GOP sheriff endorses Erlandson in DFL race

08/01/2006

Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune
Last update: July 31, 2006 – 11:17 PM

Hennepin County Sheriff Pat McGowan, a Republican, endorsed former DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson for Congress in the Fifth District on Monday, saying Erlandson understands Washington best.

McGowan said “there is no better advocate” than Erlandson for public safety. After he endorsed Erlandson, McGowan directed heavy criticism at another candidate, state Rep. Keith Ellison, who he said has never been a friend of law enforcement. Ellison called the remarks “demonstrably false.”

Erlandson released his public-safety plan at a City Hall news conference. A third candidate, Minneapolis City Council Member Paul Ostrow, said the proposal resembles his own.

It was a rare example of campaign crossfire among the candidates seeking to succeed U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo.

Also seeking the DFL nomination in a Sept. 12 primary are former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge, Gregg Iverson, Patrick Wiles and Andrew Vincent Favorite. Republican Alan Fine, Green Party Member Jay Pond and Independent Party member Tammy Lee also are expected to be on the ballot in November.

Erlandson said he wants to put 100,000 more police officers on the streets across the country and would pay the $9 billion annual tab by redirecting money from elsewhere in the federal budget. He also would require background checks on all gun sales and “stand tough” against root causes of crime by funding early childhood education, among other things.

“We have less police on the streets today than we did five years ago,” Erlandson said. “Law enforcement shouldn’t have to walk into a situation where people have handguns,” he added.

Ostrow immediately issued a news release noting that he had proposed a one-quarter-percent sales tax increase to put 200 more police on Minneapolis streets.

Asked how his plan differs from the others’, Erlandson said it is the focus on root causes, which also includes expanding federal efforts to help abused and neglected children and helping nonviolent offenders after prison.

Talking with reporters, McGowan took aim at Ellison. “For him to stand up and say that he is going to be a champion of law enforcement in Washington is hypocritical,” McGowan said, asserting that Ellison has “never been a supporter of law enforcement in the state Legislature.”

The Ellison campaign responded by saying that he has sponsored many public safety bills, including one to lower the blood alcohol limit for drivers and another directing money to be spent for bullet-proof vests.

Ellison released a list of six “public safety-related bills” he sponsored in 2006, including two designed to expand the definition of prostitution crimes. He also wanted to require that a person convicted of gasoline theft have his or her driver’s license suspended.