistently been mentioned by people I am talking to.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Laura Brod was one of the chief proponents of the “Rape the Taxpayers of Hennepin County to the delight of multi-billionaire Carl Pohlad”.
Nobody, I mean NOBODY, in the Hennepin County GOP has forgotten her vote and defense of ripping our right to vote by referendum on the Twins stadium.
And I will take great joy in reminding my state delegate friends of this woman.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:44 AM
This isn’t new news, but I just heard on on KTLK news that Chris Coleman, RT Rybak, and Margaret Anderson-Kelliher (Big MAK) are “weighing campaigns” for governor. It doesn’t mention which candidate “weighs” more.
http://www.startribune.com/local/46912222.html
As far as name recognition, all three have it … to the point where a nomination of any the three would help get a Republican elected.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:48 AM
“I mean NOBODY, in the Hennepin County GOP has forgotten her vote and defense of ripping our right to vote by referendum on the Twins stadium.”
Interesting issue. For me, it is simply unthinkable for a state legislator to vote for a tax increase in a county that’s opposed by that county’s legislators. That’s just a basic violation of good manners. I would be interested in hearing Rep. Brod’s explanation for this.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
For once, Hiram, I agree with you.
Outstate GOP reps swallowed the tripe and voted to ram that tax increase down our throats. Here’s a great idea: Let’s build a Vikings statium in Scott county and ram THAT tax increase down Laura Brod’s throat!
Here’s Lunkhead Laura’s logic (I’ve witnesses it):
A: All the people I represent said it was a good idea.
B: Hennepin County’s board ASKED for this.
C: Well, I’ll have to pay it too when I’m in Hennepin County
My responses are:
If its such a damn good idea, then make it a statewide tax. Once its YOUR ox being gored, your happy gnomes that “like” this idea that you represent will be humming a different tune.
If the Hennepin County board passed a resolution asking you to jump off the Lake Stree bridge, would you do that too? Or do you just do whatever any county commission tells you to do…in which case…why do we need a state legislature?
Yeah, Laura, you pass through Hennepin county (during session) and buy a bag of groceries once-in-a-while. I live here 24/7…you can avoid the tax MUCH easier than I can.
Unfortunately, Brodkorb loves Brod, as exhibited by his fawning interviews with the witch. Don’t expect Mike to hold her responsible.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:32 PM
D., I doubt she passed through Hennepin County on her commute to St. Paul. 19 to 35 to 35E.
She might to to Hennepin County once in a while to maybe …see a Twins Game? The stadium is close enought for Brod and her constituents to enjoy but not pay for – its a win-win for residents outside of Hennepin County.
Ryan – do you have a crush on her?
June 4th, 2009 at 12:52 PM
chile:
I think Mike and Ryan are both smitten with the kitten. Will they wack her for this? Nope.
I have the list of turncoat weasels that sold Hennepin County down the river. Some are still in Saint Paul.
I will never forget watching “Republican” legislators that let this happen. Never.
Unfortunately, Mike and Ryan are lapdogs for people like Brod.
June 4th, 2009 at 12:55 PM
And just to remind Mike and Ryan:
Only 2 GOP representatives from HennCo voted FOR the Twins stadium rape: Sykora (who didn’t run for re-election) and Neil Peterson (member of the Override Gang).
June 4th, 2009 at 1:14 PM
I believe the Hennepin County board was split on the stadium issue. In any event, terrible public policy isn’t improved even when it is supported by the barest of majorities. And the fact is, it was opposed by every single Hennepin County legislator.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:09 PM
The stadium vote was one vote–if you look at Brod’s overall record she has been very fiscally responsible. As elected officials we will be able to find votes on any of these people that you can question. Look at their overall records and look at electability. Brod is an attractive statewide candidate that can win.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:15 PM
If Seifert is endorsed, Republicans can kiss away their chances of keeping the Governor’s seat. He is the democrats dream candidate.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:20 PM
“…And the fact is, it was opposed by every single Hennepin County legislator.” You are wrong !!, Walker breath, Hiram ! Anderson-Kelliher ENTHUSIASTICALLY supported the Hennepin Stadium Bill ! It’s too bad she is now disqualified from running for Governor by your criteria ! BROD FOR MINORITY LEADER ! It’s the logical choice !
June 4th, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I’m sorry, Paul. That one vote was a window into the soul of the woman. She helped gut-and-filet Hennepin County and is proud of her vote. There is NOTHING to be proud of. She sold out GOP values, sold out the GOP platform, and sold out the people of Hennepin county, knowing full well that 70% of the county was against it.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:35 PM
D, I respect your opinion but I think you are wrong about it being the window to her soul. I have followed her in the legislature and there are too many examples of her standing up and fighting for the taxpayer–that I can’t discredit her and I am a Hennepin County taxpayer! I want a conservative republican that can win–especially in a tough political environment–and she is the only one in that list that I believe can win statewide.
June 4th, 2009 at 3:52 PM
Fair enough.
