First, the in the governor’s race, Margaret Anderson Kelliher has announced a new hire.

[Anderson Kelliher's] campaign says it hired Allison Myhre as camp. spokeswoman. Myhre worked for DFL Rep. Collin Peterson.

And in the race for the party nomination, Attorney Susan Gaertner has stated she is no longer abiding by the endorsement, choosing to run in the primary regardless.

In the 6th CD, Tarryl Clark has been endorsed by Emily’s List.

EMILY’s List doesn’t lend its imprimatur to all pro-choice women candidates and the endorsement indicates that they take Clark’s chances seriously.

In the press release announcing the endorsement, EMILY’s List President Ellen Malcolm called Clark (who is also assistant majority leader of the state Senate) “a proven vote getter in what is traditionally rough territory for Democrats,” and asserted that “her candidacy puts this district in play and gives Democrats the best shot at picking up this swing-seat in November.”

But the 6th isn’t the only race with action. Former State Legislator Shelly Madore is challenging Dan Powers for the DFL endorsement in the 2nd district. The winner of that race will go on to face sitting congressman Republican John Kline. According to mnpACT:

Democrat Madore broke a long standing Republican stranglehold of the District 37A legislative seat in 2006. In fact, she broke a lot of barriers for Democrats in the South Metro, finding a way to win in a perceived conservative district. She lost her bid for re-election in 2008, by a narrow margin, to a heavily financed challenger, Tara Mack.

When she was elected in 2006, she quickly became a driving force for transportation issues in the south metro area….something that may run as a strong campaign theme in her 2010 bid.

And Maureen Hackett, one of the candidates running to unseat first term Congressman Erik Paulsen, has made a radio ad buy.

Maureen Hackett, a DFLer running in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, started running a radio ad on Air America. The ad is a basic introductory ad detailing Hackett’s profile.

Hackett’s spokesman said the ad will run 70 times over the next two weeks at the cost of $674.80.

SAINT PAUL, MN – Today, womenwinning: Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund, endorsed Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher in her race for Governor of Minnesota.

Speaker Kelliher says this endorsement is an important step to earning the DFL nomination and winning the general election in 2010. “I am honored to receive the support of an organization so committed to political equality for women across Minnesota,” Kelliher said. “From city councils and county boards to the halls of Congress, the work of womenwinning has helped these offices to more fully reflect the faces of Minnesota.”

For 27 years womenwinning: Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund has been giving its financial support to pro-choice women candidates from all parties and at all levels of government. Over the last quarter century, the percentage of women representing the citizens of Minnesota has increased from 8 percent to 28 percent of the total offices on the state level. During the same period of time the number of women elected to the US Congress has nearly quadrupled from 23 to 87. Since 1982, womenwinning: Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund has directed nearly $2 million to pro-choice women candidates from all parties and all levels of office.

“The womenwinning committee was very impressed with Margaret’s commitment to the issues most important to Minnesotans during these difficult economic times. We believe Margaret to be the best candidate for the job and look forward to working with her campaign,” said womenwinning Board chair, Courtney Cushing Kiernat.

In this time of big challenges, Speaker Kelliher not only has the focus and leadership skills to move this state into prosperity, she has the capacity to bring people together to create a positive vision for all Minnesotans.

Republicans:
Tom Emmer, 689
Pat Anderson, 721
Marty Seifert, 764

And the always popular “draft” mission:
Draft Laura Brod for Governor, 297

Democrats:
Matt Entenza, 32 (fan page, not group or supporter page)
Mark Dayton, 68
Susan Gaertner, 343
John Marty, 693
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, 864

And in the Draft:

R.T. Rybak, 596

Obviously, we won’t be casting out ballots in our status updates. But organizing online is a great way to engage with your supporters and get them involved in the most basic steps of the campaign. And facebook is making it even easier for supporters to spread campaign info for their favorite candidates.

See a candidate you want to support? Join their groups, or, if they don’t have one, offer to start it for him or her!
Note: I did not use personal pages, only support pages, be they fan pages, group pages or draft pages. Steve Kelley has only a personal page, so he was not included. Chris Coleman has only his personal page and his St. Paul campaign page, so he also was excluded.

Susan Gaertner

Home: White Bear Lake

Current position: Prosecutor

Experience: Ramsey County attorney since 1994 after 14 years in public and private law practice.

How does she break out of the pack? U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County attorney, showed that a strong county prosecutor is electable statewide. Gaertner says she is the only candidate in the race with “executive experience running a multimillion-dollar, nonpartisan public office.”

Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Home: Minneapolis

Current position: Speaker of the House

Experience: A House member since 1998, she has held the top House office — the second-most-powerful post in state government — for the past three years.

How does she break out of the pack? She already has. As speaker, Kelliher has been the highest-profile Democrat in state government and may be the party’s best-known candidate. She has proved to be a calm, even-tempered leader who can work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, but she also is an effective advocate for mainstream DFL policies. She has gone toe-to-toe in negotiations with Pawlenty but stumbled a bit this year when he outmaneuvered DFLers and balanced the state budget on his own.

Pat Anderson

Home: Dellwood

Current position: President of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, a conservative think tank.

Experience: The former Eagan mayor and city council member was elected state auditor in 2002, a post she lost in the 2006 election. Pawlenty appointed her state employee relations commissioner in 2008, a job she eliminated by merging her agency with the Finance Department. She’s also a former business owner.

How does she break out of the pack? She’s the only woman in the Republican race, but that may change soon. Anderson says she has executive experience in both the public and private sectors that most of her legislator rivals lack. “I’ve downsized government twice,” she said, referring to merging one agency and trimming the auditor’s staff.

