XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.democrats
XPost: alt.politics
For the first time in 16 years, the Minneapolis DFL is backing a
candidate in the mayoral race.
During the DFL convention on Saturday, State Sen. Omar Fateh, who’s
running as a democratic socialist, won the party’s endorsement, gaining
at least 60 percent of the vote.
It’s a move that experts say could reshape the political landscape and
deepen divisions within the party.
Fateh and incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey were the front-runners.
“The party endorsement is a very good boost, a very good sign of hope
and trust across the ballot,” John Maraist, Minneapolis DFL party chair, said. “It’s the official seal of approval from the most active
participants in the party, from the most informed participants in the
party.”
Political experts said that getting the endorsement shows a clear sign
of support, but not a guaranteed path to victory.
“The endorsement brings with it the ability of the party to be able to
spend money to campaign on your behalf, to help bring out volunteers,”
David Schultz, Hamline University political expert, said. “Normally, the
rule is the endorsed candidate wins the general election. However, given
the fact that the current mayor is the incumbent, and given sort of the political alignment right now, that becomes a really interesting
question, what’s going to happen.”
Schultz said the vote also reflects a growing divide in the DFL party.
“There’s no question about it at this point. What we’ve really seen for the last several years is a significant split between what is the
traditional DFL, plus sort of the socialist wing of the DFL, or we could
call what the more centrist versus the more progressive,” Schultz said. “Gradually, over time, we saw how the more progressive wing has captured
lots of seats on the city council and has really been developing a solid grassroots strategy for many years.”
There are three other candidates running in this race: Brenda Short, who
is a small-business owner; Jazz Hampton, a lawyer who created the
TurnSignl app that provides legal advice to drivers at traffic stops;
and Rev. DeWayne Davis, who is the lead pastor at Plymouth
Congregational Church.
The election is on November 4.
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/for-first-time-in-16-years-minneapolis-dfl-backing-candidate-in-mayoral-race/
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