Nearly a year out from next year's election for Minnesota governor, a straw poll of Republican Party activists on Saturday provided a first indication of which GOP candidate could end up on the ballot.
More than 350 attendees of the Republican Party of Minnesota's State Central Committee meeting in Brainerd listened to speeches from seven candidates before casting their ballots. Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, came in first with just over 30 percent of the vote.
Dean, who is serving his seventh term in the state Legislature, has made health care — and particularly doing away with MNsure, the state's individual insurance market — a focus of his campaign. Speaking Friday at a candidate forum hosted by the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Dean said he aims to be a governor willing to remove boundaries that hold businesses back.
"We need a governor who understands that, and doesn't have to choose between clean water and prosperity, and clean water and a good economy," he said.
Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, the 2014 GOP gubernatorial candidate who ultimately lost to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, was second with 26 percent of the vote.
Johnson, a former member of the state House, also pitched himself as a pro-business candidate interested "taking power away from government."
"We're going to change the attitude, the culture in government, from controlling and directing and punishing people and businesses to actually serving the people and the entrepreneurs who pay our salaries," he said.
Former Republican Party chairman Keith Downey finished third in the straw poll with about 17 percent. His campaign quickly sent out a news release applauding the results.
