City Pages’ Erin Carlyle, reporting from Entenza HQ last night, talked with Robinson, who said, “The campaign really awakened the Somali, Hmong, and African-American communities.”

Perhaps today’s DFL unity event will reveal whether Entenza and Robinson will have any future role in Dayton’s campaign. In addition to diverse backers, the Entenza/Robinson team seemed to also make inroads with younger people as well. Last month, both the campaign and Rhymesayers label announced that Slug from Twin Cities hip hop group Atmosphere had endorsed Robinson and Entenza, and that other community artists, including Brother Ali, P.O.S., Heiruspecs, Peter Parker, Desdemona, Maria Isa and St. Paul Slim, would be making voter outreach videos on the campaign’s behalf. The campaign also counted community organizer and Rhymesayers spoken word artist Toki Wright as a member of its “New Legacy Ticket.”

Margaret Anderson Kelliher and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar greet diners at Midtown Global Market. Photo: Jon Collins

The morning’s early mugginess had blown out in a late morning storm, and DFL candidate for governor Margaret Anderson Kelliher was working her way through the tables of diners at the Midtown Global Market in south Minneapolis, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar at her side. Flanked by campaign workers, the pair sympathized with diners’ concerns, shrugged off indifference and soaked up praise, sometimes pausing to pose for pictures with supporters before moving on to the next table or vendor.

Kelliher and her opponents, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, are making a last-ditch effort to grab any remaining votes in the hard-fought contest for the DFL nomination for governor.

Kelliher, who is at a financial disadvantage compared to her two self-financed DFL opponents, and who largely pinned her election hopes on a grassroots turnout, was especially aggressive. After Midtown Market, Kelliher and her running mate, John Gunyou, were scheduled to make a showing at the Nurses Union phone bank in St. Paul, before retiring to Jax Cafe with U.S. Sen. Al Franken in St. Paul to watch returns.

Kelliher has trailed Dayton in recent polls, but her press secretary, Matt Swenson, said the campaign was optimistic that the polls have shifted, with Kelliher’s momentum during the debate making it a one-point race between Kelliher and Dayton. ”We were just at the campaign officies, every phone line at the campaign office was full, people were calling on their cell phones,” Swenson said. “We feel really good about today.”

Mark Dayton, who’s enjoyed a lead in most polls, cast his vote at 10:30 a.m., but planned to spend the day with his sons before joining supporters at his campaign headquarters to hear returns.  Dayton Campaign Manager Katharine Tinucci said volunteers were still working the phones and door-knocking.

But Matt Entenza managed to pack 12 meet-and-greets, mostly in the urban core, into his day. Jeremy Drucker, Entenza’s director of communications, said the campaign was focused on moving voters to the polls in this likely low turnout primary election. ”Matt has a long history in urban communities working for constituents of color, working for communities over on the north side and Rondo, the Latino communities and Somali communities,” Drucker said. These communities “have aways been a big part of our outreach, bringing new voters into the process.”

At Midtown Market, Kelliher and Klobuchar attracted some attention, although most diners, like in a primary election, ignored the red-shirted swirl of activity around the candidate, focusing on their pastry from Salty Tart or sandwich from Manny’s Tortas. Toni Gerard, who was eating lunch with a friend, had earlier been swayed by the campaign’s argument that Kelliher’s candidacy would be made up of historic firsts, as well as her approach to education.

“I’ve enjoyed watching Margaret’s career in the legislature, and I think she’s a great leader, and I’m hoping she’ll be our first female governor,” Gerard said, before noting: “Regardless of her gender, she’s an excellent leader.”

But just down the street at Hans Christian Anderson Open School, which was serving as Ward 9, Precinct 3, only a slow drip of voters made their way into the air-conditioned school, giving some credence to the campaigns’ optimism that, in the end, it could come down to just a few voters.

With the new personal loans, Entenza has outspent his opponents to an almost comical degree. The $250,000 available to the Entenza campaign just for the last weekend of the race is only slightly less than the total cash available to his two primary opponents — Mark Dayton and Margaret Anderson Kelliher — during the entire last month of the campaign.

And coming this close to voting day, it is unclear how the new quarter of a million dollars can even be particularly useful. It is not as if the campaign can hire swaths of new campaign staff for two days of work, and the majority of prime TV advertising real estate has most likely been purchased already. If Election Day results stay true to recent polls, perhaps Entenza supporters can expect to drown their sorrows with Cristal and caviar at his concession party.

"The Emergence of Man Through Steel" in Chisholm. Source: pmarkham

The Mesabi Daily News endorsed Mark Dayton for the DFL nomination for governor this weekend, giving Dayton yet another advantage in an important corner of the state for DFL politics.

The MDN cites Dayton’s commitment to jobs, and service as a member of the administration of Gov. Rudy Perpich, who hails from the Iron Range.

But the editorial also addresses the touchy issue of mining — the region’s historical bread and butter – calling out Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Matt Entenza for “anti-jobs” and “anti-Iron Range” votes that complicated the opening the Mesabi Nugget plant in 2005, which MDN points out was championed by Dayton’s running mate, Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon.

