DFLers get ready for a long night

[ccharles000]

State Democratic-Farmer-Labor conventions often are organized chaos, and the party's gathering this weekend in Duluth is likely to fit that mold.

The main order of business is to endorse a candidate for governor, and with six viable contenders — and no clear front-runner — the contest could be a long, messy affair.

Minnesota hasn't elected a DFL governor in a generation — the last was Rudy Perpich in 1986 — and the 1,390 delegates are eager to end that losing streak.

"People often accuse delegates of being single-issue voters, and this year they are. They want to win," Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a gubernatorial candidate, said this week.

Party insiders consider Rybak and Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher the frontrunners for the endorsement. They finished first and second in a straw poll at the Feb. 2 DFL precinct caucuses, where Rybak got 22 percent of the vote, Kelliher received 20 percent, and no other candidate drew a double-digit share.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_14940541?nclick_check=1

[Hawkeye-X]

1. After Timmy the Tool and Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Minnesotans should be ready to install a brand spanking new DFL'er and get the state back on its feet.

[dflprincess]

2. Ventura & Timmy only won because of three way races.

Neither of them ever got a majority vote. Ventura won with something like 35% of the vote and the best Pawlenty did was about 45%.

Minnesota really is the poster state for instant runoff voting.

[a kennedy]

3. Kelliher is Dems' choice for Minnesota governor

DULUTH, Minn. - House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher outlasted a slew of rivals Saturday to emerge as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's choice for governor.

Kelliher wrapped up the endorsement after a daylong floor battle that ran to six ballots and did not end until Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak conceded shortly after 11 p.m.

Kelliher becomes the first woman backed by a major-party for the state's highest elected office. No woman has been governor of Minnesota, and Democrats haven't held the office since 1990.

``Are you ready to make some history? Are you ready to make history together?'' Kelliher asked the convention as she accepted the endorsement.

Kelliher's path to November is far from clear, with three major Democrats - former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner and former state Rep. Matt Entenza - committed to run in the primary.

In his concession, Rybak called for all three to step aside for Kelliher.

``The stakes right now are too great for us to delay and divide any longer,'' he said.

About 1,350 DFL activists convened at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center to make their endorsement.

full article: <http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/state-and-regional/article_b9b38f96-5054-11df-98d9-001cc4c03286.html>