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This year's race for Governor is already shaping up as the most wide-open in years. It's a race without any clear favorites, a fact Joanne Benson is well aware of. Benson may be Arne Carlson's Lieutenant Governor but she's hardly his heir apparent.

Joanne Benson is a politician who often defines herself by who she isn't rather than who she is. In 1994, Governor Carlson picked the State Senator from St. Cloud to balance his ticket because she wasn't a man and because she wasn't pro-choice. Now, running for governor in her own right, she's promoting herself as "A Lifelong Minnesotan, A Lifelong Republican," another way of saying she's not Norm Coleman. The "life-long Minnesotan" part also sets her apart from her boss, Bronx-bred Arne Carlson. Benson says geography is a legitimate campaign issue.

Benson: It does connect you with people in a special way, I believe. I have gone through life in Minnesota, and I know people. I know how they think and what's important to them. And that's an important attribute for a candidate.

Benson says she's also unlike all the other major candidates in that she's not from the Twin Cities; she grew up in a small town, and still keeps a home in St. Cloud.

The Lieutenant Governor's roots may turn out to be important to many Republican party activists. They tend to be more conservative than average Republicans, and they're suspicious of metro-area Republicans like Arne Carlson and Norm Coleman. The party faithful refused to endorse Carlson in '94, and they're probably not about to endorse a Carlson-clone in '98. Benson knows this, and she's been careful not to associate herself too closely with the Governor in recent months, stressing her devotion to family and religious values.

Still, Joanne Benson sounds a lot like Arne Carlson, especially when the issue is Minnesota's "business climate." Minnesota's businesses are over-regulated, Benson says, and she condemns recent talk of new restrictions on things like feedlots and jet-skis.

Benson: No politicians should ever use, haphazardly, words like "moratorium" and "ban." Let me tell you, I have talked to the people who are thinking of putting a soybean-crushing plant in Minnesota. How do you think they feel in terms of locating their business, when they hear about moratoriums on feedlots - who are their customers? How do you think the people who are making personal water craft, as in Arctic Cat and Polaris, feel when they hear about a ban on personal water craft on 80 percent of Minnesota lakes? These are detrimental to good business people and good job growth in Minnesota.

Benson also has the support of many of the Governor's allies in the state legislature. One of those moderate Republicans, Stillwater Senator Gary Laidig, says Benson shouldn't worry so much about distancing herself from Carlson and pleasing the party's right wing. He says she has the right combination of qualities to bridge the gap between the conservatives and moderates.

Laidig: That's why Joanne Benson is going to be endorsed by that middle-moderate part of the party. That's why she also has the people more progressive on social issues, like Pillsbury's and Gary Ladies and the Dean Johnson's... but she also has the support of US Senator Rod Grams because of her commitment to family and social issues. So it's a wide tent that she's putting up in the Republican party.

Benson's list of supporters include some 39 state legislators and party luminaries such as Congressman Gig Gutknecht, former US Senator Dave Durenburger, and former Governor Al Quie.

Joanne Benson's web site

Quotations are excerpted from audio samples.