Susan Gaertner announced today that she'll appear in the DFL gubernatorial primary later this year."To be honest, I think my original plan to rely solely on the endorsement and convention process was too politically limiting. I firmly believe that an effort to expand our reach to a much larger universe of Minnesotans is the right direction-especially since some in the field have been in that mode all along."
Gaertner, who has been campaigning in the close quarters of DFL activists for over two years, said her core supporters have been urging her to consider a primary run and have convinced her that someone of her political profile-an outsider with a reputation as a straight-shooting moderate-can do well in the larger primary universe.
"This doesn't mean that I have given up on anyone in the DFL. Like other candidates who have stated their intention to run in a primary, I respect the party process and will continue to work to gain the support of delegates to the DFL convention. I will be working hard, however, to gain the support of the many loyal DFL voters who don't always get engaged in the caucus and convention process," Gaertner said. It's a newsmaker in the race, to be sure, but when most candidates are going to be announcing fundraising totals, it doesn't quite fit -- does this mean that Team Gaertner raised a bunch of money but doesn't think they can get the endorsement, or they didn't raise much in '09 and think they need more time to get their message out?
In either case, this makes at least three, possibly as many as many as four or five candidates who are fairly sure to run in the primary. Let the deal-making begin!
Update: Tom Scheck of MPR just tweeted that Steve Kelley now *will* abide by the endorsement -- this was announced in early December in a letter to the DFL State Central Committee. Interesting back-room deals could be in the cards. |
