Discover Politics

No one is going to accuse Marty Seifert of being a slick and flashy politician. To some, a superficial inspection of the State Representative for Lyon County would not entirely suggest a man with the ambition or capability to hold Minnesota’s highest office. But it would be unwise to mistake his thick Minnesotan drawl, receded hairline and out-state roots for political liabilities.

Representative Seifert is known simply as “Marty” to his supporters, much the way that Norm Coleman is known simply as “Norm;” it is a label that needs no elaboration in political circles. That Seifert, in his thirteenth year in office, has become a household name for Republicans is a credit to his political prowess. The last person to win the Governorship without roots in the Metro was Rudy Perpich in 1986, the last Republican to do so was Elmer Anderson in 1950.

It’s true that his hometown of Marshall is a hefty four-hour drive from the state capitol, but again, to write this off as a liability might be missing the forest for “the sticks.” Seifert doesn’t see it as a disadvantage. “I think that most people go on a candidate’s abilities, not zip code,” Seifert said in a recent interview with DP. He is quick to remind anyone doubting this supposition that he won two of the Metro districts in the Republican straw poll on October 3rd. He won that straw poll handily, defeating a group of opponents who almost entirely hail from Metro suburbs.

His success begs the question: how is Marty the life of the Party? Above all, he credits his early lead to hard work and “disciplined rhetoric.”

The Long Road

If you ask most insiders in the MN GOP, they’ll tell you that Seifert has been on the campaign trail for several years. He has crisscrossed the state speaking at conventions and rallies, supporting other candidates and quietly building his name recognition. Of course, most of this work was done before Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his decision not to run for re-election. Had Pawlenty opted to run again, Seifert’s work would have been for naught – Pawlenty is the biggest Republican star in the state, if not the entire country.

But Pawlenty made his decision on June 2nd, and the following day Seifert resigned as House Minority Leader in order to focus on his candidacy for Governor. Since June, he has been the unquestionable frontrunner in the race for the Republican endorsement. “I am going to earn every vote,” he says, reflecting on his status as top-dog, “and we’re going to keep the visibility up.”

Question of Rhetoric

Seifert’s greatest asset may be his ability to sell himself as a unique candidate. He is the only major candidate in either party to hail from outside the metro and hopes to tap into “rural pride.” He has also vowed not to accept contributions from lobbyists. On this last point, he channels an interesting duo in Jesse Ventura and Paul Wellstone. These icons of the Independent and Democratic parties are the last guys you would expect a strongly conservative candidate to emulate. But Seifert sees this aspect of his candidacy as a strength, citing his ability to succeed in a blue district. “I have won by large margins in a district that has been carried by (Democrats) Amy Klobuchar, Colin Peterson, and David Minge,” Seifert boasts. “I think I attract Independents, not because I am squishy, but because I take genuine positions.”

This may be a crucial quality for Seifert if he does carry the banner for the Republicans next November. He is already guaranteed stronger support from far-right activists than was received by Norm Coleman or Tim Pawlenty, each of whom were branded by some activists as RINOs or Republicans-in-name-only. Seifert enjoys a better relationship with these activists, claiming that “(he) was conservative before conservative was cool.” At the same time, however, he is already positioning his campaign to appeal to other factions of party support. He has several Ron Paul supporters on his campaign committee, representing a bloc of activists that have been neglected at times by the state party. He also sports a libertarian record, opposing stadium funding, recent seat belt laws and Governor Pawlenty’s cigarette fees.

If nothing else, Marty Seifert projects a candidate who knows who he is and what lies ahead of him. If anyone doubted his drive to win the Governor’s race, he recently announced his decision not to run for the State House seat he has held since 1996. The decision, he says, was made about five months ago. “We decided to announce it now because it’s MEA weekend,” he explains. “This way my kids didn’t have to skip school to accommodate the Capitol press corp.”

As for the road ahead, he chooses not to speculate on who his Democratic opponent would be.  He acknowledges that Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza are the likely frontrunners, but hopes that they will come into the fall of 2010 already bloodied. “They have advantages because they can just cut themselves a big check,” he says. “But they’ll have about fifteen cents left in their checkbook next year.” As for his campaign? Marty doesn’t agree with those who think that his fourteen-point lead in the straw poll was his ceiling, he calls it “the floor.”