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Candidates debate outdoor issues at Game Fair

Dayton, Emmer, Independence Party candidate Tom Horner and Resource Party candidate Linda Eno waded through issues affecting Minnesota's outdoor enthusiasts in front of a crowded tent littered with panting dogs. The top issues? Hunting wolves, imposing shoreline regulations, and raising hunting and fishing fees.

August 16, 2010 at 6:01PM

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The gubernatorial debate on Almanac Friday night may have been fiery, but hours later the candidates made it clear they were also packing heat – literally.

"I have two loaded .357 Magnum pistols in my home right now in a lock box," DFL candidate Mark Dayton told a crowd gathered Saturday at Game Fair, a hunting and fishing expo in Anoka. "I have a 9mm pistol at home. I have a twelve-gauge shotgun at home."

Republican Tom Emmer remarked that he scheduled his classes in college around his hunting schedule and that his daughter just returned from a week at gun camp. "She did take a scope in the face with a 30-aught-six," Emmer said. "And she still looks pretty good."

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Dayton, Emmer, Independence Party candidate Tom Horner and Resource Party candidate Linda Eno waded through issues affecting Minnesota's outdoors in front of a crowded tent littered with panting dogs. The top issues? Hunting wolves, imposing shoreline regulations, and raising hunting and fishing fees.

Dayton went after Emmer for co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the Legacy Amendment, which provided dedicated funding for outdoor activities. Emmer responded that he would take his name off the repeal, which he once supported because of concern with how the oversight council would allocate the funds.

"The trouble with death bed conversions is they seldom last if the patient recovers," Dayton quipped, recalling a line Walter Mondale once told him.

Emmer hit back at Dayton for his "F" rating from the NRA in 2000.

"How is it that you can have an F rating from the NRA and you can sit up here and tell us that you're going to defend sportsmens' rights?" Emmer asked, an NRA pin affixed to his pocket.

A markedly irritated Dayton responded that his grade was the result of a Senate vote on so-called "cop killer bullets."

Horner criticized Emmer for saying he would let the Department of Agriculture handle environmental regulations relating to agriculture. "That's absolutely the wrong way to go," Horner said.

"This was about making sure that the pollution control rules work with farmers so we can all recognize the goals that we have," Emmer responded.

The three major candidates agreed that wolves should be taken off the endangered species list. Horner said hunting and fishing license fees should be increased, while Emmer said they should not and Dayton said he would ask the Department of Natural Resources to solicit feedback from outdoors groups.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Regarding shoreline regulations which affect many Minnesotans with lake homes, the candidates had differing opinions. Emmer said Pawlenty did the "right thing" and there should be more local control, Horner said regulations are needed to protect water quality, while Dayton said the DNR has to be more responsive to different community needs.

As with any governor's debate this year, talk inevitably turned to the budget – taxes in particular. While Dayton has said in the past that he will raise taxes on individuals earning $130,000 a year or couples earning $150,000 a year, he raised those numbers to $150,000 and "almost" $170,000 during Saturday's forum.

Spokeswoman Katie Tinucci said the plan hasn't changed, but he is now describing his tax strategy in terms of base rather than taxable income. The change in rhetoric is notable given that candidates on both sides have criticized Dayton's tax plan for affecting middle class Minnesotans.