Pawlenty stars in pro-Emmer TV ad

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the face of a new television ad trying to pivot GOP nominee Tom Emmer for a win in the Minnesota governor’s race with less than three weeks to go before election day.

The ad, called “Tough Decisions,” opens with Pawlenty talking about his tenure as chief executive, saying the governor has to make difficult decisions.

“Only Tom Emmer has promised not to raise job-killing taxes,” he said, while noting that DFL nominee Mark Dayton wants to raise income taxes and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner has proposed an expansion of the sales tax.

Pawlenty officially endorsed Emmer’s candidacy earlier this week, after a series of GOPers threw their support behind Horner, a former Republican. But Pawlenty has been co-hosting fundraisers for the GOP nominee throughout the campaign season.

The ad was funded by an independent expenditure by the Republican Party of Minnesota, according to the Associated Press.