The Minnesota GOP has taken a break from beating up on DFLer Mark Dayton to turn its attention to Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner.
Minnesota Republican Party chairman Tony Sutton has demanded Horner have state finance experts analyze his budget proposal.
"Tom Horner hasn't had the guts to submit his plan for a nonpartisan review," Sutton said. "I suspect the math doesn't add up."
Sutton sent Horner's camp a letter Wednesday urging a review. "For the sake of Minnesota voters, it is time to put your money where your mouth is," he wrote.
For weeks, Horner had insisted he has a more detailed plan for resolving the state's multibillion-dollar budget deficit than his rivals, Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer.
On Tuesday, Emmer revealed a plan to balance the state's budget by essentially holding state spending flat. Dayton has pledged to solve most of the budget problem by taxing high earners, but a recent state review showed it doesn't collect nearly as much money as he hoped.
Horner's proposal includes a mix of government reform and an expansion of the state sales tax to bring in what the campaign estimates will be more than $2 billion in addition revenue.
Until there is a more thorough review, "it really calls into question the validity of his plan," Sutton said.
