State Rep. Tom Emmer has spent a good deal of time railing against what he calls runaway government spending.

So one would think the Republican-endorsed gubernatorial candidate would relish the chance to put his stamp of approval on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's unilateral budget cuts he imposed last summer, the same ones the state Supreme Court struck down Wednesday.

Yet, Emmer was notably absent Friday when the House voted to ratify the governor's cuts (it failed 105 to 27).

David FitzSimmons, Emmer's campaign manager, said the candidate was in Roseville for his son's hockey tryouts and then was headed to Willmar for a campaign event with Lee Byberg, a Republican congressional candidate.

House staffers said Emmer's absence was excused.

That didn't stop DFLers from seizing on the Emmer-free vote and bashing his campaign staff for apparently being vague as to his whereabouts. The campaign staff initially said he left for a family matter and omitted the campaign event.

"I'm not sure what's worse — the fact that Tom Emmer skipped out on a crucial vote while our state is facing a serious budget crisis, the fact that he did so to participate in a campaign rally, or that he had his campaign staff lie about it," said DFL associate chairwoman Donna Cassutt. "Any way you look at it though, Tom Emmer's priorities are clearly misplaced."