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Lord Faris Makes Last Stand Against Franken

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Priscilla Lord Faris says she's spent at least $150,000 of her own money in an uphill fight to convince Democratic primary voters that she's a better opponent against Sen. Norm Coleman than the party's frontrunner, Al Franken.

"I've done this because I'm really serious and I think this is the right thing to do," said Faris, an attorney from a well-known family in Minnesota legal circles. "I'd like to win this thing but I know what I'm up against."

What she's up against is Franken's millions of dollars raised, high name recognition, superior campaign organization and DFL endorsement. She's relied on biting TV and radio ads that criticize the former "Saturday Night Live" performer for having spent most of his adult life away from Minnesota.

The spots also call him a "celebrity with no leadership experience" and reference Franken's misfiling of income taxes in states where he lived rather than where he worked.

Franken's campaign has largely ignored Lord Faris and refused her request for a debate.

"We've been focused on Norm Coleman," said Franken spokesman Andy Barr.

Lord Faris, 66, is the daughter of former Minnesota attorney general, U.S. attorney and federal judge Miles Lord. Her only previous experience in elected office was as a city council member in the small St. Paul suburb of Sunfish Lake.

Lord Faris said she'd have a better chance of beating the GOP's Coleman because of Franken's baggage. She said she would attack Coleman using many of the same arguments Franken has: that Coleman is too close to the Bush administration, primarily on Iraq and the economy.

"I can make the race about his voting record," Lord Faris said.

Lord Faris isn't the only candidate running in the Senate primary, although she's the only one besides Coleman and Franken to air TV commercials. Also running on the DFL side are Rob Fitzgerald, the Independence Party candidate for U.S. senator in 2006; as well as Bob Larson, Alve Erickson and perennial candidates Ole Savior and Dick Franson.

There's one other Republican on the primary ballot besides Coleman -- Jack Shepard, who has a criminal record and has run unsuccessfully in several past elections while living in Italy.

The Independence Party has a wide field of candidates, led by Dean Barkley, who served about two months in the U.S. Senate when then-Gov. Jesse Ventura appointed him to fill the final few weeks of Paul Wellstone's term after Wellstone was killed in a plane crash. Also vying for the Independence slot are endorsed candidate Stephen Williams, former Ventura adviser Jack Uldrich, Darryl Stanton, Doug Williams, Bill Dahn and Kurt Michael Anderson.

Down the ballot, there are plenty of races worth watching:

-- In southern Minnesota, Republicans are choosing a candidate to take on freshman Democratic Congressman Tim Walz. The GOP endorsed Mayo Clinic cancer doctor Brian Davis, a first-time candidate who appeals to the party base. He faces veteran state Sen. Dick Day of Owatonna, a garrulous politician who casts himself a maverick.

-- Two other freshmen congressmen, Democrat Keith Ellison in the 5th District and Republican Michele Bachmann in the 6th District, have challengers from within their party. But their opponents haven't run very visible campaigns.

-- Two statehouse Republicans who joined in the override of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's transportation bill veto learn whether that vote will cost them. Anoka Rep. Jim Abeler, who is after his sixth term, faces businessman Don Huizenga, who has rapped the incumbent for supporting a roads bill containing an array of tax increases. In Bloomington, two-term Rep. Neil Peterson is up against consultant Jan Schneider.

-- State Rep. Mark Olson of Big Lake, who was banished by the House GOP after a domestic assault conviction, tries for the Republican Party's nomination for state Senate. Although Olson won the Republican endorsement, Senate party leaders are backing his primary opponent, Alison Krueger. Incumbent Sen. Betsy Wergin gave up the seat to accept a position on the Public Utilities Commission.

-- In all, there are 27 primaries for the state House. Most involve open seats, including a five-way Democratic battle for a vacant Duluth-area seat. But some are early tests for prominent incumbents. They include Democratic House Majority Leader Tony Sertich, veteran Republicans Mark Buesgens and Mary Liz Holberg; and longtime Minneapolis DFLers Joe Mullery and Phyllis Kahn.

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