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Capitol View®
Tom Scheck

Johnson wants 13 debates with Dayton

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Johnson at State fair
Jeff Johnson outside of his State Fair Booth MPR Photo/tom Scheck

Republican Jeff Johnson is calling on DFL Governor Mark Dayton to agree to 13 debates including two at the Minnesota State Fair. Johnson, the Republican nominee for governor, made the pitch during a news conference at the State Fair this morning. Governor Dayton has declined an invitation by MPR News to participate in a state fair debate. Johnson said he believes Dayton is ducking debates. He said he hopes Dayton reconsiders.

“I hope he changes his mind," Johnson said. "We have a pretty long tradition of governor debates at the State Fair and I think we have that tradition because you will not find a broader cross section of Minnesotans than you will find at the State Fair.”

Dayton said he will agree to six debates between Labor Day and Election Day. He said he would like to see three debates in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and three debates in rural Minnesota. Dayton called Johnson's proposal a "contrived issue."

"I think he should go around the state and lay out his positions," Dayton said. "If he wants to talk about the business climate then talk about it. He claims everyone is leaving then why do we have the lowest rate of any metropolitan area and we have low unemployment rates all over the state of Minnesota. He wants to debate then let's hear him put some flesh on the bones then we'll have something to debate."

Dayton is also scheduled to make several other appearances at the debate. He said he's going to take the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness for ALS.