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The race to succeed state Rep. Matt Entenza ’83 (DFL), the outgoing House minority leader, moved to its next step Tuesday as Erin Murphy easily defeated rival John P. Gehan with 83 percent of the DFL primary vote in District 64A, which includes Macalester.

In a district dominated by Macalester’s presence, Murphy moves on to face the Green Party’s Jesse Mortenson ’05 and perennial Republican candidate Kirstin Beach.

Entenza opted not to run for reelection to his seat in favor of a campaign for Attorney General, a post being vacated by DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch. Entenza, however, ended a troubled campaign in July after questions surfaced about his public records searches of Hatch.

Entenza said this month that he had paid $40,000 to a Chicago firm to perform public records searches on Hatch, Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and Republican Attorney General candidate Jeff Johnson. Entenza previously said that he had spent only a few hundred dollars.

Questions had also surfaced in regard to a potential conflict of interest presented by Entenza’s wife and Macalester trustee Lois Quam ’83, an executive at healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group. The Attorney General oversees Minnesota’s healthcare industry. Quam is now a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed against UnitedHealth alleging that the company partook in insider trading and misled investors.

In other news on Macalester alumni in politics, Andrew Borene ’98 earlier this month ended his DFL candidacy to fill a state Senate seat after entering treatment for alcoholism.

Mac Alumna Rebecca Otto will face incumbent State Auditor Pat Anderson in November.

MATTHEW STONE