Overheard at the Capitol: Kelliher would not relinquish leadership role in gubernatorial bid

Though she’s not yet an official candidate for governor, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) has been discussing her pending run with members of the House DFL caucus in a series of one-on-one conversations. And the word around the Capitol is that Kelliher would retain her position as speaker through the course of the upcoming 2010 winter legislative session, resigning it only if/when she were to win the DFL gubernatorial endorsement next summer.

"There’s a precedent for this in what [former House Minority Leader] Matt Entenza did in 2006," a House DFL staffer notes, adding that when Entenza ran for attorney general in 2006, "He retained his leadership position until the endorsing convention." (This year, Entenza will be one of Kelliher’s competitors for the DFL gubernatorial nomination.)

Kelliher’s approach stands in contrast to that of recent former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (R-Marshall), who resigned his leadership position to pursue a run for governor back on June 3, just a day after Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he wouldn’t seek another term. But Capitol complex old-timers point out there are other precedents for retaining legislative leadership roles during the initial stages of campaigns for higher office: former DFL Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, who ran for governor in 2002, and 1970s-era House Speaker Martin Olav Sabo, who mounted a successful bid for Minnesota’s 5th District U.S. Congress seat in 1978.

 

 

No Responses to “Overheard at the Capitol: Kelliher would not relinquish leadership role in gubernatorial bid”

1. Anonymous Says:
   July 8th, 2009 at 11:50 am

   MAK or her staffer is a moron if he/she thinks pointing to Matt Entenza as an example of ethical behavior is a good idea.

2. Anonymous Says:
   July 8th, 2009 at 3:50 pm

   http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=10664970

3. Anonymous Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 6:18 am

   I’d say that’s pretty good company Margaret’s keeping…