lost to Carlson by a nearly two-to-one margin. Marty was one of seven DFLers who entered the 1998 gubernatorial campaign, but he dropped out of the race without filing for office. Eventually the party nominated state Attorney General Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III. In an upset, the Reform Party nominee, former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura, won the election. 2010 gubernatorial campaign On December 22, 2008, Marty announced that he had launched an exploratory campaign for governor after encouragement from health care reformers. He made a formal announcement several months later. On February 2, 2010, Marty finished in fourth place in a precinct caucus straw poll with 9.5% of the vote, behind Minneapolis mayor R. T. Rybak and Speaker of the Minnesota House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who each received more than 20%. Uncommitted voters came in third, with approximately 14.7%. On March 31, 2010, Marty announced state senator Patricia Torres Ray as his running mate. On April 24, 2010, Marty withdrew from the race at the DFL state convention after it became clear he could not win the endorsement. He gave his support to Kelliher, whom the party endorsed. Support for other politicians When the national Democratic Party was picking its 2004 presidential nominee, Marty joined State Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger in endorsing Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. On Super Tuesday, Kucinich received 17% of the vote in Minnesota's presidential caucus, one of his best showings that year. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Marty was a strong supporter of Barack Obama. Political positions Marty is best known to Minnesota residents as an advocate on environmental issues, health-care reform, and government ethics and campaign-finance reform. He is the author of the Minnesota Health Plan, a comprehensive single-payer healthcare plan. In 2016, he wrote a book, Healing Healthcare, that makes the case for a universal healthcare system. Marty does not accept soft money contributions or contributions from lobbyists, and sharply limits the contributions he will accept from any one person. Among Marty's ethics legislation was the Minnesota law banning lobbyists from giving gifts to public officials. Marty opposes public funding of stadiums and professional sports teams and was outspoken in his criticism of proposals for new stadiums for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He also supports medical marijuana, and appeared in the movie Super High Me. Over the years, Marty has pushed for legislation that was initially dismissed as being politically