legislator from the Iron Range decided that Rybak and Kelliher have too much of a lead.

[ccharles000]

Iron Range state Sen. Tom Bakk dropped his bid for Minnesota governor on Saturday, acknowledging that his chances of winning the DFL nomination were slim.

Bakk, of Cook, made the announcement Saturday morning at the St. Louis County DFL Convention in Duluth.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, isn't running for another term, and about two dozen Democrats, Republicans and third-party candidates are vying to replace him. On the DFL side, Bakk was bunched with several other candidates behind front-runners House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

In an interview Saturday, Bakk, 55, said that when he was plotting his gubernatorial strategy, he had thought the DFL race would narrow down to two to three candidates, and "I would be one of them."

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