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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Horner, Emmer cruise to wins in IP, GOP primaries

Please click onto the COMMENTS for the story.

posted by Bob at Wednesday, August 11, 2010

3 Comments:

Anonymous Pioneer Press said...

By Dennis Lien
dlien@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 08/11/2010 09:08:19 AM CDT


Former public relations executive Tom Horner easily won the Independence Party's primary for governor Tuesday, propelling him on to the November general election.

Horner will square off against state Rep. Tom Emmer, who cruised through the Republican primary, and either of two Democrats, Mark Dayton or Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, Horner had 65 percent of the vote to 15 percent for Rob Hahn, a magazine publisher who ran an inexpensive but spirited campaign. Three other candidates attracted minimal support.

"We took nothing for granted and did all the right things,'' said Horner, a former Republican strategist who switched parties and hopes to persuade enough moderate, disenchanted

Republican and Democratic voters to put him into office.
"Clearly, the challenge now is we have to take everything we have done this summer and multiply it a couple of times over,'' he added.

Despite raising comparatively little money, Hahn, 41, generated a lot of noise, repeatedly challenging Horner at numerous news conferences.

Among other things, he contended Horner should release the names of clients he's worked with over the past three years at his former business.

Horner has sold his interest in that company and said that addressed any potential conflicts of interest.

With the party nomination, Horner, 60, now must turn his attention to raising enough cash to stay in the game with Dayton or Kelliher and Emmer, who had no serious opposition and amassed about 84 percent of Republican votes. Three others split the rest of the votes.

Horner has estimated he will need $2.5 million to $3 million to get his message out.

Throughout the campaign, observers speculated some Republicans would cross over and vote for Hahn to keep Horner out of the fall election. But there appeared to be little, if any, evidence of that.

"In the end, the Republicans did the right thing and allowed each of the parties to select their own candidates,'' Horner said.

With the state facing what's likely to be a $6 billion budget deficit, Horner said the state must balance its budget honestly and transparently, make needed investments in its future and work to revitalize its communities.

He is a former press secretary and chief of staff for former U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger. His running mate is Jim Mulder, former executive director of the Association for Minnesota Counties.

Third-party candidates have had mixed results in the governor's race over the past 12 years.

In 1998, Jesse Ventura rode celebrity and an authenticity that resonated with the public to a narrow win.

In 2002, former U.S. Rep. Tim Penny was in a close race until he fell off badly at the end, losing to Tim Pawlenty.

But four years ago, Peter Hutchinson finished well in the pack when Pawlenty won a second term.

Dennis Lien can be reached at 651-228-5588.

9:39 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

Hi All,

I will not support any candidate for governor.

No Ronald Reagan types to choose from and in my opinion there isn't a lesser evil in this race to choose from either.

As I said previously, I predict Dayton will win the governors race.

9:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So do you think Minnesota will go Communist after the election?

10:51 PM  

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