A fundraiser called tonight saying Atty Gen Mike Hatch will run

[jean]

for governor in '06 if he can raise the money.

Has anyone else heard about this?

[KitchenWitch]

1. This is the first I have heard

I am glad to hear it...:D

[jean]

2. self delete

thought better of posting personal info

[DFLer4edu]

3. I want to see him debate Pawlenty

He would make a great candidate and a great governor.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. I got a fundraising call, too,

although I'm unable to contribute at this time.

[goodhue]

5. I much prefer Steve Kelley to Hatch

http://www.kelleyforminnesota.org/

I'm also pretty intruiged by, not your typical politician, Philbrook . . .

http://www.philbrook2006.com/

IMHO Hatch is much too mean-spirited to defeat ever-sunny Pawlenty.

[jean]

8. Timmy's ever-sunny face is a facade - he's mean to the core and perhap

Hatch could reveal that to Minnesota

[indigo32]

6. received a call last week

not particularly interested in having him be our candidate.
He is a good guy...
but not brilliant and not particularly charismatic. He's lost before.
I'd really like to see us put forth a strong candidate.

[blogspotdog]

7. Mike Hatch as candidate for governor . . .

Mike Hatch is a fighter, and I think he could go toe to toe with Timmy pretty well. Personalities are going to be very important in the next race for gov, and the DFL needs somebody who can stick the knife in and twist it while wearing a smile of Christian charity the whole time.

Kelley could be a good candidate too, but he has got to get tougher and better at jabbing on his feet.

[dflprincess]

9. One advantage to having dial up is

you miss a lot of these calls.

I would love to see Hatch run for governor. I just hope he doesn't make Timmy the Tool cry during debates - I'd hate for people to vote for Timmy because they feel sorry for him.

[UrbScotty]

10. Politics1 says he is

www.politics1.com

... In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Attorney General Mike Hatch (D) informed party leaders he will enter the race against Governor Tim Pawlenty (R). However, Hatch will wait in September to make a formal announcement. Pawlenty, meanwhile, denied rumors over the weekend that he was planning to dump Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau as his runningmate. He said they will again run as a team next year.

[goodhue]

11. Cites strib, which in turn cites Politics in Minnesota newsletter

Here is strib account:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5534218.html

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 said Tuesday night, there are no announcements to make."

[goodhue]

12. Here is Politics in Minnesota account . . .

http://mnpolitics.com/pim-report.asp?section=PIMReport&article=pim-report-07-29-2005

07/29/2005

--A collection of insider news and opinion--

Hatch Announces...Kinda

It?s official. Well kind of. DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch is getting into the Governor?s race. But he?s not going to do it until after Labor Day. Hatch addressed a specially assembled group of Democrats who gathered at the Lexington Tuesday night and said he is running.

And what an "assembly" it was. Those who attended included: his two predecessors, former DFL Attorneys General Skip Humphrey and Warren Spannaus; former DFL Party executive director Jerry Smargia and his father Joe; lobbyist Andy Kozak; PR executive Kathy Tunheim; former DFL Governor Wendy Anderson; Rep. Tom Rukavina (D-Virginia); Sen. Richard Cohen (D-St. Paul); former DFL House Speaker Phil Carruthers; former DFL U.S. Congressman Bill Luther; former DFL Sen. Doug Johnson; and Sen. David Tomassoni (D-Chisholm).

This is what most people would call the "DFL Old Boys Club," and it is the group that Hatch has had in his corner in the past, and needs in his corner to get off to the right start. The real test may come among the "DFL New Kids Club" that recently elected Brian Melendez as party chair.

The meeting could be viewed as preemptive. Speculation about Hatch was starting to drift, with most people figuring that he wasn?t going to jump in. Many people believe he had to say it to his closest allies, or the doubts would continue. But, it?s also decisive. Hatch could be Attorney General for life, and until recently, Pawlenty was very popular and thus considered tough to beat.

While Hatch immediately becomes the front-runner on the DFL side, his history with the activists and the endorsement process is rocky. As a challenger for an open seat, Hatch has never honored the DFL endorsement. In 1990, when he was serving as Commissioner of Commerce in the Rudy Perpich Administration, Hatch challenged his boss. Hatch was one of the reasons Perpich was so damaged going into the general election that year. In 1994, Hatch almost won the DFL primary against endorsed candidate John Marty, and in 1998, he beat DFL-endorsed Ember Reichgott Junge in the primary to be Attorney General.

* * *

(follow link for more)

http://mnpolitics.com/pim-report.asp?section=PIMReport&article=pim-report-07-29-2005