Earlier this month, Sen. Tom Bakk formed an exploratory committee to look at the prospect of running for governor in 2010. The Iron Range Democrat chairs the powerful Senate Taxes Committee. I sat down with Bakk on Saturday during the state DFL Party convention in Rochester to talk about his gubernatorial ambitions.

MInnesota Independent: Why have you formed this exploratory committee to look at running for governor?

Tom Bakk: I’ve served in the Legislature for 14 years now, eight in the House and six in the Senate. It’s starting to appear, under this administration at least, that all we’re doing is kind of managing the status quo of the state, and the trend lines are very troubling. It’s not the Minnesota that I grew up with.

The number-one issue I think facing the state is workforce development. I’m really concerned that our commitment to K-12 [education] and our lack of commitment to our state colleges and universities is going to pose a real problem to the business community in the future as they start to replace all these baby boomers going out into retirement. We’ve got some of the highest tuition in the country at our state colleges and universities. It just seems unfair to me to place a huge debt burden on young people just entering into the workforce. I know firsthand because both of my sons got married last year. One of their new spouses is carrying $30,000 of debt coming out of college, and the other’s carrying $40,000. Their parents didn’t have the means to help them as much as they wanted getting through college. You kind of wonder where are we going?

MI: Why do you think Mike Hatch — despite every other statewide Democrat on the ticket winning — lost in 2006?

TB: It appeared like he really stumbled kind of badly in the last week. Tim Pawlenty’s a real likable guy. There’s a growing number of voters nationally and in Minnesota that we characterize as swing voters. They don’t make their decision based on party label, they watch the candidates pretty closely, and they probably don’t make decisions until the end. I think to win you have to get a majority of those swing voters. One of the attributes I think they look for is character. I think they got disappointed in the final days of the Hatch campaign. Those swing voters are what cost it for him. He was ahead in the polls. It was kind of his to lose and he lost it.

MI: What does forming an exploratory this far out in front of the election allow you to do?

TB: I’m a carpenter. I think of decisions in deliberate, constructive ways because I’m a builder. I need to make sure this is the right decision. Because I am the chair of the Senate tax committee, a very powerful position. I’m in a pretty safe Senate seat. Unless I really did something wrong, I think people would continue to elect me.

I want to take a look at a number of things. Can I raise the money? The spending limit is about $2.5 million. I’ve seen candidates come out of this convention, get the endorsement, and then their campaigns just fizzle because they find out they can’t raise the money. I’m going to make sure over the next several months that I’m a viable enough candidate that I can raise the money to reach the spending limit.

I’m a labor Democrat. For 21 years I’ve been the business representative for the carpenters’ union in northern Minnesota. My roots are really in labor. I’ll never keep all of labor under the tent, you might say, but I’d need to come into the 2010 convention with pretty strong labor support.

MI: We’re looking at potentially a pretty big field in the DFL. How do you differentiate yourself with a number of Democrats running for governor?

TB: I’ve been through that before. When I ran in 1994, my very first election, there were 11 people in my primary. There wasn’t a party endorsement. It was a real challenge to try and distinguish yourself from a large field of candidates.

I think I’m probably one of the more moderate Democrats in the room. I hope to define myself as more than just a Democrat, more than just a labor candidate, but somebody who cares about growing the economy of the state, creating opportunity for people. You do that labor and management together. That’s how we grow our economy and that’s how we create opportunity for new people entering the workforce. Maybe a little unusual for a Democrat, but I’m going to reach out to businesses in the state.

MI: Are you convinced that you can defeat Gov. Pawlenty if he runs again in 2010?

TB: I think Gov. Pawlenty is one of the more risk-averse people I’ve ever met. He really doesn’t make any decisions without licking his finger and sticking it in the air and testing what direction the political wind is blowing. We joke sometimes that he takes a poll on everything before he makes a decision because he wants to be popular. I think that’s why in the public opinion polls he is riding so high. He’s very, very sensitive to public opinion. That makes you popular, but I don’t believe that makes you a good leader.