The governor’s race won’t be Hann’s only political battle for 2010

State Sen. David Hann today dropped out of the running for the GOP endorsement in this year’s gubernatorial contest.

Hann, R-Eden Prairie, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, placed a distant third behind the two GOP gubernatorial front runners in the party’s caucus-night straw poll.

Hann will now need to wage a serious campaign effort to win re-election in south suburban District 42.

The wealthy district has historically leaned Republican.

But President Obama won both the solidly Republican House District 42B in Eden Prairie and the swing district 42A to the north in Minnetonka in 2008. Hann in 2006 defeated DFLer Carol Bomben by less than 5 percent.

This year, Eden Prairie City Council member Ron Case is running as a DFLer for the Senate seat.

One wild card will be the extent to which national politics affects the race. Republican strongholds in recent legislative elections in Minnesota have frequently fared poorly for the GOP in part because of the low approval ratings of former President Bush. Republicans, who cite Scott Brown’s recent U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, contend that their electoral prospects have improved since the new Democratic administration in Washington took office.

On the gubernatorial campaign trail, the two GOP front runners, Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert, sent out press releases that praised Hann for his “conservative message and “core conservative principles.”

Emmer said that Hann “raised the level of debate in this race considerably.”

Hann, however, trailed Emmer and Seifert substantially in the GOP straw poll results earlier this month on caucus night. Seifert received 50 percent, Emmer received 39 percent and Hann received 5 percent.

One Response to “The governor’s race won’t be Hann’s only political battle for 2010”

1. Walter Scott Hudson Says:
   February 18th, 2010 at 12:05 am

   Hann was my state senator while I lived in Eden Prairie. I had occasion to speak with him and attended one of his town hall meetings with Representatives Loon and Ruud. He is solidly conservative and carries himself with remarkable decorum. He does elevate the debate, as Emmer said. I wish him well in his effort to retain the SD42 seat, and regret being no longer able to support him, as I am no longer a resident of that district.