Contact: Bob Carney Jr. -- (612)-824-4479 (home and business)

                                          (612)-710-2212 (cell)

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Minneapolis, MN, August 3, 2010 -- Bob Carney Jr., a candidate for Governor in Minnesota's Republican primary, will hold a news conference Wednesday, August 4th, to announce his plan to make this year's Republican primary "a referendum on Tom Emmer."

Carney will announce his conditional offer to withdraw if he wins the primary -- if the Republican State convention is reconvened, and endorses "a reasonable, mainstream candidate" for Governor, who will pledge to limit the use of unallotment, and to support an unallotment reform bill. Carney declines to name specific individuals he would accept, believing this would put such people in an awkward position. "But I want to assure the citizens of Minnesota, especially Republicans, that I will be reasonable in accepting a "mainstream Republican" as a substitute for Tom Emmer.

Carney believes Emmer would harm the Republican party if he continues into the fall general election as the nominee, and that Emmer would be a disaster for Minnesota if he were to become the Governor.

Carney received a generally favorable review from the Star Tribune editorial board in their Monday endorsement editorial. The Star Tribune made no recommendation in the Republican primary, but said Carney "offers moderate Republicans who have not followed Horner out of the party an option on the primary ballot." However, the Star Tribune concluded Carney's campaign was "politically ineffectual," evidencing "how near to extinction the once-dominant moderate faction of Minnesota's Republican Party has become." The two paragraph portion of Monday's Star Tribune editorial addressing the Republican primary follows this news release.

"Sadly, I think the Star Tribune's comments are accurate regarding the difficulty I have had in advancing my issues and my candidacy. I do appreciate that the Star editorial board gave serious consideration to what I believe has been my campaign's thoughtful and substantially complete offering on the issues. I believe what the Star published is an endorsement of the quality of my work regarding issues and challenges that Minnesota faces. However, at this late stage in the campaign, I think my offer to withdraw as described, making the primary a referendum on Emmer, is my best available option. This course of action is calculated to both serve the best interests of Minnesota, and to help our Republican party, which in my judgment is clearly in need of help," Carney said.

Further details will be provided at the news conference. The news conference will be at 10:30 AM, in Room 125 at the State Capitol.

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The following two paragraphs, followed the Star Tribune's Editorial August 2nd, endorsing Tom Horner for Governor in the Independence party primary, separated by an ellipsis from the Independence party endorsement. This is all the Star Tribune had to say about the Republican party primary.

. . .

One reason Republicans might be inclined to stray into the IP primary is that the contest on their own primary ballot is not competitive. GOP endorsee Tom Emmer faces only token opposition from perennials Ole Savior and Leslie Davis, and a principled but politically ineffectual challenge from Bob Carney Jr. The GOP primary warrants no recommendation from this newspaper.

Carney, a Minneapolis journalist, offers moderate Republicans who have not followed Horner out of the party an option on the primary ballot. He's a critic of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's 2009 unallotment, which he considers an unconstitutional executive-branch power grab. His realistic budget plan -- more detailed than any yet seen from Emmer -- includes a $3 billion tax increase. The fact that Carney has been unable to mount even the semblance of a campaign reveals how near to extinction the once-dominant moderate faction of Minnesota's Republican Party has become.