paul thissen

State Rep. Paul Thissen may be seeking the DFL Party’s gubernatorial endorsement, but he sounded down on the whole party thing in a karaoke duet with his wife, Karen Wilson, over the insistent synth tones of Prince’s “1999.”

AFSCME Council 5, the state’s largest union for public employees, has endorsed former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton for governor.
“Mark Dayton has won statewide elections — twice,” said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5, in a press release announcing the endorsement. “Minnesotans know and like Mark. That’s because he listens more than any other candidate. [...]

To paraphrase Billy Martin, who said it was a shame to name Hubert H. Humphrey after the Metrodome, it stinks that Christopher Columbus came to America on a snowy October day like this. A dome would be really nice over the whole University of Minnesota campus, where both of the state’s U.S. Senators are today: Al Franken [...]

The results of a DFL-sponsored “practice” election for governor using instant-runoff voting (IRV) would have been the same even if IRV hadn’t been used: The winner was state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher – who made her run for guv official this morning — with Mayor R.T. Rybak in the runner-up slot.

A Democrat hasn’t been elected governor in Minnesota since 1986. If that trend continues in 2010 it certainly won’t be for a lack of qualified candidates. Currently nine DFLers have announced their intention to seek the state’s top office, with a few others still mulling a run. On Tuesday seven of the challengers showed up [...]

Late results of a very early straw poll in the race for DFL governor show state Sen. John Marty slightly ahead of former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton for the lead, with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman running neck-and-neck close behind. The number of DFL gubernatorial candidates (and near-candidates) who gathered [...]

Five Democrats running for governor have agreed to abide by the party’s nominating process, reports Eric Black at MinnPost, but several others — including some well-funded presumptive front-runners — won’t make such a promise.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s announced plans to axe state refunds for political contributions of $50 or less has set off an email stampede as candidates urge donors to give before the program dies July 1.

As part of his unallotment budget cuts, Gov. Pawlenty vowed to end the program that offers citizens a refund on a $50 donation to a political campaign. It’s not yet final, but the governor said he wants the program axed by July 1, and that has inspired candidates and parties to appeal for refundable donations [...]

Only one thing is certain about the 2010 gubernatorial contest: It will be crowded field. Some three dozen politicians are thinking about climbing into the race. Here’s a look at the crop of DFL contenders.