It’s finally official, after months of rumors and speculation, Tim Pawlenty will jump into the governor's race this afternoon with a snazzy YouTube video including inspirational background music. Pawlenty is joining a number of Republicans going after the seat including, Jeff Johnson, Keith Downey and Lance Johnson, among others, while on the DFL seat the contenders include Tim Walz, Rebecca Otto, and Erin Murphy.
But what does the former two-term governor’s decision (Pawlenty served from 2003-2011), mean for the race? We turned to WCCO’s political analyst Blois Olson for his take, and he offered three main points:.
1. Pawlenty's entry shows the significance of this race for Republicans, and he is instantly the front-runner.
“They know that the governorship is the prize, Pawlenty gives them what they think is the best chance to win. He will be able to raise the money. I think he’s going to start off his campaign with a million dollars in the bank. That out raises the other Republicans and immediately vaults him to the front of the field. The real question is whether or not he can get the endorsement and whether or not there is a primary on the Republican side.”
2. What happens next depends on how people feel about Pawlenty's time as governor.
“Pawlenty served as governor for eight years. During much of that time, we had budget shortfalls, and of course, the 35W bridge collapse, and some other things, but mostly, people have a better opinion of him now then they did when he was governor. The question is how long will that last. Not to mention, Democrats will begin to attack Pawlenty, for his years as governor and some of the shortcomings they saw there.
3. Does he have a long-term plan?
“The other question is whether Pawlenty can layout a vision for the state that people can get into, rather than getting caught up in issues of the day, from healthcare to Mnsure to MN.IT, and whether or not that is something that helps him in his campaign, or hurts him.”
Whatever happens next, we’ll have more on Pawlenty's role in the race from Olson and other WCCO contributors and guests in the days and weeks to come.