Republican Mike McFadden, an executive at the Lazard finance firm, announced Wednesday that he would run against U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., next year.
Republican McFadden will challenge Sen. Al Franken
May 30, 2013 at 2:12AM
McFadden, who has never run for a high-profile office before, is the first Republican to announce a challenge to the Democratic incumbent. Franken won his first race by a recount-inducing few hundred votes.
McFadden said he would particularly stress economic issues and improving education for all in his campaign.
"We have to do better, and those are things I want to talk about in this campaign," he said. "This campaign is not going to be about divisive issues."
In answer to questions from the news media, he offered few specifics about his solutions.
"I look forward to giving you specifics," he said. "We just announced that we filed a campaign committee today. It's a long campaign.
"I want to help solve things."
He said he would seek the Republican Party endorsement for his run but said it was too early to say whether he would drop out if he is not picked. He also said that he would not completely self-fund what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar race but would contribute something to his campaign.
McFadden, of Sunfish Lake, will take a leave of absence from his role as co-chief executive officer of Lazard Middle Market to run.
Tom Erickson will be handling McFadden's communication and messaging. A political operative, Erickson of late has been the executive director of the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, an independent committee that has hammered on DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and DFLers in the Legislature. He is leaving that job to work in McFadden's campaign.
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger • 651-925-5046 • Twitter: @rachelsb
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