Saying he will put "the state before the party," former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi announced on Tuesday that he will back Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner.

"It's difficult for a Democrat sometimes to stand up and say you are going to endorse someone else," Ciresi said at a Capitol news conference. "But when the choice is so clear to this state, it's an easy choice."

With just two weeks before the election, the well-known Twin Cities attorney became the first big-name Democrat to break ranks with the party and support Horner. Horner, a former Republican, has worked to frame himself as a common-sense moderate who appeals to all political stripes. Until now, his biggest other-party supporters have been Republicans, such as former Gov. Arne Carlson and a slate of former GOP legislators.

Horner's camp hopes Ciresi's endorsement ushers in a wave of Democratic support as he tries to trounce rivals DFLer Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer.

"This has been a campaign focused on ideas," Horner said. "And it's a campaign that has brought together a number of different people, independents, Republicans and Democrats."

David Schultz, a Hamline University professor and political analyst, said Ciresi's endorsement probably won't help Horner peel away diehard DFLers.

"It's not like Walter Mondale doing the endorsement," Schultz said of the Democratic former vice president.

Ciresi had two failed bids for U.S. Senate. In 2000, Dayton crushed him in the Democratic primary and went on to win the seat. Eight years later, he dropped out of the Senate race before the convention where DFLers endorsed Al Franken.

Ciresi said the endorsement has no whiffs of revenge.

"This is not a slight against Mark Dayton," he said. "He's a decent and great Minnesotan."

Democrats and Republicans have worked to shore up their base and prevent party leaders from bolting for Horner. When former Republican legislators announced they were backing Horner, state Republican Party deputy chairman Michael Brodkorb called them has-beens who are out of touch with the party. On Tuesday, DFL Party leaders opted not to comment.

Ciresi said he isn't turning his back on his party. He noted he has financially backed a host of Democratic candidates for Congress in Minnesota and other states. Ciresi has given $2,000 to the Horner campaign, the maximum allowed.

Horner and Ciresi said they first got to know each other in the late 1990s, as the state and Blue Cross and Blue Shield negotiated a multibillion-dollar tobacco settlement with cigarette manufacturers. At the time, Ciresi was the lead lawyer while Horner handled Blue Cross and Blue Shield's public relations campaign.

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