Emmer, Seifert face off in GOP governor's race

Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert, Republican candidates for Minnesota governor, hold much in common -- they're conservative, they're state lawmakers and they both favor blue ties. But in Plymouth Thursday night, they put their differences very much on display.

In the first head-to-head debate of their long-simmering contest, they were feisty, occasionally biting, and drew as many distinctions as they could. The two are closely matched in delegate strength going into the Republicans' April convention, and both have pledged to drop out if they're not endorsed by their party. There are five other Republican candidates in the race, but they don't have the delegate strength that Emmer and Seifert hold.

During the nearly two-hour debate in front of a crowd that was equally feisty, each took shots at the other and even drew some distinctions with Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Here are some of their exchanges and highlights of their views:

Opening joke

"You didn't ask to check the coin," Emmer said to Seifert after Emmer won a coin toss and, therefore, got to speak first.

Budget plans

"It is easy for you to throw shots at something, but at least I have something," he said back to Emmer, who hasn't released a detailed plan.

Calls for smaller government

Seifert: "If we are going to be leaders as Republicans, we need to start doing what we've talked about for the last 20 years, which is to cut government. I had a delegate the other day that said, 'You know, we need to do more with less when it comes to government.' I would beg to differ. We need to do less with less."

Emmer: "The issue is that government has grown to be just too large, it's out of balance, and it's suffocating the private economy of this state. It's time for people who know how to negotiate outcomes based on our values of smaller government. Let's forget 'limited' -- we're way past that."

Disagreement with Pawlenty

"There's a discussion about expanding Moose Lake [the sex offender facility there] in the bonding bill. ... I disagree," said Emmer. He said the facility Pawlenty wanted to expand, at a total cost of almost $90 million, is too luxurious.

Biting research

"I haven't signed the public subsidy [campaign financing] agreement. I haven't limited myself to the $2.6 or $2.7 million. Because we may be running against somebody like Mark Dayton [former U.S. senator, D-Minn.] who can self-finance up to $8 million. You shouldn't limit yourself and I know my colleague has [agreed] to be part of the public subsidy program. ... I think that's an important distinction," Emmer said to applause.

"You've signed the subsidy agreement three times, in 2004, 2006 and 2008 (for House races," Seifert said. He added that his signature on the subsidy agreement won't limit him against someone who self-finances because his limit would be raised.

Don't attack the moderator

Close call

"How do get people more money? You rai... -- you lower taxes. I almost made that terrible mistake -- raise taxes. You raise their hopes by lowering taxes," Emmer said.

Closing line

"Let's agree: On Nov. 2 we are going to elect a Republican governor," Seifert said. There are more than a dozen Democrats and several Independence Party candidates also running for governor.