Victoria Republican seeking governorship
By Forrest Adams

Some political observers are placing Rep. Paul Kohls, a Republican from Victoria, in the “not-so-top” tier of gubernatorial candidates, but he’s not listening to them.

Instead, the four-term state representative says he is relying on perseverance and a message that resonates with delegates to secure his party’s nomination for governor.

In the early stages of his campaign for governor, with 16 months to go before the 2010 general election, Kohls said reaching delegates matters most right now, not what pundits predict. Through social networking Web sites (he has two Facebook accounts and a Twitter account), YouTube videos (he’s featured in at least six YouTube videos), parade walks (he walked in Chanhassen’s Fourth of July parade last Saturday), good old-fashioned phone calling and door knocking, and face-to-face speaking engagements with party activists, Kohls is reaching out to raise money and develop more name recognition throughout the state with a consistent message of fiscal conservatism.

“I think that the principle that has long been advocated by Republicans around fiscal conservatism and limited government is absolutely the right principle,” he said in an interview this week, leaning forward in his chair for emphasis. “It has been marketed, for lack of a better term, through the ‘No new taxes’ mantra over the last 10 plus years. It’s the right principle, and I agree with the sentiment. But we have an opportunity to focus not just on the revenue side of the balance sheet but also to focus on the expenditure side of the balance sheet.”

Kohls is one of several Republican candidates to announce their bid for governor. The list includes House Minority Leader Marty Seifert from Marshall and Delano Republican Tom Emmer. Many other names have been floated as potential candidates, including state Rep. Laura Brod from New Prague, who recently removed her name from contention, due to health concerns. The next most important date for the Republican gubernatorial candidates is Sept. 19, when party delegates will take a gubernatorial straw poll. The state convention is scheduled to take place in June of 2010.

Why Kohls?

Among the first Republicans to declare his candidacy (June 18), Kohls, an attorney by trade, pledged to focus his campaign on fiscal responsibility and limited government. He thinks both issues will resonate with party activists and, when the time comes, “the broad middle.”

Kohls, who recently took a leave of absence from his full-time job as an attorney in the Allianz Life Insurance legal department to focus on campaigning, sat on both the tax and finance committees in the House. He sees himself as a leader on the issue of fiscal conservatism and said he has the ability to communicate ideas to people in a way that they understand.

“I think that my focus, as a legislator, on fiscal issues is what will resonate as we go into the campaign. I think that I bring an ability to talk about those issues in a way that most Minnesotans not only understand but agree with and appreciate,” he said.
Kohls, 35, received an English and political science major from the University of St. Thomas and was a 1999 graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Law. His advocacy for fiscal restraint has not gone unnoticed by others.

“I’m very eager to get behind him and help him win,” said Joe O’Brien, a resident of Chanhassen who sits on the Carver County Republican Executive Board. “Have you ever heard him speak? He’s an excellent speaker.”

But not everybody is a fan. A July 2 report from the St. Paul Legal Ledger listed Kohls among the “not-so-top tier” of Republican candidates. The publication claimed he had “no clarity on general election prospects,” untested fundraising ability and has not demonstrated the potential to be a charismatic political leader. A writer for the political Web site MN Publius, (www.mnpublius.com), referred to Kohls in less-than-endearing terms in a post titled “The Three Stooges Run For Governor And Other Developments.”

“Now that Mark Olson is out of the Legislature, Kohls probably holds the mark for the most time spent speaking on the House floor,” Zack Stephenson wrote. “To his admirers (does he really have any), he’s loquacious. To the rest of us, he’s just really obnoxious.”

Kohls, who represents parts of Scott and Carver County, gained some name recognition throughout the state in early December 2008 by proposing a state spending freeze and starting a Web site in support of the cause (www.mnspendingfreeze.com). The idea caught on with like-minded individuals, Kohls said, adding he still gets comments about it from new supporters. He said “in essence” what Gov. Pawlenty did by unalloting money from the state budget was what he proposed in the spending freeze. At the time Kohls proposed it, he didn’t know if Pawlenty would run for a third term, but now it has provided him with a platform from which to lead debate on the issue.

“I’m talking about the need to go beyond the ‘We can’t raise taxes’ mantra to limit and innovate what government does do,” Kohls said. “Right now [in the Legislature] we have made everything a priority. We simply cannot, as a state, afford to make everything a priority. We have to make some tough choices. I've been advocating that we make those choices my entire legislative career."

Strategically speaking
From a political scientist’s perspective, for a lesser-known candidate, like Kohls, the spending freeze proposal had “strategic intelligence,” said Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College.

“Politically it was smart for him to be out with a policy proposal that the base would love, and which would also be of interest to the wider population. He has a policy label to attach to his name,” noted Schier. “It really depends on how people react to the fiscal difficulties facing the state. How do a lot of voters assess this? Are they willing to take a big tax increase? Or will they be looking for a state spending freeze?”

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.