Sunday, March 09, 2008

Ron's dilemma

Ron Erhardt - and Neil Peterson, too - lost his bid for endorsement for re-election yesterday. Peterson has already said that he would run in the Republican primary in September. Erhardt said he would either run in the Republican primary, or run as an independent.

If Erhardt runs in the primary, he probably wins, but then even if he wins the general election, he returns to the House where Marty Seifert is his party leader. Bummer.

If he runs as an independent, Erhardt picks up the disaffected Republicans and some DFLers who have voted for him over the years. The veto override is not the first time that Erhardt has bucked the Republican party establishment, and he has many admirers of his stance on social issues: abortion, gay rights, gun control.

The road is perhaps steeper as an independent, but if successful, Erhardt gets to caucus wherever he wants. Spot guesses this has a lot of appeal to him.

Look for Rep. Erhardt to run as an independent.

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