Erin murphy tim walz7/2/2023 ![]() ![]() Walz and Swanson actually look like the frontrunners: a July NBC News/Marist poll found 28 percent of Minnesota primary voters favored Swanson, 24 percent supported Walz, and 11 percent backed Murphy. Murphy - a former nurse - is running on a Medicare-for-all platform and picked up an endorsement from the state Democratic Party, though that doesn’t necessarily mean much in Minnesota. What’s the story? The Democratic primary in Minnesota contains all of this year’s big political themes. Jeff Johnson, who also ran for governor in 2014 and lost to Dayton. Tim Pawlenty (you may remember him for his very short-lived race for president in 2012), and former state Rep. Erin Murphy, and state Attorney General Lori Swanson. Tim Walz (D-MN) walks through the Capitol on October 25, 2017. Live results for Minnesota primary elections Minnesota governor primary elections: the tale of two Tims in the race to replace the retiring governor Rep. But Democrats also have openings to pick off a few House districts, in their quest for a majority. Two longtime Democratic Congress members in more conservative districts are running for governor and lieutenant governor, giving Republicans a few of their only chances to win seats from Democrats. With a handful of competitive congressional seats, the state could also be critical in the battle for control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections. Keith Ellison is running for Minnesota Attorney General, but he faces allegations of domestic abuse just days before the primary. Meanwhile, Democratic National Committee vice chair and US Rep. Still, the GOP is fielding credible candidates in a lot of races here, with a particular eye on taking back the governor’s mansion now that Democratic Gov. The national political climate, and backlash against Trump, is going to be a challenge for Republicans if they hope to make any gains in Minnesota in the 2018 midterm elections. His approval rating is hovering around 38 percent among registered voters, compared to the 51 percent of voters who say they disapprove of him, according to an NBC News/Marist poll released last month. These days, though, Trump isn’t faring so well here. The state went for Hillary Clinton by 46.4 percent in 2016, but Donald Trump wasn’t too far behind at 44.9 percent. He’s likely to be the favorite over Johnson, bolstering Democrats’ hopes of holding onto the governorship of this increasingly purple state.With a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators, Minnesota has a reputation as a blue state, but make no mistake: The Land of 10,000 Lakes has a purple hue. Walz, meanwhile, seemed to benefit from a consolidation of anti-Swanson voters. Swanson had antagonized Democratic progressives for years, and was hit by a late-breaking series of scandals involving alleged misuse of state property and personnel for electioneering. Democratic front-runner and Attorney General Lori Swanson finished a poor third behind state legislator Erin Murphy and the winner, U.S. Pawlenty wasn’t the only gubernatorial candidate to have a shockingly bad night, though. ![]() In the end Pawlenty again turned out to be a better candidate on paper than on the campaign trail. He also reminded Trump-loving GOP voters that TPaw called POTUS “unsound, uninformed, unhinged, and unfit to be president of the United States” while withdrawing his support from the GOP nominee after the Access Hollywood video came out in October of 2016. Johnson played the underdog well, scoring points over Pawlenty’s post-presidential-campaign career as a D.C.-based bank lobbyist. Sparse polling showed him comfortably in the lead.īut then on Tuesday night, he lost. ![]() Perhaps drawing on his experience in Iowa, he did not pursue the endorsement of the conservative-activist–dominated state party, and instead attempted to drown his primary opponent, 2014 gubernatorial nominee and local government official Jeff Johnson, in a sea of name identification and money (he was outspending Johnson by a ten-to-one margin as of June). Having embodied a political version of the Peter Principle (holding that most people eventually rise to a level where they become incompetent), Pawlenty went back to his comfort zone and announced a third gubernatorial run. ![]()
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