James Hovland, the mayor of Edina who recently became a Democrat and has been exploring running for Congress from the Third District, told me Monday that he expects to make up his mind this week, that he is “strongly leaning” toward getting into the race, and that if he does so, he will seek the DFL endorsement and abide by the endorsement process.

Hovland’s decision to change parties is no longer under consideration; it’s a done deal. I asked him what brought that about. As Hovland described his political background, he came across as a fairly moderate Republican. In fact, he doesn’t seem to agree with the GOP mainstream views on much of anything at the statewide or national level. But there’s this problem, which may cost him the eyes of DFL loyalists.

Hovland, who is 60, has been a Republican his whole life. He grew up in a Republican family, saw himself as an “Elmer Andersen, Nelson Rockefeller sort of Republican” who believed in being “socially understanding and fiscally careful.” He was not a strong partisan, Hovland said, (the Edina municipal positions he has held are non-partisan), but nonetheless, he has voted mostly for Republican candidates and (drum roll) he voted for George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000, contributed to the Bush 2000 campaign, and attended the 2001 Bush inaugural.

Hovland says he believed during 2000 that Bush was a moderate conservative like himself, a “uniter not a divider” as Bush claimed, with a track record of working well with Democrats in Texas. He became alienated from Bushism during 2002, by the rush to war with Iraq and other issues. Hovland says he opposed the Iraq war since before it began although (like Mike Ciresi who makes the same claim) he didn’t do anything with that conviction beyond talking to friends about it. In 2004, Hovland says, while still officially a Republican, he voted for John Kerry over Bush,

Since then, he has found himself in agreement with mainstream Democrats on a range of issues, including the Iraq war, equal rights for minorities including full civil rights for gays (he favors civil unions and strongly opposes Republican efforts to put a definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman into the state or federal constitutions) and abortion (he favors keeping the basic approach of Roe v. Wade).

“I also see real value in using the power of government to enhance the quality of people’s lives,” he said. “I’m not a slash government guy.” Hovland said he has favored infrastructure spending, especially in transportation, and has criticized Gov. Pawlenty, including in some op-ed pieces, for balking at efforts to increase spending on roads and bridges. He testified in the Legislature against the “conceal carry” gun law.

“You find yourself over time, on many issues, being more and more aligned with Democrats And you start thinking: ‘this is where I belong.’ Especially since he became mayor in 2004, he has “seen the Democrats s as the people who were trying to meet the challenges, not just sitting there and saying no to everything.”

It occurred to Hovland, apparently during our conversation Monday afternoon, that some Democrats might not be able to overlook his support for Bush in 2000. He asked me whether he would be wasting his time seeking the DFL endorsement (I didn’t offer an opinion.) But he said he will reassure DFLers that his party conversion is not opportunistic. He believes he would have had a better shot at the Republican nomination. And he will tell DFL delegates that as a former Republican he may be able to draw the votes of some Republicans and independents.

“My take is that the people of the Third [the Democrats, that is] really want to win this seat,” he said. But he also said he feels a little funny, “like someone who has been a Catholic his whole life and decides he not only wants to be a Lutheran, but also wants to be the senior pastor right away. So you can understand why they want to take your measure first.”