Political Notebook

Anderson to drop out of gov race, run for auditor

Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat Anderson has called a press conference for 10 a.m. this morning at the state Capitol to make a "significant announcement" regarding her campaign. Several media outlets are reporting that she plans to announce she is dropping out of the 2010 governor's race and instead will run for her old job as state auditor.

Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reported the news last night and notes that she has already changed her Facebook page and Twitter profile to reflect she is running for state auditor. Here is a link to his blog post.

Anderson had struggled to gain traction in the race and ranked a distant third in a GOP straw poll from October. State Rep. Marty Seifert won that poll with state Rep. Tom Emmer coming in second.

Three other Republicans are running for state auditor -- St. Paul school board member Tom Conlon, Long Lake Mayor Randy Gilbert and Auditor's office employee Jeffrey Wit. Current Democratic State Auditor Rebecca Otto has announced she is running for re-election.

And just as Anderson is dropping out of the governor's race, another Republican has entered. Republican Bob Carney, Jr. announced yesterday he is running for governor. Carney made the announcement after placing 10th in the election for Minneapolis mayor in November. Here is a link to Pioneer Press Reporter Bill Salisbury's story about Carney. The means there are seven Republicans still in the running for governor.

Anderson makes campaign official, courts "Tea Party" vote

Republican Pat Anderson stopped in Rochester today as part of a 14-city tour to kick off her gubernatorial campaign. The former State Auditor described herself as a "pro-liberty conservative," who embraces fiscal responsibility, the free-market system and individual responsibility.

Anderson has been busy courting members of the Tea Party movement. Anderson unveiled some of her policy ideas. They include eliminating the corporate income tax, lowering marginal tax rates across the board and expanding the sales tax base. She said that change would make Minnesota's business climate more competitive. She said she also supports school vouchers and getting rid of special tax benefits and subsidies that unfairly benefit some businesses and not others.

"It is a time to choose between a pro-liberty conservative approach to governing and the collectivist world view that would elevate the collective good over individual sovereignty, the needs of the state over the sanctity of private property, and the arbitrary desires of legislators over the rule of law," Anderson said.

She does share the socially conservative values of some of her fellow candidates including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.