Minnesota's three remaining candidates for governor met face-to-face Friday night for the first time since Tuesday's primary in a very feisty televised debate that highlighted the messages each campaign hopes to solidify before November.

Appearing live on TPT's "Almanac," DFLer Mark Dayton, Republican Tom Emmer and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner jousted largely over taxes and jobs. With two DFL opponents now mere spectators of the race, Dayton and Emmer wasted no time hammering each other over their plans -- particularly regarding the state's $6 billion budget deficit.

"You're gonna put a target on the back of every business in this state," Emmer told Dayton, who has made taxing the rich a signature focus of his campaign. "We can't do this."

Emmer said streamlining government programs and encouraging businesses' growth are two key routes to resolving the state's budget crisis. Dayton insisted that Emmer's plan was overly vague and insufficient to tackle the deficit.

"Where is the 6 billion dollars in [revenues]? "Tell us where the 6 billion dollars in cuts are," Dayton said.

The hourlong discussion was packed with crosstalk and occasional interruptions from moderators Eric Eskola and Cathy Wurzer, who had a tough time restraining Dayton and Emmer from attacking each other's plans.

Horner, meanwhile, found himself in the middle of two warring partisan giants, and spent most of the discussion criticizing his opponents for their aggressive sparring.

"The bickering has got to stop," Horner said. "How can you guys possibly work together? How are you going to get anything done?"

Dayton didn't hesitate from firing back at Horner -- several times.

"We're going to have 81 more days of this refrain?" he asked. "Why don't we just tape it? And you can just play it on cue."

Both Emmer and Horner took turns playing up their experience in the private sector, criticizing Dayton for being a lifelong politician out of touch with the realities of running a business.

"With all due respect, Senator, I've actually been living outside of government while you've been serving inside," Emmer said.

Hockey pucks

In a rare break from the fiery discussion, each candidate was asked in a pretaped segment to use pucks on an air-hockey table to lay out their budget plans.

All three made education and health care their top spending priorities. Emmer's chart was tilted more heavily toward spending cuts than revenue boosts, and that came largely from reducing health care spending and bond debt.

Toward the end of the debate, Emmer made clear that fiscal issues should dominate the race from now to Election Day on Nov. 2. Asked about whether same-sex marriage laws should be put to a statewide vote, Emmer said, "This election is not about those issues. This election is about the economy and it's about jobs."

Friday's event was the first debate of the general election race, but it will hardly be the last. All three candidates are slated to appear Saturday morning at Game Fair, a hunting and fishing expo in Anoka.

Eric Roper • 612-673-1732