lourey announced her candidacy for governor in november 2005. she lost the dfl party endorsement to attorney general mike hatch, gaining the support of 31% of the delegates on the first ballot, with 38% voting for hatch and 29% voting for steve kelley. she withdrew from the endorsement process after the third ballot after falling behind kelley, with hatch's vote total increasing. she subsequently ran an opposition campaign against hatch in the september primary, losing with 24% of the popular vote.