politics

The DFL candidates for governor on Thursday came to their first televised debate ready to rumble, and rumble they did.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher questioned Mark Dayton's definition of wealthy; Dayton questioned the completeness of Kelliher's budget plan, and Matt Entenza questioned whether the state can afford the universal health care plan Kelliher supports.

The three have shared forum stages before, but the TPT debate may be Democratic voters' first shot at comparing the three Democratic candidates directly against one other on television. The event was taped Thursday night and will get its first airing Friday night on "Almanac."

They started by mixing it up on taxes and the projected $6 billion state budget deficit.

Dayton pitched his tax plan, which he says would raise about $4 billion by increasing taxes for the richest Minnesotans.

"The alternative is to cut. Margaret ... where are you going to cut?" Dayton said. He added later that he's been attacked for raising taxes too much but hadn't heard "anything that's real" from any other candidate on how to close the budget gap.

Kelliher hit back.

"I think we just disagree on the definition of who is wealthy in the state of Minnesota," Kelliher replied, as Dayton tried to interject. "I think a teacher and a police officer working together as parents, earning over $130,000 a year would be rich in your tax [plan]. That's not rich to me. That's middle class."

When talk turned to creating jobs, each of the three candidates tried to prove he or she would be the "jobs" governor.

Entenza said creating jobs was key and pitched his "clean energy" plan, which would move more money into creating clean energy and retrofitting buildings and therefore create jobs.

Kelliher promoted her own jobs plans, which she's traveled the state pitching, and Dayton noted that he had served as the state's economic development commissioner and promised he would go anywhere to get more jobs in Minnesota.

For parts of the debate, Entenza was sidelined as Dayton and Kelliher, who have been in first and second place in most primary polls, mixed it up. "Do you want to get in on this?" "Almanac" host Cathy Wurzer asked Entenza at one point.

"Very lovely conversation," Entenza said before making his own policy points.

The candidates' digs were sometimes subtle. Kelliher questioned Entenza's lack of commitment to quickly spending more money on K-12 education by citing the need highlighted in a study from Minnesota 2020, the think tank Entenza founded. Dayton cited a United Healthcare report out of Colorado to dispute Entenza's claim that universal health care would be prohibitively expensive. Entenza's wife is a former executive at United Healthcare.

The two most active candidates in the Independence Party primary -- Tom Horner and Rob Hahn -- also wrangled Thursday night in a debate that will also be aired Friday. They, too, found much to disagree upon.

Republican Tom Emmer, who doesn't face a well-funded primary opponent, declined to appear. Instead, the station will air a profile of him that includes a scene of him ducking its reporter.

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger . 651-292-0164