When you look at the 2008 lifetime scores from the Taxpayer’s League, she ranks #19 in the Republican caucus. #19 out of 49.
Sorry, that’s proof enough for me that she ain’t what you think she is. That means, to me, that there are 18 better choices than Brod.
June 4th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Good Lord not the Rammer. Pawlenty hasn’t been anywhere near a perfect conservative but Ramsted would make Perpich look like Maggie Thatcher.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Why not Ramstad though? He’d be a slam dunk competitor against any DFL candidate.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Comments like that from J in #25 as well as the relative thinness of the field (speculative as it may be) are why I thought and continue to think that this thread was a terrible idea.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:41 AM
First of all, getting the Twins ballpark was a great thing for Hennepin County and Minnesota. I’m happy to pay my tax for the stadium with every purchase. I live in Hennepin County. And it is not true that every legislator opposed it. Paul Thissen supported the Twins stadium, which was a bold move because he had to face the anti-stadium whiners in the DFL.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Well, GRH, you are part of the 30% in Hennepin County that actually wanted it. 70% did not. That’s a fact, which is why they had to take our right to vote on it away from us.
Glad to here a clear minority can rule a strong majority in this county. Damn the Constitution and damn the State Statutes.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Hmmm. Don’t damn the Constitution yet. I think the Constitution does mention something about representative democracy where our elected leaders make decisions.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:20 AM
And state statute specifically says I have the right to vote on a referendum.
Oh well, I’m glad your multi-billionaire and his multi-millionaire employees all got $500 million of our tax dollars. Glad to see corporate welfare is alive and well.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:26 AM
D – Carl won’t be attending opening day at the new ballpark. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:39 AM
A guy’s worth over 2 BILLION dollars, and we have to give him TAX dollars!
All thanks to “solid conservatives” like Laura Brod.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:44 AM
I disagree Chris, look at the comments and the thread. It is clear that people think Representative Brod is a top contender for the nomination based on some of the attacks already. Clearly these are from some of her would be opponents.
June 5th, 2009 at 9:57 AM
gopstreetfighter,
Personally, I don’t think Laura Brod is a top contender. As long as we’re being honest about people, I think she has a much higher opinion of herself than her legislative record and her grasp of the issues. Frankly, as I privately e-mailed Ryan, I think this thread is a horrible idea because I don’t really consider anyone besides Pat Anderson and perhaps Marty Siefert “top tier.” Moreover, I don’t think it’s appropriate to have a thread where folks are invited to claim certain GOP members (Laura Brod) are openly having multiple affairs.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Excellent point, Chris.
Laura does have a high opinion of herself and she let’s everyone know it. Unfortunately, when a “defining moment” comes up (as in the Twins stadium), she abandons GOP principles.
There are not many votes that define someone. Override votes are one. This Twins bill was another. Considering she’s #19 out of 49 in the House, she’s certainly not a top-tier candidate for anything, much less minority leader.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:50 AM
D,
Let me also be clear that by top-tier I don’t mean the most conservative. I’m not sure who the most conservative state rep. is, but I highly doubt it’s anyone most of us have heard of. By top-tier I mean someone who has statewide name ID, someone who can build a statewide organization and can raise the funds needed to win. I also want that person to be conservative.
Frankly, I wish Erik Paulsen was still in the legislature. I think he would have made an excellent candidate for governor. The problems with the others are that Marty doesn’t come from a very populated part of the state and isn’t really that great on television; Hann comes from a more populated part of the state but isn’t well-known outside of his district and his legislative record (other than exempting fast food companies from liability from the obese) is pretty thin; Brod also isn’t that well-known outside of her district (but is well-covered in the Mankato newspapers) and doesn’t have the temparament in my opinion to make a great statewide candidate.
With apologies to my Hennepin County friends, I wouldn’t consider the Twins stadium issue a defining moment for our GOP principles. Certainly holding the line on taxes and spending overall for the last 7 years has been defining. While I agree that there was a state statute on record with respect to holding a referendum on the stadium, please note that statutes can be changed and superceded by another statute. With all due respect to my friends in Hennepin County, if you didn’t want a stadium why keep electing the same seven commissioners (with the exception of the former-Penny Steele) year after year? For crying out loud, they make $100,000 a year! Run against them!
June 5th, 2009 at 10:57 AM
With regards to your last point, the Twims stadium debacle was launched on the unsuspecting residents of Hennepin county immediately FOLLOWING an election. Randy Johnson did a fine job of hiding this until it was too late.
Anyone who voted for this can NOT claim to have not raised taxes in Minnesota. Brod sure as hell did. Just not on HER voters.
June 5th, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Chris, I did not receive a private email from you, unless I am missing something. I am standing by this post, they are not personal feelings but what I am hearing from well placed GOP sources.
Also, comments making ridiculous accusations will not be tolerated.
June 5th, 2009 at 11:08 AM
Hey Ryan,
I sent one through the contact page at MDE. If you didn’t get it, no problem!
