Mattson, Cotter bow out of DFL race

07/21/2006

Swanson, Luther, Kelley still vying in primary

BY RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER
Pioneer Press

Then there were three.

In the same week DFL-endorsed candidate Matt Entenza ended his campaign for Minnesota attorney general, five DFL candidates joined the race. On Thursday, two of the lesser-known candidates — attorneys Patrick Cotter and Jennifer Mattson — abandoned their abbreviated bids.

The remaining three candidates — state Sen. Steve Kelley, former U.S. Rep. Bill Luther and state Solicitor General Lori Swanson — will appear on the September primary ballot. All three declared their candidacies within hours after Entenza, the subject of controversy about potential conflicts of interest and his integrity, quit the race.

Swanson and Kelley made their first appearances as candidates Thursday at a health care law forum in Brooklyn Center along with state Rep. Jeff Johnson, the Republican-endorsed candidate. Luther did not attend.

During the hour-long, policy-heavy luncheon discussion, Swanson made it clear she would be the stay-the-course candidate. She has been working with Attorney General Mike Hatch throughout his two terms in office. And she worked with him for three years in private practice before.

“I’m running for attorney general because over the last seven years, the office of the attorney general has stood as a sentry for patients when it comes to health care concerns,” said Swanson, whom Hatch had long urged to run. She filed her candidacy within an hour after Entenza withdrew from the race.

Still, she, like Kelley, referred to how little time she had to prepare to be an attorney general candidate.

“My name is Lori Swanson,” she told the group of health care workers by way of introduction. “My campaign is less than 48 hours old, so I don’t have a stump speech prepared.”

Johnson, however, has been campaigning since February 2005 and suggested he would make significant changes to the tone and, to some extent, the focus of the attorney general’s office if he wins in November.

“I don’t think you will see the lawsuit or press conference as the first resort,” said the Plymouth Republican. Although Johnson did not cite specific instances, he said that under Hatch, some businesses and nonprofits were “maybe not being treated quite as fairly as they should be.”

He said he would devote much of his focus in office to “public safety … especially keeping kids safe.”

Kelley, who already has the endorsement of two midsize trade unions, said he supports universal health care and would work to keep health care costs down.

“Our reimbursement rate system is clearly broken,” Kelley said, drawing applause. “We are sending the wrong signals to our marketplace.”

Kelley was running for governor until last month, when he lost the DFL endorsement to Hatch. Hatch is running against incumbent Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Kelley’s statewide run added a complication to his new race for attorney general.

According to campaign finance law, he said, all of his spending on the governor’s race this year would count against limits imposed on candidates who choose to accept public subsidies for their campaigns. That would mean the $250,000 he spent on his unsuccessful bid for the DFL gubernatorial endorsement would be subtracted from the $478,000 he would be allowed to raise as an attorney general candidate.

Kelley said he would forgo the public subsidy so that he can raise the money he’ll need to wage a vigorous campaign.

Even Johnson said there’s something odd about that.

“I probably won’t fight it, but it doesn’t seem fair,” Johnson said of the twist that limits his Democratic opponent’s fundraising.