In Minn. governor’s race, polarized parties create opening for candidate from party of Ventura

Polarized Minn. gov. race leaves opening for indie

MINNEAPOLIS — An independent candidate for Minnesota governor hoping to follow in Jesse Ventura’s footsteps is showing surprising strength in a race against a Democrat and a Republican at polar ends of the political spectrum.

Tom Horner, a moderate former Republican and savvy public relations operative, hopes to harness the same discontent that fueled Ventura’s unexpected 1998 election. While trailing in the polls behind Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer, Horner has lined up bigger-name support and set a stronger fundraising pace than other Independence Party candidates who followed Ventura, and whose campaigns were election footnotes.

Recently, in a sign that they consider him a threat, the Democratic and Republican parties ramped up their public attacks on Horner, with Republicans calling him a traitor and Democrats trotting out his GOP past.

“He’s already made it a more interesting race, and I think he’s got a shot at it,” said John Wodele, a longtime Democratic operative who worked for Ventura’s administration and has since returned to working for Democrats. Earlier this month, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis — the state’s largest newspaper — editorialized that Horner is a “serious contender” who “deserves full consideration.”

The independent’s showing is another example of the turbulence of the midterm election campaign, roiled by the emergence of ultra conservative tea parties and the defeat of a number of prominent incumbents and mainstream candidates. The nomination of an exceptionally conservative Republican candidate in Minnesota changed the range of choices available for voters in a state where many Republicans are moderates, but conservatives control the candidate selection process.

Horner, with crisp suits and polished style, has little in common with the colorful and sometimes controversial Ventura. In polls so far, Horner has failed to clear about 15 percent support — though Ventura did little better at this point in 1998. And both Dayton and Emmer have failed to break out. The liberal Dayton, a sometimes awkward one-term U.S. senator, is still remembered for being named one of America’s worst senators by Time magazine; and Emmer, a tea party favorite and occasionally hotheaded state legislator, has endured gaffes and stumbles in recent weeks. Polls have shown a large number of undecided voters.

Horner — who has worked as a strategist for other candidates — said his opponents have given him an opportunity.

“In Minnesota, you win elections by running to the middle,” Horner said. “In this race, you have a Democrat and a Republican who are trying to win without doing that, who represent the extreme ends of their parties. There’s a big opening left for us to walk right into.”

Politically, Horner has tracked closely to Ventura by mixing promises of fiscal conservatism with moderation on social issues like abortion and gay rights. Dayton has vowed to resolve the state budget deficit mostly with income tax hikes, while Emmer promises only spending cuts. Horner wants to split the difference with sales tax increases on cigarettes and clothes, unspecified spending cuts and government reforms.

A number of prominent members of Minnesota’s moderate Republican old guard have endorsed Horner, including former two-term Gov. Arne Carlson and former three-term Sen. Dave Durenberger — for whom Horner worked for almost a decade.

Horner has tapped donations from across the establishment, including real estate executive Ralph Burnet, a longtime GOP donor, and Bob Dayton, a philanthropist and first cousin to the Democratic candidate, both heirs to a large department store fortune. Horner’s campaign manager, Steven Imholte, said he’s on pace to raise $2.5 million by Election Day — not enough to match Dayton or Emmer, but enough to keep TV ads airing regularly in the campaign’s pivotal last weeks.

Horner said he needs to start showing strength in the polls by early October if he’s to be more than the latest Ventura wannabe. “I need people to see that I’m a real alternative,” Horner said.