The endorsement came right before a DFL debate Sunday, where all three candidates were critical of mining; each candidate refused to say whether they support the controversial PolyMet project, a non-ferrous mine currently facing permitting. Instead, they talked about the need to balance environmental concerns with economic development. Only Kelliher tipped a hat to Iron Range complaints that the permitting process takes too long: “I think our laws are strong in the state of Minnesota but I think this permitting process has been bungled by the DNR, been bungled by the administration.”

Dayton has already received the endorsement from the United Steelworkers of America, an organizing powerhouse on the Range. He’s got a long history there and knows how important the region can be to DFL politics (he hired an Iron Range field director). The region is economically liberal and socially conservative, but the union influence has helped maintain it as a DFL stronghold that typically has turnouts higher than any other region of the state, giving Rangers an outsize influence in primaries. In 2006, the Iron Range primary voting rate was three times the state average.

This editorial endorsement helps solidify Dayton’s longtime support in the region (although it’s important to note that many of the region’s legislators are backing Kelliher, including Rep. Tom Rukavina, Rep. Tom Anzelc and likely incoming House Speaker Rep. Tony Sertich).

[Disclosure: I covered the Minnesota legislature for the company that owns MDN, American Consolidated Media, for the last two years].

Entenza’s campaign was already the most expensive in the gubernatorial race, but the latest injection of cash puts his campaign in a whole new stratosphere. Entenza’s $1 million from the past two weeks is larger than the total amount of money Margaret Anderson Kelliher has raised this year. Kelliher reported $385,000 cash left on hand in the last financial disclosure, and fellow DFLer Mark Dayton held $334,000 in his campaign coffers. Dayton is the other self-funded candidate in the race, using $2.76 million of his personal funds to date, but unlike Entenza, he has not filed any supplemental loans since the last disclosure period.

This late spending spree may be an indication that Entenza’s campaign is in the early stages of panic mode. Even though he has outspent both his opponents, Entenza has been slow to gain support, with recent polls showing him trailing far behind Dayton and Kelliher.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Photo: WikiMedia.

MedCity News, an online venue for medical news, rated Minnesota’s DFL gubernatorial candidates today, with Minnesota Bureau Chief Thomas Lee (formerly of the Star Tribune) putting House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher at the head of the pack, despite bitter complaints that none of the campaigns have especially focused on bio-sciences or the medical industry.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher, B+: Lee wrote that the grade was largely due to her support of the angel investor tax credit, which supporters said would attract investment in innovative technological areas.

Matt Entenza, C: Little mention of health programs, despite the fact that his wife, Lois Quam, was formerly a UnitedHealth Group executive.

Mark Dayton, D-. Dayton earned this grade through a combination of neglect of the medical industry and his “tax the rich” policy, which MedCity worried would impact investment in startup medical technologies.

Earlier, Rep. Tom Emmer, received an F from the publication.

GOP-endorsed gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer trails every potential Democratic candidate in a new Rasmussen poll.

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton — who polls have shown leading the DFL primary — leads Emmer 40-36 percent. State House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher beats Emmer by almost the same margin, 40-35 percent. Matt Entenza is the only DFL candidate who doesn’t hold a substantial lead over Emmer, though he still beats the GOP nominee by one point. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner receives between 10 to 12 percent in the poll, depending on which Democrat is included.

Most recent polls have shown Emmer running behind the Democrats in the race, but the new Rasmussen numbers should be especially troubling for the candidate since Rasmussen is now to have a house effect slightly favoring Republicans. The new survey shows a large shift in favor of the Democrats from the last time Rasmussen polled the race back in May.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Minnesota’s chapter of the National Organization for Women surprised some when it endorsed DFLer Matt Entenza over Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the first woman endorsed by a major party for governor. Yesterday the group changed course, endorsing Kelliher as well.

“The Minnesota National Organization for Women (Minnesota NOW) proudly endorses two outstanding feminist candidates for Minnesota Governor, Matt Entenza and Margaret Anderson Kelliher,” Minnesota NOW PAC wrote in a release yesterday (pdf). “The Minnesota NOW PAC rates each candidate on her or his own merit which may result in endorsing more than one candidate in a race.”

“Unfortunately, Minnesota cannot have both of these candidates serve as governor at the same time,” the group acknowledged, “so Minnesota NOW would be thrilled to have either one in the Governor’s Mansion.”

Matt Entenza, Robyne Robinson, Margaret Anderson Kelliher

While Margaret Anderson Kelliher has the distinction of being the first woman to get a major party endorsement for governor in state history, it’s the campaign of Matt Entenza that got the nod from the state chapter of the National Organization for Women. Calling Entenza a “great champion of women’s rights,” Minnesota NOW head  Shannon Drury said in a statement to Entenza’s campaign that she was impressed “immediately by [runningmate Robyne Robinson's] intelligence, her candor, and her compassion for all the citizens of this state.”

The group’s political action committee met Saturday, the Star Tribune reports. “The nod might not be the most powerful out there — the PAC had less than $1,000 cash-on-hand, according to recent campaign finance records,” writes reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger.

Kelliher, the only woman in the governor’s race, has backing from another women’s group: the national pro-choice organization EMILY’s List has given her its endorsement.

The following video is what was screened with DFLers and includes a fundraising plea at the start: