In the week since the state primary set the slate for the governor's race, the three candidates, the DFL's Mark Dayton, the GOP's Tom Emmer and the Independence Party's Tom Horner have appeared together twice in public debates - last Friday's "Almanac" on TPT 2, and on Tuesday before the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce in Brainerd.
That's a pretty good record for fans of debate. Nobody expects all three to keep up that kind of debate schedule. But there is one forum coming up that Emmer will not be at, and we think it would be important for him to be there.
At 4 p.m. today, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities is holding a forum at its conference in Winona. It would seem to be a tough crowd for Emmer. The CGMC?has been battling the state's cutbacks in Local Government Aid over the past several years, and Emmer's plan to balance the state's $6 billion deficit without raising taxes is of special interest to the cities the CGMC represents.
Emmer has talked about "reforming" the LGA, to make it cover essentials like public safety and infrastructure. The mayors, city councilors and city administrators who would have to live and work with those reforms would be vitally interested in hearing about Emmer's plans.
The primary is over, and it is time for Emmer to put some details on his so-far nebulous budget plans.