Former Republican Gov. Quie backs Horner

Former Gov. Al Quie, a Republican, told reporters on Thursday that he’s backing Independence Party candidate Tom Horner for governor. Quie is the second former Republican governor to back Horner; the first is former Gov. Arne Carlson. The only other living Republican governor in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, announced on Thursday that he’d be campaigning for Republican Tom Emmer in the waning weeks before the election.

“As I look at the candidates for governor, I look at their solutions and I come down on the side of Tom Horner,” Quie said in a statement on Thursday. “A governor must be a person who can look into the future and make tough decisions.”

He told Minnesota Public Radio that he expects to be labeled a Republican-in-name-only (RINO).

“If a person who votes for a Republican who is now running as an Independent and if that makes him a RINO (Republican In Name Only), I plead guilty. What I tell all of the candidates in the Republican Party is that you’re not electing the Republican Party, you’re electing a person.”