DFL candidate for governor Steve Kelley ready for the challenge, calls for “decisive victory”
01/25/2006
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. (Jan. 24, 2006)—Senator and candidate for governor Steve Kelley today responded strongly to Attorney General Mike Hatch’s comments in the Star Tribune. “Attorney General Hatch today challenged the rest of the DFL candidates to beat him ‘decisively’ for the DFL endorsement. I accept that challenge,” Senator Kelley said. “My campaign has been organizing throughout the state and we are poised to win in June.
“DFLers understand that we have to win in November and that’s why my campaign has been receiving so much support,” he said. Kelley pointed to fundraising success in 2005. “We were able to raise over $250K in 2005 because people throughout the state understand what it takes to win. Frankly, they’re starting to realize that my campaign is working the hardest in this race. We will pull off a win by doing the hard work it takes to organize throughout the state and raise the money necessary to compete with the Republican machine.”
Senator Kelley is focused on winning in November. He declared: “It’s time to stop dividing the party—I am abiding by the DFL endorsement because Democrats need to be united to win. I know that DFL delegates want to win in November. Those delegates are smart—they will choose the candidate who can win. I disagree with Mike Hatch that the winner at the DFL convention will win because of some political purity test. The DFL has changed since Hatch last ran for governor. Thousands of new people have gotten involved in recent years: moms and dads who care about health care; business owners who are concerned about early childhood education; workers who care about renewable energy. These diverse people can’t be boxed in by Hatch’s old-hat way of thinking.”
Kelley continued, “We can win the DFL endorsement and the general election in November. We are running a campaign that brings people from all walks of life together—exactly what being a successful governor is all about.
“If I win the DFL endorsement, it will be because we have the strongest campaign. It will be because I have drawn the clearest contrast with Tim Pawlenty. It will be because I am the only candidate with a clear, positive vision to return Minnesota to being the national leader in education, health care, transportation and renewable energy. That is what DFLers, like many Minnesotans, want to see in a candidate. And that is what they want in a governor.”
Jessica Null
Communications Director
612.805.8329
Kelley for Minnesota
8100 Wayzata Boulevard
Golden Valley, MN 55426
Main 612.343.8815
Fax 763.544.8691
http://www.kelleyformn.org