MN Candidate Won't Abide Convention Results
By Reid Wilson
Ramsey Co. Atty. Susan Gaertner (D) said Tuesday she will disregard the results of a statewide convention designed to choose a nominee and will instead run in a DFL primary.
Gaertner, one of about a dozen Dem candidates running for the state's open GOV seat, said in a statement that her brand of centrist politics is more likely to appeal to primary voters than to base Dems who attend the party's conventions.
"To be honest, I think my original plan to rely solely on the endorsement and convention process was too politically limiting. I firmly believe that an effort to expand our reach to a much larger universe of Minnesotans is the right direction -- especially since some in the field have been in that mode all along," Gaertner said in a statement.
Candidates who earn a majority of delegates at the DFL conventions are officially endorsed by the party, but the losing candidates can choose to run in a later primary. The '10 convention is scheduled for Apr. 23-25, while the primary is slated for Sept. 14.
With such a large field, it was always unlikely that either party would be able to conclude their GOV primaries in a convention process. Leading contenders on the Dem side include Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and ex-Sen. Mark Dayton, while GOPers are waiting to see if ex-Sen. Norm Coleman will get in the race.