Sarah Palin: Tom Emmer for governor of Minnesota (Updated)

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On her Facebook Notes page Thursday afternoon, Sarah Palin endorsed State Rep. Tom Emmer in the Minnesota gubernatorial race:

The Straight-talking “Hockey Dad” with a Message for Reform

A patriotic fiscally conservative “hockey dad” who got his start in politics by serving on his local city councils is running for governor of the great state of Minnesota. His name is Tom Emmer, and I’m proud to support him.

Tom has based his campaign on three founding principles: “Honoring the Constitution, Expanding Liberty and Fostering Economic Freedom.”

Coming from a working class background, Tom is known as a straight-talker who is unafraid of taking on the challenge of reining in the size and scope of government. A proud father of seven, Tom is in this race for the right reasons – to provide bold, principled leadership that will leave Minnesota fiscally stronger for the next generation. He knows that government overspending is the real obstacle to reform. Tom says, “When a family experiences a change in its income, that family adjusts its budget accordingly. If they have less money, they spend less money. This simple form of money management is completely lost on state government.” It’s common sense statements like that which make Tom such an attractive candidate for Minnesotans who want real reform.

A family man who wants to leave his kids a better future, a “hockey dad” who once played for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, a patriotic commonsense conservative who wishes to serve for the right reasons – that’s Tom Emmer, and I ask you to join me in supporting him for governor of Minnesota.

Please visit Tom’s website here, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Let’s shake things up with this straight-talking “hockey dad” and his message for reforming government.

- Sarah Palin

Gov. Palin chose Emmer over a number of other announced candidates in the governor's race.

Update: The Star-Trib has more information on the endorsement:

“It's a significant endorsement," Emmer said. "Sarah Palin is the gold standard of grass roots politics in this country."

While outside endorsements aren't always game changers, Emmer said Palin's nod lends a significant boost to the campaign.

There will be 2,100 delegates at the convention tomorrow, and there will be 2,100 fans of Palin, he said.

Emmer said the endorsement doesn't include any contribution by Palin or a promise of a campaign visit.

Emmer's campaign wrote a letter to Palin about a month ago asking for an endorsement, said Bill Walsh, an Emmer campaign spokesman.

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Palin and Emmer had a one-on-one meeting earlier this month when she was in Minnesota for a rally and fundraiser.

- JP