The DFL's Matt Entenza, current House Minority Leader and the party's endorsed candidate in the race for Attorney General, has
dropped out of the race amid controversey over a conflict of interest and a feud with the DFL's (which is Minnesota's Democratic Party) current Attorney General and nominee for Governor, Mike Hatch.
More details on the other side...
Update: Potential Candidates to replace Entenza now include former Hennepin County (Minneapolis and some suburbs) Attorney Mike Freeman, former Congressman Bill Luther, former State Senator Steve Kelly, and former US Attorney and US Senate candidate David Lillehaug. Personal-injury attorney Jennifer Mattson has already filed.
The feud with Hatch was exposed last week when the Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran
this article revealing that Entenza had paid for opposition research against Hatch in preparation for a potential primary battle for the Gubernatorial nomination. Hatch confronted Entenza when he found out about the research in February of 2005. Hatch has acknowledged attempts to recruit a candidate to run against Entenza for the AG office he is vacating.
However, that's not the end of the story. Hatch has been investigating United Health Care on allegations of financial misconduct, including manipulation of stock options. Entenza's wife is an executive with the company and received around $30 million in stock options from the company. Mrs. Entenza has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but it is easy to see how this could become an issue in the AG election.
Entenza was also having problems with his campaign finances. He was accused of funneling donations to Minnesota legislative candidates through PACs in the 2004 elections.
Two new candidates have stepped up for the DFL AG spot. Though the party had already endorsed Entenza in its June convention, the winner of the primary in September will appear on the November ballot. A personal injury attorney and former staffer of retiring US Senator Mark Dayton, Jennifer Mattson, has filed. Mattson is the grandaughter of a Minnesota Attorney General and the daughter of an Auditor and Treasurer. Also, rumors today have circulated that Mike Freeman, an unendorsed candidate for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, will drop out of that race and enter the AG race. A local blog broke the story, and in addition has stated that Entenza will endorse Freeman, who is a former Hennepin County Attorney as well as a former candidate for Governor.
There had been speculation that the feud between Entenza and Hatch would be a drag on the DFL ticket. However, as House Minority Leader and with his wife's money, Entenza would have brought many assets to the race. He is a fairly shrewd politician. If Freeman is indeed a candidate he would be a great replacement. Hopefully the DFL can move past this week's messy events and pull out wins in the Governor and AG races this fall, not to mention the US Senate and 1st and 6th Congressional Districts.