Mark Ritchie, a DFL candidate for Secretary of State, said last week he believes election affairs in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 have brought more relevance to the job in Minnesota. The Minneapolis man hopes to win the party endorsement and challenge incumbent Mary Kiffmeyer in the Nov. 6 election. During a visit to Forest Lake on March 17, Ritchie said the Florida and Ohio elections greatly ìraised the visibilityî in the state office. Ritchie predicted he would win the DFL endorsement and said he is encouraged by strong signs of support from county auditors across the state who are not pleased with their relationship with the stateís top election official. If elected, he said he would rebuild the Secretary of Stateís tradition as a non-partisan office much in the way the position was directed during the tenure of Arlen Erdahl and Joan Growe.

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