Clark wins DFL endorsement, Reed to take it to primary

DFL activists gathered in Blaine on Saturday to select the candidate they want to square off against Rep. Michele Bachmann in November. Sen. Tarryl Clark won the endorsement over Dr. Maureen Reed on the first ballot with 63 percent of the vote. But Reed is not out. With Reed taking the fight to the primary, voters in the district will have the opportunity to weigh in on who faces Bachmann in the general election.

“On to the primary,” Reed told In-Forum. “We know that primary voters are a very different group of people than the people who attend the endorsement process.”

Reed’s campaign offered this tweet following Clark’s endorsement. “Thank you for all of your support at the Convention today- looking forward to a spirited summer of campaigning against Michele Bachmann!”

Clark and the DFL took swipes at Bachmann once the results were known.

“Our grassroots campaign has reached out to every corner of this district, and I’m proud to have earned their overwhelming support,” said Clark. “Today — together — we begin in earnest the fight to bring an end to Michele Bachmann’s agenda. Michele Bachmann is free to pursue her agenda on her own time, but no longer on the people’s dime.”

“For far too long, the people of the sixth district have had an absent, ineffective representative in Congress, while suffering the highest foreclosure rates in Minnesota,” said State DFL Chair Brian Melendez. “They deserve a leader who will work every day to bring jobs back to the sixth congressional district. Tarryl Clark is that kind of leader.”

Last weekend, Bachmann won the endorsement of the Republican Party of Minnesota.