Green Party’s Hakeem to run for Neva Walker seat

Parties can’t effectively cross endorse without fusion law It is unrealistic to expect parties to cross-endorse here in Minnesota under our current election law.  The problem is that no major party has the option of leaving it’s ballot line blank for a particular office, even if the party’s endorsing convention wants to endorse a candidate running on another party’s ticket. 

The reason why?  Because anyone can come in during filing period and file for that slot.  During the Reform Party days I used to say: “the only way you can defend your ballot line is with a warm body.”  You need someone willing to file, pay the fee, and fight it out in the primary if anyone else files for the same slot.

There is a way around this called “fusion,” something that NY and maybe some other states have had for over 50 years.  Something that we almost had here in the 1990′s but for major party resistance.

Fusion, enacted in election law, would allow a party to name a candidate of another party as their preferred candidate.  In NY, the person’s name would appear twice on the ballot, once as an Green, let’s say,  and once as a DFL.  Votes cast on either line accrue to the person.  (The Minnesota  version was more obscure, but was, as I recall, wiped out judicially, with a DFL Atty General pleading to the US Supreme Court that it was too confusing for Minnesotans to understand.)

Anyway, in the absence of a legal way to get one name on two ballot lines the best we are left with is for one party to withhold its endorsement.  But, as above, you can’t do that without threat of someone else filing to fill the vacancy.  (That is, if the DFL wanted to endorse a Green, then any self-proclaimed DFLer in the district could come in, file, and take the ballot line–so the Green would have a DFL opponent in the General.)

A possible reform short of actual fusion–to allow a party to withhold its endorsement.  The new law would have to say that if a party convention voted to Not Endorse, then no person could file for that slot, and there would be no primary election or ballot line for that party for that seat for that election.

Some would say: no fair.  How can you let party insiders preempt the “people’s” right to decide who would represent the party in the general election.  It gets into issues like are parties private associations or creatures of the state, and can non-participants (e.g., independents, apathetics, hostile party interlopers) overrule party participants.  This could take us into open vs. closed primaries, party registration, or the Growe Commission suggested reforms (requiring a loser to have at least X% in convention to be able to primary). 

I personally believe we must incent participation to have the kind of strong parties that can do what the general public, via TV, sound bites, and big contributors can’t do.  These things we need parties for are to vet candidates, develop and articulate comprehensive/coherent public visions, bring in volunteers,  maintain lists, and educate.

Alan Shilepsky
Minneapolis

Forget the Green Party Jeff Hayden announced he will run.

Farheen Hakeem Signed Letter in Support of a Corrupt City Official Nearly a year ago, Farheen Hakeem signed a letter of support for Dean Zimmermann that said the following:

“We are convinced that Dean is innocent of the crime of bribery”

“we stand in support of an honest man”

I live in 61B, so I wrote too Farheen Hakeem yesterday and asked her if she still stood by those statements.

No response yet… maybe the Minnesota Monitor could ask her.

Zimmermann lost his appeal last month. The 8th Circuit Court unanimously upheld the jury’s verdict.

Read all about it at Minneapolis Confidential .

She still hasn’t responded to my email… … but I did find Dean Zimmermann’s picture on her website:

http://farheenhakeem…

How do these Greens get away with lecturing Democrats about ethics?

Parties can't effectively cross endorse without fusion law It is unrealistic to expect parties to cross-endorse here in Minnesota under our current election law.  The problem is that no major party has the option of leaving it's ballot line blank for a particular office, even if the party's endorsing convention wants to endorse a candidate running on another party's ticket. 

The reason why?  Because anyone can come in during filing period and file for that slot.  During the Reform Party days I used to say: “the only way you can defend your ballot line is with a warm body.”  You need someone willing to file, pay the fee, and fight it out in the primary if anyone else files for the same slot.

There is a way around this called “fusion,” something that NY and maybe some other states have had for over 50 years.  Something that we almost had here in the 1990's but for major party resistance.

Fusion, enacted in election law, would allow a party to name a candidate of another party as their preferred candidate.  In NY, the person's name would appear twice on the ballot, once as an Green, let's say,  and once as a DFL.  Votes cast on either line accrue to the person.  (The Minnesota  version was more obscure, but was, as I recall, wiped out judicially, with a DFL Atty General pleading to the US Supreme Court that it was too confusing for Minnesotans to understand.)

Anyway, in the absence of a legal way to get one name on two ballot lines the best we are left with is for one party to withhold its endorsement.  But, as above, you can't do that without threat of someone else filing to fill the vacancy.  (That is, if the DFL wanted to endorse a Green, then any self-proclaimed DFLer in the district could come in, file, and take the ballot line–so the Green would have a DFL opponent in the General.)

A possible reform short of actual fusion–to allow a party to withhold its endorsement.  The new law would have to say that if a party convention voted to Not Endorse, then no person could file for that slot, and there would be no primary election or ballot line for that party for that seat for that election.

Some would say: no fair.  How can you let party insiders preempt the “people's” right to decide who would represent the party in the general election.  It gets into issues like are parties private associations or creatures of the state, and can non-participants (e.g., independents, apathetics, hostile party interlopers) overrule party participants.  This could take us into open vs. closed primaries, party registration, or the Growe Commission suggested reforms (requiring a loser to have at least X% in convention to be able to primary). 

I personally believe we must incent participation to have the kind of strong parties that can do what the general public, via TV, sound bites, and big contributors can't do.  These things we need parties for are to vet candidates, develop and articulate comprehensive/coherent public visions, bring in volunteers,  maintain lists, and educate.

Alan Shilepsky

Minneapolis

Forget the Green Party Jeff Hayden announced he will run.

Farheen Hakeem Signed Letter in Support of a Corrupt City Official Nearly a year ago, Farheen Hakeem signed a letter of support for Dean Zimmermann that said the following:

“We are convinced that Dean is innocent of the crime of bribery”

“we stand in support of an honest man”

“We miss Dean's leadership on the Minneapolis City

Council.”

“Dean Zimmermann is a political prisoner”

I live in 61B, so I wrote too Farheen Hakeem yesterday and asked her if she still stood by those statements.

No response yet… maybe the Minnesota Monitor could ask her.

Zimmermann lost his appeal last month. The 8th Circuit Court unanimously upheld the jury's verdict.

Read all about it at Minneapolis Confidential .

She still hasn't responded to my email… … but I did find Dean Zimmermann's picture on her website:

http://farheenhakeem…

How do these Greens get away with lecturing Democrats about ethics?