State Rep. Laura Brod, of New Prague, postponed her exploratory campaign for health reasons last month, but supporters predict she will return to the race soon. The lead Republican on the House Taxes Committee, she is an advocate for small businesses and downsizing state government. She’s the candidate some Democrats fear most.

Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, of Lafayette, has said it’s unlikely she would run for governor, but she hasn’t ruled it out. She plans to decide this summer. Some Republicans are talking about her challenging U.S. Rep. Tim Walz in the 1st District.

The gender factor
It may also be noteworthy that the two women currently seeking (in the case of Gaertner, who has been a declared candidate for many months) or planning to seek (in the case of Kelliher) the nomination have made firm pledges to abide.

It is widely assumed, and for good reason, that whatever happens at the convention, Dayton and Entenza will be running in the primary. If the endorsee is neither of them but is a male, that would put a three-man field in the primary. Minnesota has never had a woman as governor, nor even as a major-party nominee for governor. There are certainly activists and donors, in Minnesota and nationally, who would be anxious to see that streak broken. A primary pitting one female candidate against three males would bring some favorable math into the picture for the woman.

Gaertner is generally not rated as a top-five candidate for endorsement, but Kelliher is. If she wins the endorsement, she will presumably face at least two wealthy male candidates who plan to run in the primary and perhaps others. In that scenario, the gender math would work in her favor, as well as the advantages of being the endorsee. By pledging to abide, she presumably increases her chance of being the endorsee. But by pledging to abide, she also forgoes the opportunity to potentially enter a primary without the endorsement but in a lineup that could be favorable to lone female against two or three or even more men.

I believe that Eric is likely right — in a three-way race between Dayton, Entenza and Anderson-Kelliher, she would be very hard to stop, as Dayton and Entenza would have a lot in common in regards not just to gender, but also the impression they would make on voters with predominately self-financed campaigns.

But I’m not sure it would still be the same if she did not get the endorsement, assuming there was another candidate who did get it. As we learned from watching the 5th CD primary in 2006, the more people who enter the primary, the more important the endorsement becomes. Erlandson thought his connections and money could get him through despite Ellison’s endorsement, but he and Ostrow never got very far on primary night. And despite being the only woman in the race, Ember Reichgott Junge only ended up with I think 20% overall. Without the primary endorsement, it really is in her best interest to stay as speaker for now, rather than challenge the endorsee in a primary.

Of course, if there is no endorsement, I think all bets will be off for everyone..,.

From the press release:

Monson has worked in several capacities on various Minnesota political campaigns and most recently as communications director for the 2008 Tinklenberg campaign in the Sixth Congressional District. Monson views her time in the Sixth District as valuable and formative, and looks forward to bringing this experience to the Gaertner campaign.

As we mentioned earlier, Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher is said to have recently made a hire, as well. Seems like this will be a very busy summer.

Dave Mindeman gives a brief summary of the event on his blog. In general, he praised her candidness and her general progressive stands. His major caveat is, as many people say, her role in dealing with the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Susan Gaertner is a good progressive candidate. I think she would make a great governor. But the RNC issues will be a drag on her candidacy…if she can resolve that issue to everyone’s satisfaction, she could do well. Her candor is refreshing.

It might also explain why she ended her part of the forum with what she claims will be her only “pledge” of the campaign…..

The Republican National Convention will NOT return to Minnesota.

Be sure to both read the excellent MnpACT summary, as well as watch the full video to better learn about Gaertner and her views.

And Minnesota Brown also snagged an interview with the Ramsey County Attorney. It’s a very personable, upbeat interview, and Aaron ends with this summary:

Susan Gaertner is a sharp, refreshing candidate who could struggle to break out of the pack because of her lack of name recognition and local government background. If she succeeds in visiting every corner of the state before precinct caucuses and impresses future delegates, she could catch fire and become an extremely tough nominee for the GOP to beat. However, the curse of gender and identity politics means that if House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher runs, much of the oxygen could be sucked out of Gaertner’s campaign. Regardless, Gaertner deserves the attention of future delegates.

So, can Gaertner, as she claims, position herself as the next Amy Klobuchar: the tough woman prosecutor?

DFL state Sen. Tarryl Clark told me today that she’s considering a run for governor in 2010. She said she’s looking at her options but said she’s concerned that none of the DFL candidates are from the “growth areas” of the state.

Scheck also has his list of potential gubernatorial candidates. Of the 20 Republicans who have not ruled out runs, 1/4 of them are female candidates (Laura Brod, Pat Anderson, Michele Bachmann, Carol Molnau, and Michelle Fischbach). Of the 12 DFLers running, considering, or at least not saying no, 1/4 of those are women as well (Susan Gaertner, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Tarryl Clark).

Minnesota has never elected a woman governor, and now we have a 1 in 4 chance of making it happen. I couldn’t be more excited.

WoMN Focus will be watching every step of the way.

DFL candidate for governor calls on Pawlenty to engage in a meaningful and sincere debate

(St. Paul,MN) Today’s action by Governor Pawlenty, laying the ground work to unilaterally unallot billions of dollars previously dedicated to address the human, social and environmental needs of Minnesotans, is clearly a seminal moment in our state’s history.

Indeed, it is a sad day when Minnesota’s representative government cannot work together to solve one of the most pressing economic and fiscal disasters our state has ever faced.

For anyone to call the governor’s action “strong leadership” would belie the essential meaning of good government and principled service to its constituents.

Clearly, these are difficult times that require difficult decisions, but those decisions are best made after a meaningful debate and within a spirit of compromise. The process we have witnessed was neither.

Today, I call on Governor Pawlenty to remain open to a truly democratic process and call for a special session. That session must be a respectful process that includes the possibility of multiple options and have the intention of putting our state back on track and easing the considerable pain that the unallotment process will surely bring.

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