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Rick Nolan Joins Last-Minute Gubernatorial Ticket in Minnesota

Nolan already passed on his own gubernatorial bid last year

Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan will not run for re-election in November. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan will not run for re-election in November. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Minnesota Rep. Rick Nolan is joining a gubernatorial ticket let by current Attorney General Lori Swanson.

They’ll run together for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party nomination in the August primary against state Rep. Erin Murphy, who received the DFL endorsement this weekend, and Rep. Tim Walz.

Swanson failed to secure the DFL endorsement for her re-election as attorney general on Saturday. The decision to run for governor was a last-minute one; the filing deadline is Tuesday. 

After narrowly winning re-election to the 8th District in 2016, Nolan toyed with running for governor. He ultimately passed on the race in June of 2017, saying he wanted to focus on his work in Congress. Nolan announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t run for re-election to the 8th District. 

“I’m now where I want to be, which is back in Minnesota, just a few blocks down the street — should we be successful — from the family,” Nolan said Monday at a Minneapolis press conference. He called Swanson’s offer “too compelling to decline.“ 

Nolan had endorsed Walz for the DFL nomination for governor in March. 

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