Dayton, Johnson Duel Over Vikings Stadium
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- In their first one-on-one debate of the campaign, two candidates for Minnesota governor squared off in Duluth Tuesday.
Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and his Republican opponent, Jeff Johnson, turned up the heat on each other over which candidate better understands the struggles of middle class voters.
But unexpectedly, another big issue just keeps coming back: the Vikings stadium.
Johnson's been making the case in television ads that Dayton is "unaware" of key parts of major bills, including the stadium.
He labelled the governor "out of touch" during Tuesday's debate. Dayton fired back, calling his Republican opponent a "huckster," and "desperate."
But one of the edgiest moments came on a question about the $1 billion Vikings stadium.
"You didn't have a clue what was in that bill," Johnson said to Dayton.
Johnson is on the offense against the incumbent's handling -- or, in his view, "mishandling"-- of the stadium bill.
"I really feel like right now we need a more engaged, active governor," he said.
Johnson accurately noted that the governor promised not to use general funds for a stadium, a promise Dayton later broke after gambling money from pulltabs never materialized.
And Dayton admitted he was unaware the stadium bill he signed included personal seat licenses.
"Personal seat licenses were not in the bill," Dayton said. "[The Vikings] changed the name to 'stadium builders license' to disguise it."
Johnson's TV ads are highly critical of Dayton's stadium approach, and the candidate says he would never have supported any taxpayer funding.
"This whole thing has been a disaster. I think it's been a terrible deal for the taxpayers of Minnesota," Johnson said. "And despite being a huge Vikings fan, I'm very disappointed with it."
But Dayton told the small debate crowd that no stadium would mean no Vikings, and no jobs.
"Tell the 7,500 people who are working to build that project that it's a disaster," Dayton said.
Tuesday's debate was the first Minnesota governor's debate in 20 years with only two candidates, according to the Associated Press.
The Duluth Chamber of Commerce said it excluded Independence Party governor candidate Hannah Nicollet under debate rules negotiated by Republicans and Democrats.