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There were no embarrassing scandals or ugly fights at the House District 58 convention last weekend, but, still, two incumbents — Reps. Joe Mullery in 58A and Willie Dominguez in 58B — walked away without getting the official nod from their own party. Instead, activists in 58B chose Bobbie Joe Champion, and Wellstone Action staffer and Minneapolis School Board Member Peggy Flanagan forced Mullery to a no-endorsement, kicking off a primary race.
Flanagan said Tuesday that blocking the endorsement was a huge victory for her campaign. The convention went three ballots — two other candidates were dropped after the first ballot, and one threw his support behind Flanagan, where the votes on the next two ballots were deadlocked with Mullery leading 53-47 percent, well below the 60 percent threshold for an endorsement.
Continued: Click “Read more”Flanagan said the potential for new voter registration in the North Minneapolis district is high, citing the 46 percent of convention delegates who were new to the party process. She also expressed excitement at being able to take the campaign to the streets in the primary. According to one independent report from the convention, Mullery may indeed be in trouble, at least as far as demographics go. The district was previously heavily eastern European, but has in recent years seen the addition of many minorities and members of the LGBT community move in. When I spoke with her last October about her then-nascent run, she noted that bringing those new community members to the political process was an important part of the campaign.
On the other hand, Mullery still has enough grassroots support among the party faithful to pull off a majority at convention despite an active challenger. He was not immediately available to comment, but gets a mulligan for being in the midst of a legislative session.
Tomorrow I’ll take a closer look at the Dominguez vs. Champion race, in the seat once held by Congressman Keith Ellison. I’ll also take a look at the big picture in Minneapolis and across the state as pertains to endangered House incumbents.
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2 Comments »
Comment posted March 25, 2008 @ 10:48 am
Flanagan is a progressive leader! As a liberal who faced off against the conservative Mullery as an independent in the general election in 2006, I was delighted to rejoin the DFL in order to support Peggy Flanagan.
Voters in MN House District 58A won a major victory on March 15th, when delegates to the DFL convention refused to endorse Representative Mullery for a 7th term. Instead, after only three ballots, the delegates voted for no endorsement, which will allow the voters of our district to say whether we are happy with the direction our community has gone during the incumbent’s tenure, or if it is time for more effective leadership at the Capital.
This is great news. In case you haven’t noticed, the DFL nominee is virtually guaranteed to win the house seat, and the unsettled endorsement means that regular north side residents will actually have a say in who represents them in St. Paul. It is unusual for an endorsement convention to reverse 12 years of precedents and deny an incumbent his endorsement. What happened?
First, Peggy Flanagan is not your run of the mill challenger. Her experience on the school board, a job Sen. Higgins calls “the hardest job in elected office”, puts her in a great position to hit the ground running as a powerful ally of North Minneapolis schools. Healthcare is a central issue to her campaign, and she has a “YES, WE CAN” attitude about finding a solution at the state level. Her position as a community organizer with Wellstone Action shows her passion for drawing people into our democratic process and empowering people to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of their communities.
Additionally, she has secured endorsement from a most amazing cast of characters, including Congressman Keith Ellison, State Senator Linda Higgins, Mayor R.T. Rybak, the list goes on and on. But most important, Peggy showed up on the doorstep of almost every delegate to the SD convention, in some cases several times, in order to win the most important endorsements, the endorsements of regular people across the district, from Jordon to Victory. Many of these folks have never seen a candidate at their door.
Finally, perhaps the delegates were unhappy with the direction north Minneapolis has gone during the past decade. I know I am. Joe’s tenure on the Tax committee has seen drastically increased property and sales taxes, and as a result, the average North Minneapolis family is paying a higher percentage of their income to taxes than the average family in our most affluent suburbs. Joe’s tenure on the public safety committee hasn’t reduced violent crime on our streets or made our community a better place to live. We delegates have given the voters a chance to elect more effective leadership. I beg you voters, please do not throw away this opportunity: show up for the primary.
In 2006, I went door to door all over this community, listening to voters concerns, as I ran for State Representative as an Independent. In 2008, I am delighted to endorse Peggy as a candidate who will represent all our residents, who is right on the issues, and who will provide the bold leadership we need at the state capital. I urge your support.
Justin C. Adams
Comment posted March 25, 2008 @ 5:48 am
Flanagan is a progressive leader! As a liberal who faced off against the conservative Mullery as an independent in the general election in 2006, I was delighted to rejoin the DFL in order to support Peggy Flanagan.
Voters in MN House District 58A won a major victory on March 15th, when delegates to the DFL convention refused to endorse Representative Mullery for a 7th term. Instead, after only three ballots, the delegates voted for no endorsement, which will allow the voters of our district to say whether we are happy with the direction our community has gone during the incumbent's tenure, or if it is time for more effective leadership at the Capital.
This is great news. In case you haven't noticed, the DFL nominee is virtually guaranteed to win the house seat, and the unsettled endorsement means that regular north side residents will actually have a say in who represents them in St. Paul. It is unusual for an endorsement convention to reverse 12 years of precedents and deny an incumbent his endorsement. What happened?
First, Peggy Flanagan is not your run of the mill challenger. Her experience on the school board, a job Sen. Higgins calls “the hardest job in elected office”, puts her in a great position to hit the ground running as a powerful ally of North Minneapolis schools. Healthcare is a central issue to her campaign, and she has a “YES, WE CAN” attitude about finding a solution at the state level. Her position as a community organizer with Wellstone Action shows her passion for drawing people into our democratic process and empowering people to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of their communities.
Additionally, she has secured endorsement from a most amazing cast of characters, including Congressman Keith Ellison, State Senator Linda Higgins, Mayor R.T. Rybak, the list goes on and on. But most important, Peggy showed up on the doorstep of almost every delegate to the SD convention, in some cases several times, in order to win the most important endorsements, the endorsements of regular people across the district, from Jordon to Victory. Many of these folks have never seen a candidate at their door.
Finally, perhaps the delegates were unhappy with the direction north Minneapolis has gone during the past decade. I know I am. Joe's tenure on the Tax committee has seen drastically increased property and sales taxes, and as a result, the average North Minneapolis family is paying a higher percentage of their income to taxes than the average family in our most affluent suburbs. Joe's tenure on the public safety committee hasn't reduced violent crime on our streets or made our community a better place to live. We delegates have given the voters a chance to elect more effective leadership. I beg you voters, please do not throw away this opportunity: show up for the primary.
In 2006, I went door to door all over this community, listening to voters concerns, as I ran for State Representative as an Independent. In 2008, I am delighted to endorse Peggy as a candidate who will represent all our residents, who is right on the issues, and who will provide the bold leadership we need at the state capital. I urge your support.
Justin C. Adams
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