Governor

Col. Joe Repya, a former Republican Party activist who left the GOP to run for governor under the Independence Party banner, has decided to drop out of the race, citing the party’s failure to “stand by its own rules and principles.” Repya announced his decision on his website Sunday evening:

Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, announced Tuesday that he’s bowing out of the governor’s race due to low support among activists and will campaign to keep his seat in the Minnesota Senate.

And then there were eleven: former state senator Steve Kelley is the first DFLer to drop out of the DFL race for governor. Kelley placed 8th in the DFL straw poll held at caucuses on Tuesday. Eleven candidates are still in the running for the DFL endorsement to replace Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is retiring [...]

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Joe Repya announced on Wednesday that he will run for governor as a member of the Independence Party. Repya left the Republican Party of Minnesota in 2009 citing lack of transparency and financial mismanagement.

The Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition released a questionnaire on Monday polling candidates for governor on their stance on single-payer health care (pdf). All DFLers and one Republican responded. The majority support a single-payer health plan in Minnesota.

The Stonewall DFL, the LGBT caucus within the DFL, voted this weekend to endorse Matt Entenza for governor in 2010. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise: Stonewall has endorsed Entenza in every campaign he’s run since his first campaign for the Minnesota House in 1994.

Former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said on Thursday that he would not seek reelection no mater the outcome of his campaign for governor. Seifert stepped down as Minority Leader in June when he announced his campaign to replace Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who announced in June he wouldn’t be seeking a third term.

An already packed gubernatorial field for Democrats just got bigger with the addition of a high-profile DFLer: House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher announced this afternoon that she’s filed to run for governor.

Sen. Paul Koering, R-Fort Ripley, abandoned his exploratory committee for governor yesterday, citing fundraising difficulties and a refusal of many Republican activists to support an openly gay candidate, ECM Publishers reports.

Even as Norm Coleman’s prospects for regaining his Senate seat subside, his potential entry in the race to replace retiring Gov. Tim Pawlenty next year is getting a push in the media — if nowhere else.