I thought Margaret Anderson Keliher was going to pull off the upset, but it looks like former Senator Mark Dayton pulled ahead at the end to win the DFL primary last night up in Minnesota. On the GOP side of things, Tom Emmer ran past his opponents (none of them serious) and for the Independence Party Tom Horner got the official nod, all of which sets up what promises to be another corker of a governor's race up in Minnesota.
Interesting fact: the Democrats haven't won the Governor's mansion in Minnesota since 1986. That I didn't know and frankly it was surprising to me. Minnesota has been the most faithful of blue states since the 70s (last Republican they voted for in a Presidential election was Richard Nixon) but since 1986, it's been Republicans and Independence Party folk in the Governor's Mansion- no DFLers. That's quite the drought, which makes Dayton's ability to unite the party a crucial factor in shaping this race as the campaign season gets underway.
While Iowa's race for Governor looks to be more cut and dried than Minnesota's, it's worth pointing out that I don't really have the measure of GOP nominee Tom Emmer just yet. Star Tribune and the press I've seen seems to be spinning this as advantage:DFL for the governorship this fall, but I think Emmer will have a more united party behind him than Dayton will and then there's Tom Horner and the Independence Party to ponder. Do I think Horner can win the day? It'd be nice if he could, but Dayton and Emmer are going to have a lot of money behind them that Horner won't and unless Dayton and Emmer start bludgeoning each other to death and Horner emerges as a more positive alternative, I'm not sure how much noise they're going to make.
Either way, it's going to be one heckuva campaign up in the Medium White North.
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