Monday, September 25, 2023
SNAPSHOT
The race for governor in Minnesota provided the most visible nailbiter of Election Night, but incumbent Tim Pawlenty pulled out a re-election bid by just 22,000 votes over Attorney General Mike Hatch. Independence Party member Peter Hutchinson finished a distant third, but retained major-party status for the Independents.
But Pawlenty's second term looks to be significantly different with the loss of every other Republican in the executive branch and the DFL success in gaining control of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
The race for governor in Minnesota provided the most visible nailbiter of Election Night, but incumbent Tim Pawlenty pulled out a re-election bid by just 22,000 votes over Attorney General Mike Hatch. Independence Party member Peter Hutchinson finished a distant third, but retained major-party status for the Independents.
But Pawlenty's second term looks to be significantly different with the loss of every other Republican in the executive branch and the DFL success in gaining control of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Candidates
Walt E. Brown (Quit Raising Taxes)
Leslie Davis (American Party)







Ken Pentel (Green)

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Debates
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KSTP gubernatorial debate (10/29/06) |
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Gubernatorial debate - Minneapolis (9/27/06) |
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First gubernatorial debate - Bloomington (9/14/06) |
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Four party-endorsed candidates debate at Farmfest (8/2/06) |
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DFL candidates debate on MPR's Midday (3/7/06) |
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The Money Race
Candidate | Funds |
Tim Pawlenty | $2,027,650 |
Mike Hatch | $1,023,446 |
Peter Hutchinson | $16,210 |
Becky Lourey | $9,000 |
Withdrawn Candidates












Tim Pawlenty survived a scare and claimed a second term as Minnesota governor in come-from-behind fashion. His DFL opponent, Mike Hatch, conceded the race this morning.
(11/08/2006)
With the final debate behind them,
the candidates for governor hit the road Monday with a series of
campaign stops to energize their voters and search out those who
are still undecided.
(11/06/2006)
Minnesota Public Radio's Nov. 5 gubernatorial debate between DFLer Mike Hatch, Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson and Republican incumbent Tim Pawlenty.
( 11/06/2006)
Tax topics took top billing Sunday night as the
debate season closed in Minnesota's tight race for governor.
(11/05/2006)
Democratic candidate Mike Hatch, the frontrunner
in the race for Minnesota governor, took heat Friday from two
rivals over a temper he displayed in the campaign's stretch run.
(11/04/2006)
Mike Hatchlashed out at KSTP-TV by suggesting the station has an agenda because the station's owner, Stanley Hubbard, has contributed to a special interest group that is running TV ads that criticize him.
(11/03/2006)
A recent Minnesota Public Radio/Pioneer Press poll suggests that only 7 percent of Minnesota voters haven't decided who they want to put in the governor's office for the next four years. That means 93 percent have made up their minds. Eight of those decided voters explain their decisions.
(Midday, 11/03/2006)
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, but he's locked in a close race with DFL candidate Mike Hatch.
(11/03/2006)
Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson faces long odds in his race for Minnesota governor. But the public policy consultant is undaunted, because he says Minnesota voters want a change from politics as usual.
(11/03/2006)
Democrat Mike Hatch sought to reassure voters of his expertise on ethanol on Thursday, a day after his running mate drew a blank when she was questioned in farm country about E-85.
(11/02/2006)
Mike Hatch is well-known to Minnesotans as a scrappy -- sometimes confrontational -- politician, and he's embracing his bulldog image in his third run for the governor's office.
(11/01/2006)
A new Minnesota Public Radio/St. Paul Pioneer Press poll shows the governor's race remains locked in a dead heat with just six days until the election.
(11/01/2006)
MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with the three campaign managers for the major party candidates for Minnesota governor.
(10/31/2006)
The poll shows Democrat Mike Hatch with 6-point lead over Republican Tim Pawlenty in the race for governor.
(10/31/2006)
Minnesota's candidates for governor sparred Sunday night in their first televised debate of the campaign. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, DFL candidate Mike Hatch and the Independence Party's Peter Hutchinson disagreed on issues such as transportation, immigration and property taxes.
(10/29/2006)