Jun 19, 2002 4 min read

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Gov. Jesse Ventura, the scowling former pro wrestler who turned the political establishment on its head with his victory in 1998, announced with a characteristic blast at the media Tuesday that he will not seek a second term this fall. Ventura said that his heart is no longer in the job and that he is tired of criticism of his family.

“You’ve got to have your heart and soul into these jobs. You’ve got to want to do it,” he said.

He said he made his decision some time ago. But he made the announcement amid news reports that his 22-year-old son, Tyrel, used the governor’s mansion for parties when his parents were away and damaged the furniture.

“It’s fine when they stick to the issues, but when they start getting personal, going after your kids, it’s very unfair to kids to be put in the limelight while growing up,” the governor said.

The 50-year-old former action star whose nickname in his wrestling days was “The Body” did not say what he plans to do next.

The move threw Minnesota’s governor’s race wide open and stunned Minnesotans who loved, hated or had at least grown used to the pugnacious former Navy SEAL who feuded with just about everyone – Republicans, Democrats and especially reporters, whom he branded “jackals.”

If Ventura does not change his mind before the July 16 filing deadline – and there are no guarantees when it comes to Ventura – it almost certainly means the end of Minnesota’s three-way government. He was elected as a member of the Reform Party, though he later split for the new Independence Party.

While Ventura’s approval rating had dipped in recent months, he still would have been a formidable opponent in November. His departure leaves Democrat Roger Moe, a longtime state senator, and Republican Tim Pawlenty, the House majority leader, as the leading candidates for governor.

“If I’d have ran, I would’ve won again,” Ventura declared. “I’m not running because I fear losing. I had two tougher opponents in ’98.”

Moe, who often skirmished with the governor, said he was not surprised by Ventura’s decision. “I have been saying for the last year and a half or so that I did not think he’d run for re-election because I didn’t think that he enjoyed it,” he said.

In 1998, the bullet-headed Ventura posted the year’s most improbable election victory in the country by beating Hubert Humphrey III, the Democratic attorney general and son of the late Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and Republican St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman.

Up to that point, Ventura’s only political experience was as mayor of a Minneapolis suburb. He became the first Reform Party candidate in the nation to win statewide office.

He presided over four legislative sessions, including three in which the state’s budget had a surplus and taxpayers were given refunds he dubbed “Jesse Checks.” Last year, he and the Republicans crafted sweeping reforms of the state’s property tax.

But Ventura never had more than one Independence Party member in the Legislature to help him. The recession pushed the budget into deficit, and legislators rejected Ventura’s remedy of tax increases and spending cuts.

The policy clashes were coupled with attacks on Ventura’s personality and outside activities, including a TV announcing job with the short-lived XFL football league.

Most recently, former employees at the governor’s mansion said Ventura’s son had held “Animal House” parties at the official residence – a characterization Ventura’s spokesman called an exaggeration. The Venturas no longer live at the mansion, which he closed in April in a budget-cutting move.

In an interview Tuesday on Minnesota Public Radio, Ventura ripped the media and said his son was being slandered.

“It’s difficult to do these public service jobs when you know your family could be assassinated by the media at any point, deservedly or undeservedly,” he said. He called his family the most important thing in his life, and said he did not want to give reporters a chance to attack his 18-year-old mentally handicapped daughter.

Kim Kirby, a technical administrator who voted for Ventura in 1998, said she wouldn’t have done it again.

“I had such high hopes and pretty much every year that has passed,” she said, “it’s gotten more and more disappointing.”

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On the Net:

State sites: http://www.state.mn.us and http://www.governor.state.mn.us