Molnau dismisses replacement rumor

07/30/2005

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
July 30, 2005

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau on Friday waved off speculation that Molnau might not be Pawlenty’s running mate when he runs for reelection in 2006.

Reacting to a report in Politics in Minnesota, an Internet newsletter published by Sarah Janecek and Blois Olson, Pawlenty said through a spokesman that he “holds Lt. Gov. Molnau in the highest regard and I view her as a very valuable member of my team and cabinet.”

Molnau also serves as commissioner of the Transportation Department, one of the most important cabinet posts.

“We’ve been doing fundraising together and everything we need to do to run as a ticket,” Molnau said. “We’ve not talked about me not doing it.”

The editors of Politics in Minnesota speculated that Molnau might not run because of an important policy difference with Pawlenty, as well as personal considerations. She openly opposed Pawlenty’s proposal to build the Northstar Corridor community rail project. It’s one of the biggest transit projects in the state, and public disagreement is a highly unusual act for an agency head.

Citing unnamed sources, the editors also suggested that Molnau may be wanting to spend time with her grandchildren after a long career in public service.

Shortly after taking office, she bought a farm in Cologne and moved farther away from the Twin Cities.

There have been rumors since Pawlenty was elected that he and Molnau aren’t getting along as well as they did when they were colleagues in the House of Representatives. The dynamics of the two jobs are such that governors and lieutenant governors often become somewhat estranged after they are elected.

Pawlenty in the past has dismissed questions about the friction and has said that it’s all right for him and Molnau to “agree to disagree” philosophically on the rail issue as long as she follows through on implementation of his policies.

Molnau on Friday noted the experience of past lieutenant governors.

“Everybody in this job has had differences with their governors at some point in time. I don’t agree with my husband on everything, and we’ve been together for 35 years,” Molnau said.

Molnau did not unequivocally guarantee that she will be running.

“You never know what comes up. Anything can happen, health things for instance,” she said. “For all I know, the governor could be appointed to a federal position, and I might be running for something else.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that a Minnesota governor ran for reelection with a different partner on the ticket. In 1994, Lt. Gov. Joanell Dyrstad decided to run for the U.S. Senate and Gov. Arne Carlson replaced her with state Sen. Joanne Benson.

On another front in 2006 gubernatorial politics, Politics in Minnesota reported that Attorney General Mike Hatch met with a group of senior DFL leaders at St. Paul’s Lexington Restaurant on Tuesday and told them he was running for governor, but that he wouldn’t formally announce until after Labor Day.

A spokesperson for Hatch, Leslie Sandberg, said, “As [Hatch] said Tuesday night, there are no announcements to make.”