ST. PAUL -- Kelly Doran spent $750,000 running for U.S. Senate, but decided if he won he would be away from his wife and their four children too much. So on Wednesday, he changed directions and announced he now is running for Minnesota governor.
"It now is clear to me that I underestimated the impact being a United States senator would have on my family and, especially, my young children," he said.
"We thought we had thought it through," he added, with his 4-year-old daughter, Sydney, watching from the side of a Capitol meeting room.
Doran said his campaign polling showed he was in a good position to win the Democratic Senate nomination although many DFL observers say Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar is the candidate to beat.
As a shopping center developer, Doran said that his talents might be better used in the executive branch as governor than the legislative branch as a senator. When he entered the Senate race in May, Doran said he was prepared to spend up to the $5 million Mark Dayton spent when he won the seat five years ago.
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Doran said running against Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be harder than seeking the Senate seat to be vacated by Mark Dayton.
The 47-year-old, who calls himself a moderate Democrat, criticized Pawlenty's Job Opportunity Building Zones for rural areas as providing jobs with low pay. He said if the state is to help business, it needs to attract jobs better than the $11.33 an hour ones JOBZ provides.
The DFL Party chairman said there is growing interest in the governor's race because of Pawlenty's "poor record."
"We have several strong candidates ... because under Gov. Tim Pawlenty Minnesota has fallen to 45th in increasing education investments, over 70,000 working Minnesotans have lost their health care and 45,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost," Chairman Brian Melendez said.
Billboards statewide and radio commercials in the Red River Valley that Doran bought as part of his Senate campaign provide the political novice name recognition in his new race.
Doran's most formidable DFL challenger for governor so far, state Sen. Steve Kelley of Hopkins, said Doran's entry into the race doesn't bother him. Minnesotans won't embrace a candidate just because he has deep pockets, Kelley said.
Kelley and little-known non-profit organization founder Bud Philbrook already are in the DFL governor's contest. Attorney General Mike Hatch has formed a campaign committee and is expected to join the race next month.
Also looking into running is Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar.
