SD 58: Northside Republican Candidate Sued Minneapolis Over Partner Benefits

The Republican candidate for Minnesota Senate District 58 is Jim Lilly. If that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he’s the guy who sued the City of Minneapolis in 1995  to stop it from offering domestic partner benefits to city employees. Lilly won, and according to OutFront Minnesota, the decision means that no local government in the state can offer domestic partnership benefits to their gay and lesbian employees’ partners.

Senate District 58 starts from the west edge of the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota and runs west through north Downtown along Washington Avenue to the Minneapolis border with Golden Valley, and covers all of North Minneapolis to the Brooklyn Center border. This is an area with a large number of gay and lesbian families, and the neighborhood is attracting younger gay and lesbian couples as it contains some opportunities for affordable home ownership.

Jim Lilly sued the city in 1995, and possibly his position has changed since he sued the city. I would ask him, but he listed no campaign contact information with the Secretary of State’s office, and he doesn’t list contact information on his website.

Senator Linda Higgins is the DFL incumbant for SD 58. Higgins has voted in the Minnesota Senate to extend domestic partner benefits to state employees.