8/15/18, “Tim Walz, Jeff Johnson to face off in Minnesota governor’s race,“ Star Tribune, J. Patrick Coolican
“Jeff Johnson shocked the Minnesota political world when he built an insurmountable lead over former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Meanwhile, Tim Walz defeated Erin Murphy and Lori Swanson on the DFL side.”
“Jeff Johnson shocked the Minnesota political world Tuesday with a commanding victory in the Republican primary for governor, while U.S. Rep. Tim Walz won a three-way race in the DFL primary, setting up a clash of starkly different visions for the state’s future.
Johnson, a Hennepin County commissioner, derailed former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s bid to win back his old job. Pawlenty had been widely seen as the front-runner thanks to much higher name recognition from his two previous terms in office, and Johnson overcame a vast fundraising disadvantage with a message of change and by courting supporters of President Donald Trump.
“We have given the government of Minnesota back to the hardworking, forgotten men and women of this state, and you all helped,” Johnson said, gesturing at the jubilant crowd at his primary night party in Plymouth, where he lives….
Walz, who is from Mankato, promised to use his biography and greater Minnesota ties to form new coalitions that could break through the gridlock that has crippled state government in recent years, on issues like taxes and the opioid epidemic. “If we take the state and bind it together, there’s nothing we can’t do. Nothing we can’t do,” he said.
Walz defeated state Rep. Erin Murphy and Attorney General Lori Swanson, bouncing back after losing the DFL endorsement at the state convention in June to an energetic Murphy campaign.
Jeff Johnson greeted his supporters at the watch party at Lucky’s 13 Pub in Plymouth after giving his victory speech in the Republican primary for governor on Tuesday.
Based on early returns data, more than 800,000 voters turned out to vote Tuesday, with still more precincts to count — beating recent primary totals….
The stakes of the governor’s race are huge following the eight-year tenure of DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, which saw tax increases and bigger investments in schools and social programs.
The next governor will be in office after the 2020 census, after which new legislative and congressional districts will be drawn. If Johnson wins and Republicans hold on to legislative majorities, Republicans will have full control of state government for the first time in half a century, allowing them to reduce the size and scope of government and weaken the influence of public sector labor unions.
“We have to win in November. We have to win for the people of Minnesota. We have to win so we can let them keep more money in their pocket and leave government out of their daily lives,” Johnson said.
Johnson, 51, won the Republican endorsement at the party’s June convention. Although badly outspent by Pawlenty, Johnson ran a grass-roots campaign that took him around the state in an RV festooned with his image and the slogan, “Overturn the Status Quo.”
Despite a long career in politics that includes losing soundly to Dayton in 2014, nearly a decade on the Hennepin County Board and a stint in the Legislature, Johnson made the case for change against Pawlenty, who previously served as governor from 2003 to 2011.
Pawlenty’s stunning primary loss brought a likely end to his political career. Asked at his campaign party in Eagan if he was now retired from politics, he responded: “The answer is yes."
Based on early returns data, more than 800,000 voters turned out to vote Tuesday, with still more precincts to count — beating recent primary totals….
The stakes of the governor’s race are huge following the eight-year tenure of DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, which saw tax increases and bigger investments in schools and social programs.
The next governor will be in office after the 2020 census, after which new legislative and congressional districts will be drawn. If Johnson wins and Republicans hold on to legislative majorities, Republicans will have full control of state government for the first time in half a century, allowing them to reduce the size and scope of government and weaken the influence of public sector labor unions.
“We have to win in November. We have to win for the people of Minnesota. We have to win so we can let them keep more money in their pocket and leave government out of their daily lives,” Johnson said.
Johnson, 51, won the Republican endorsement at the party’s June convention. Although badly outspent by Pawlenty, Johnson ran a grass-roots campaign that took him around the state in an RV festooned with his image and the slogan, “Overturn the Status Quo.”
Despite a long career in politics that includes losing soundly to Dayton in 2014, nearly a decade on the Hennepin County Board and a stint in the Legislature, Johnson made the case for change against Pawlenty, who previously served as governor from 2003 to 2011.
Pawlenty’s stunning primary loss brought a likely end to his political career. Asked at his campaign party in Eagan if he was now retired from politics, he responded: “The answer is yes."
Walz, 54, is a sixth-term congressman from southern
Minnesota, and which backed President Donald Trump by 15 percentage
points in 2016. He is the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on
Veterans Affairs….
Given the stakes and the candidate résumés, interest groups are expected to flood the November contest with money for advertising — most of it slashing attacks on the opposition.
For months, the political arms of groups like the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership, which represents the state’s largest corporations, were gearing up to help Pawlenty in hopes of a state government more conducive to business tax cuts and an end to big city progressives’ drive to increase the minimum wage and other benefits.
Johnson will now need to persuade the big donors that he can win in November after his 2014 loss by 110,000 votes in a good Republican year, in what many considered a lackluster campaign.
On the DFL side, labor unions and a few wealthy contributors who traditionally back the DFL are expected to pour money into the race. These DFL activists are especially alarmed at the prospect of Minnesota becoming like nearby states, which have shifted markedly into Republican territory in recent years….
Denise Kozojed, a 62-year-old saleswoman from Wayzata, said Johnson is “very authentic,” which led him to connect with people across the state.
“I think it says money doesn’t buy votes,” she said. “People who work the crowd like Jeff has makes a difference. People really appreciate that.”” image of Johnson victory party from Star Tribune
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