Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner picked Jim Mulder, a longtime leading voice of local government, as his running mate on Tuesday.
The selection of Mulder was designed to appeal to outstate voters as well as to reinforce Horner's theme that the Independence Party seeks a middle road between policies of the Republican and DFL candidates.
"The state has paid lip service to local governments and then passed the state's problems on to them," said Mulder, who worked 21 years as the executive director of the Association of Minnesota Counties before retiring in March.
Mulder said he'd push to consider letting local governments give up state aid in exchange for the authority to increase local sales taxes. He said the switch would help stabilize local budgets now hurt by state budget deficits.
He also talked about the need to improve education and expand high-speed Internet in rural Minnesota to make the area more competitive with other regions.
Horner's pick breaks from recent practice by having two men fill out a major party's endorsed ticket for governor and lieutenant governor. IP gubernatorial candidate Rob Hahn, who will challenge Horner in the August primary, did the same, choosing Thomas Harens as his running mate over the weekend.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the DFL's endorsed candidate for governor, chose former state budget czar John Gunyou as her running mate. DFL primary challenger Mark Dayton picked state Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon of Duluth. DFL challenger Matt Entenza tapped TV news anchor Robyne Robinson.
Republican Tom Emmer tapped Annette Meeks, founder of a conservative think tank.
The last time a man served as lieutenant governor in Minnesota was in 1983, when Independent-Republican Lou Wangberg held the post.
Mulder, in a news conference, proposed forging greater cooperation among local governments to save money by avoiding duplication of functions such as delivery of social services.
Although Mulder worked for the GOP caucus in the 1980s, he said he has voted for DFL and Independence Party candidates, including former IP candidates for governor Peter Hutchinson and Tim Penny.
"I've truly been an independent person," Mulder said.
That claim was disputed by state Republican Party deputy chair Michael Brodkorb, who said Mulder was "cut from the same cloth" as DFL gubernatorial candidates because he did not firmly oppose raising taxes.
Mulder's background as a voice for counties could make him appealing to voters in Republican-leaning rural areas of the state.
He was an architect of the county association's Minnesota Redesign, which advocated giving local governments greater control over highway maintenance, public safety and some other functions.
One of the proposals, giving county sheriffs power to patrol highways and reduce the State Patrol by 50 percent, has been sharply criticized by Republicans. Mulder characterized it as a brainstorming idea offered as an alternative to the debate over spending and taxes embraced by the DFL and GOP.
"If we only focus on the math of taxes and no taxes, we'll fail as a state," he said.
Pat Doyle • 651-222-1210
