On Saturday, March 23, the DFL party held its Senate District 61 convention at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. With over 400 delegates in attendance, the main question was whether to endorse a candidate to replace retiring Rep. Frank Hornstein in District 61A. After hearing from the six announced candidates and participating in three rounds of balloting, the delegates opted not to issue an endorsement.
The 5th Congressional District
Also of interest was the race to select delegates to the 5th Congressional District convention in May, where delegates will decide whether to endorse a U.S. House candidate in the contest between incumbent Ilhan Omar and challenger former City Council Member Don Samuels.
If the preferences of the Senate District 61 delegates are any indication, that one’s going to be a real horserace. In the first round of the dreaded “walking subcaucus” process, 139 delegates joined groups explicitly connected to Omar, while 147 lined up for Samuels.
In the second round, 130 delegates assembled for Omar, with 147 for Samuels, which resulted in 10 Omar delegates being selected for the CD5 convention, and 12 for Samuels. Factoring in two other groups not explicitly aligned with either candidate (each of which gained four delegates), the conventional wisdom in the room was that SD61 was a toss-up, marking this as a race worth watching.
Balloting for the 61A candidates was also interesting.
There were six candidates, in alphabetical order: Jared Brewington, Katie Jones, Dylan McMahon, Isabel Rolfes, Will Stancil and Trevor Turner. Both Brewington (an entrepreneur) and Turner (a disability rights advocate) were eliminated in the first round, getting two votes and one vote respectively. Jones received 69 votes, Rolfes garnered 63, Stancil got 60 and McMahon picked up 35.
McMahon was eliminated in the second round, with 21 votes, dropping him below the 25% threshold for that round. After that it was Jones (74), Stancil (67) and Rolfes (65). With 60% needed to gain the endorsement, no candidate was close. That pattern continued in the third round, with Stancil overtaking Jones by one vote: Stancil (77), Jones (76), and Rolfes (56).
The take-away?
This race is also going to be one worth watching, with multiple candidates gaining meaningful support. Next stop? The primary election on August 13, where the voting public will winnow the field for each major party.
Impressions?
If I had to pick a word, I’d say “hopeful.” I went to this event as a first-time delegate, and with some fear and trembling given the miserable displays of incivility we’ve seen at recent meetings of our DFL-controlled City Council.
This wasn’t one of those gatherings. While it was, obviously, an overtly partisan event, it was still a congenial gathering, with little needless drama and only a few isolated and brief outbursts. The chilliest reception of the day was for Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who was greeted with a number of audible “boos” as she took the stage.
The chair, parliamentarian and head teller appeared experienced, efficient and fair. The candidates struck me as serious, thoughtful and brave (for putting themselves out there!), and I found the delegates themselves to be neighborly and pleasant.
There were divergent views in my seating area, but they struck me as principled, articulate and sincere, and I enjoyed hearing a range of viewpoints from our neighbors. In short, while I wasn’t looking forward to the event in the morning, by day’s end I found myself feeling unexpectedly uplifted and hopeful. It felt like democracy in action, and I’d do it again.
