The Minnesota Republican hierarchy didn't want me to run against their incumbent in 2000; they didn't know who I was. And once many party bigwigs did get to know me, they weren't sure that I could win the seat.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I first ran for governor, the political class and party leaders opposed me with great vigor, and some even said if I won the primary they would never vote for me. But the voters had other ideas, and they are the only ones who count.
I was in the Minnesota state Senate from 2000 until 2006. In 2006, I was urged to run for Congress, I did. And I've been here ever since.
There were many in the party that did not want me to run.
I thought if anyone need a leg up, it was our foster children. So, I started getting involved in education reform, and that was back in 1998. And as a result of all the reform work that I had done, people urged me to run for the Minnesota state Senate. I did, I was there for six years.
In 2006 it was a horrible election year, and, you know, I lost. But I lost because I continued to be a constant conservative, and the last six years I was someone who was a national figure in the sense that I was the third ranking Republican in leadership and I had just run President Bush's campaign in Pennsylvania.
Minnesotans are ticket splitters. They look to the candidate, not the party, which is the way it should be, and that's only going to help me.
I may not be the favourite candidate of some people within the Republican establishment, but the voters made a decision.
When I first ran for Congress in 1998, people counted me out.
Even if I was a Republican, George Bush would have pushed me out of that party.
After thinking carefully about how I can best help my fellow Minnesotans, I have decided to not seek election for a different office in 2014. The warm encouragement from many people to run for U.S. senator or the governorship was deeply humbling.