Two mayors test waters - and their friendship

R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman are strongly hinting at rival bids for governor.

By RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER, Star Tribune

Last update: October 3, 2009


Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman have been popping up all over the state lately, in places Twin Cities mayors don't usually frequent.

Both stopped by Kolacky Days in Montgomery to fete the prune-filled pastry. They were spotted at a recent Coon Rapids pig roast. Rybak has posted photos of himself standing next to a farmer in a Pope County cattle pasture and addressing a crowd in Austin on his Facebook page. Meanwhile, Coleman campaign signs -- with "for St. Paul" in small letters -- have turned up as far north as Duluth. DFL political activists from Pequot Lakes to Hutchinson report visits from each of them.

"I see them everywhere. When don't I see them?" said Marge Hoffa, DFL chair of the Third Congressional District, which spans the western suburbs.

The two mayors are blunt about what's behind their statewide sojourns -- they're both seriously considering a run for governor next year, even as they run for reelection as mayors this November.

If both jump into the governor's race, it would appear to mark the first time a Twin Cities mayor has faced direct political competition from the mayor across the river, and could test the notion that big-city politicians struggle once they move their shows statewide. No mayor from either city has gone on to become governor since Alexander Ramsey in 1860, who had earlier served a stint as St. Paul mayor.

A Rybak-Coleman contest for endorsement could also strain what has been one of the closest working relationships between St. Paul and Minneapolis mayors in recent memory.

Neither one is ready to formally declare a gubernatorial candidacy, nor do they deny the governor's office is in their sights.

Rivals in both parties have suggested it's time for the two to join the field of 11 DFL candidates who have already announced. Republicans have filed a complaint against Rybak and Coleman, accusing them of skirting state campaign finance law with what amounts to informal campaigning.

But Coleman and Rybak are sticking to their own timetables for now.
Coleman says he'll decide this month, so voters in St. Paul's mayoral contest this fall will know his intent. Rybak's announcement may not be quite that soon, but he said Minneapolis voters should know that he is "increasingly likely" to run for governor. An early supporter of candidate Barack Obama, Rybak says he has even told the president of his possible intentions.

Friends who may be rivals

Coleman and Rybak each claim the other as a friend. They've met socially on occasion as well as politically and say they'll maintain cordial relations even if they become competitors.

"We have a good relationship, and I think that's very important," Rybak said. "But I have a good relationship with most of the other mayors in the region and most of the other people in this race."

Said Coleman: "People are appreciative of the fact that the two cities, which have been at odds with each other more often than not, are actually getting along."

As they explore possible gubernatorial runs, the mayors have continued to work together. They recently co-authored a newspaper opinion piece about health care and they've collaborated on environmental concerns, economic issues and the Central Corridor light-rail line. Their partnership, in part, helped bring the Republican National Convention to Minnesota last year.

There's also a practical reason for them to handle things carefully.

"One of them is not going to be the nominee to be governor," said Blois Olson, a Democratic pundit and executive vice president at Tunheim Partners public affairs firm. Both could remain at their city's helm for the next four years.

No fighting -- yet

Politics watchers report that the mayors, along with myriad other DFL candidates, have remained civil on the stump.

"There's been no animosity, no fighting. They've just been standing on their own soap box," said Paul Wright, DFL chairman of the Seventh District in western Minnesota.

The formal DFL field is already flooded with candidates: House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, state Sens. Tom Bakk and John Marty; state Reps. Tom Rukavina and Paul Thissen, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and former state legislators Matt Entenza and Steve Kelley. Registered lobbyist Peter Roess and frequent candidate Ole Savior have also filed campaign committees.

With so many candidates in the race, spending time attacking just one potential DFL opponent could be "very, very dumb" strategically and a waste of time, said former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer, who has encouraged Coleman to run.

But that could change should the two mayors end up competing for the same delegates, each trying to prove their city is better run.

Can they win outstate?

Could either DFL mayor from a liberal city win statewide?
"People who are not from a big city or the big cities are going to say, 'Well, is he going to understand my issues in Crookston?' I think it is a legitimate concern, and I think it has to be," said Latimer, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1986.

Twin Cities politicians have had mixed success recently in plying their wares outside their borders. As Hennepin County attorney, Amy Klobuchar trounced U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy in the 2006 U.S. Senate race, winning in a landslide against the Watertown Republican. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, with a home base in Eagan, won an election against a candidate from outstate Minnesota and one against a candidate from the suburbs. Norm Coleman, a former St. Paul mayor, lost to suburban mayor Jesse Ventura in the 1998 governor's race but won a U.S. Senate seat four years later -- only to lose it to Minneapolitan and Democrat Al Franken after last year's extended recount.

Bakk, a DFL candidate who said both mayors have been on the stump enough that they should file their candidacies, said the Democrats' real battle will be in the western and southern parts of the state.

DFL First District chair Lori Sellner, whose swing district comprises southern Minnesota, said her delegates will look for someone who understands the issues non-big-city residents face, but that doesn't preclude urban candidates.
"It is just one of many factors that delegates will look at it," Sellner said.

Don Bye, longtime DFL chair in the Eighth District that includes the DFL bedrock that is the Iron Range, said any metro DFL candidate simply has "more to prove" to outstate voters.
But, he said, "I think it is provable."

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger • 651-292-0164