Marty Seifert

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s announcement earlier this month that he will not seek a third term has unleashed a political gold rush among Republican politicians in the state. Minnesota’s current political landscape includes an eye-popping 18 declared and possible gubernatorial contenders.

Democrat Tom Bakk is running for governor. The state senator from Virginia made it official yesterday. Bakk originally set up an exploratory committee and began raising money roughly a year ago. The chair of the Senate’s Taxes Committee was a strong advocate during the recently completed legislative session for increasing taxes on the state’s wealthiest [...]

If you’re thinking about running for governor, here’s some advice: “You can’t just rush into it.” That’s from House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, who has set a news conference for 11 a.m. this morning — a full 21 hours since Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he won’t seek re-election. If he were to run, Seifert says [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision not to seek a third term is widely viewed as an indication that he plans to seriously test the waters for a presidential bid in 2012. But at a press conference this afternoon he insisted that he has no future political plans.

Tim Pawlenty will announce whether he plans to seek a third term as governor this afternoon. The early word: he’s not running for re-election. Both WCCO (Channel 4)  political reporter Pat Kessler and Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Scheck cite sources that indicate Pawlenty has decided against seeking a third term and is dialing up national [...]

In the final minutes of the legislative session last night, the Minnesota Legislature took up a tax bill. By a House vote of 82 to 47, the bill prevailed — as did fast-paced parliamentary pugilistics and full-throated partisanship.

His plan offers tax breaks for corporations, but steep spending cuts for higher education, local governments and health and human services. Plus, it relies on more than $3 billion in one-time fixes, dubbed “gimmicks” by Democrats.

As the budget battle at the Capitol gets going, Republicans are promising to obstruct efforts to both cut expenses and raise taxes. DFLers are looking at a pending stimulus plan from the White House in February in order to guide how the budget session takes place. And at least one DFLer thinks that Pawlenty might change his stance on taxes (or “revenue enhancements”) to help fill the historic $4.8 billion deficit.

An un- usually unified group of Minnesota state leaders expressed concern Monday about a proposed merger between Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines.

Speaking at a press conference in the governor’s reception room, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he was “very concerned” about the possible impact the merger could have on the state.

“I’m extremely concerned about [...]

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