On the heels of his victory in a special election for a southern Minnesota Senate seat, Waseca businessman Mike Parry on Wednesday renewed his call to cut state spending, but said he had no specific targets in mind.
"I know there can be cuts," he told reporters at a news conference at the Capitol. "I wanted to take a look to find waste."
Asked what he'd cut, Parry said, "Until I'm into it with both feet and looking at that, I can't give you a specific answer."
Parry called the concept of state-run casinos at horse-racing tracks a "great idea." Racinos were a major cause for his predecessor, Sen. Dick Day, who is resigning the seat to work for horse-racing interests seeking two racinos.
Parry said he opposes public financing for a Vikings stadium.
He sought to distance himself from earlier Twitter comments in which he called President Obama a "power hungry arrogant black man," and asked, "whats with the Dems and Pedofiles?" He apologized earlier this month.
"It's time to focus on the issues," Parry said Wednesday.
In the special election, Parry had 43 percent to Democrat Jason Engbrecht's 36.5 percent. Independent Roy Srp received about 20 percent.