My quibble with you is more in your wording. I hate it when people are already telling us who our top-tier candidates are when (1) nobody has announced yet and (2) the names mentioned don’t have a snowball’s chance… If you’re saying that these folks are all very likely to run, then I’d have no problem. You know, Rudy Giuliani was named a top-tier candidate for president by pundits in the media. He was even my guy. But Rudy didn’t win a single state and I’m not sure that he even got a single delegate at the convention.
All I’m saying is that we have to be careful who we’re calling our top candidates when it’s so early.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Rudi lost because the best candidate was a Democrat.
Ship it!
June 5th, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Chris, Ryan qualified his list with “These names based on my conversations would be a current top-tier of candidates for the GOP nomination from numerous sources:”
I don’t see a problem with that. I don’t see a problem with you saying that you do.
As far as the troll who posted inuendo about Brod’s personal life – that sounds exactly like something Tommy Johnson would post.
June 5th, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Liberal danbrome, Rudi lost to a fellow Republicans.
Liberal danbrome: Doesn’t understand the Presidential Primary System because he is ignorant … Ship it!
June 5th, 2009 at 1:16 PM
“Rudi lost to a fellow Republicans.”
LOL
June 5th, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Liberal danbrome, do you have a brain?
June 5th, 2009 at 1:44 PM
If Ryan was deleting all posts from “whack-job” types MDE Exposer (aka: Tommy Johnson convicted criminal) would have all of his posts deleted.
It appears that Tommy is jealous that Ryan as succeeded where Tommy failed.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Tommy the Exposer, I didn’t have a problem with the content of your post. However, when you continue to post under different names you should not be surprised when these posts are removed.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:49 PM
To be fair to Senator Hann, he can’t build up much of a legislative record when the DFL controlled Senate committees flat-out refuse to hear any of his bills. That is why does a magnificent job of presenting solutions in the form of amendments on the Senate floor! He may not be the most lively and engaging communicator on Earth, but he is very intelligent and solidly conservative.
June 5th, 2009 at 2:34 PM
chile,
I don’t want “sources” at the Capitol telling me who are our top-tier candidates. As I said, I think it’s perfectly fine to hear which legislators are considering a serious run for governor. But I don’t want someone else telling me who are “top-tier” candidates when they aren’t.
I.R.,
I agree Senator Hann is very intelligent and solidly conservative. But he’s no different, in that respect, than a myriad of other legislators in our party. We need someone who is accomplished and stands out from the field — someone who is well-known around the state and can build a state-wide grassroots campaign. I don’t think Senator Hann fits that mold.
June 5th, 2009 at 2:36 PM
[...] GOP insiders about how the state of the race for Governor may shape up on the Republican side. I wrote yesterday about where this race potentially could be based on numerous conversations I have had, since then [...]
June 5th, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Pete..
How was your vacation? You were sorely missed here.
June 5th, 2009 at 3:27 PM
Liberal danbrome, how’s your brain? Still symmetrical?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815538,00.html
June 5th, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Vacation was wonderful. Spent the week roaming the state of SD looking for a nice small town to spend our retirement years enjoying life. Even the larger towns have the small town feel. All in all a great week!
Thank you for asking.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:01 PM
To all of you folks complaining about the 70% of Hennepin Co that didn’t like the stadium tax–how did the county commissioners that voted for the stadium all get re-elected? If the voters were so outraged–they sure didn’t show it in the polls. Get over it.
June 6th, 2009 at 1:30 AM
PD is right. Elections have consequences and when you people turn around and elect County Commissioners who want a stadium and don’t throw them out after they get one at your expense, your anger is misplaced when you blame those darned rural legislators. Hold your own guys accountable and then we’ll talk.
June 6th, 2009 at 1:52 AM
D said “Glad to here a clear minority can rule a strong majority in this county. Damn the Constitution and damn the State Statutes.”
Ya really want to go hear, do you think Pawlenty could have ever gotten to 50% ? Or how about the sales tax increase for the arts? That’s ok since people voted it in?
June 26th, 2009 at 10:29 PM
[...] was one found at Minnesota Democrats Exposed the original smear was removed, but the reference to its existence still [...]
July 7th, 2009 at 8:10 AM
[...]  We still need help tracking down the original perpetrators of these vile smears.  Blogs like MDE, Truth v. The Machine, Libertarian Republic, and mnpACT! hold the key.  They can still sift [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 12:06 AM
[...] That’s “IP” as in “Internet Protocol” – and here’s why it’s important: on June 4th, at 6:32 pm, the following message was posted on GOP State Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb’s personal blog: J Says: June 4th, 2009 at 6:32 pm Aside from her tax issue which will be huge, Brod will have to answer for her personal behavior if she runs. She’s – ahem – played the field. A lot.(MinnesotaDemocratsExposed) [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 10:59 AM
[...] and find out what various rightwingers are postulating; it’s even easier to check in with the (almost)official rightwing site (although, many bona fide RightWingNuts haven’t weighed in [...]