Hayden endorsed!

By Ed Felien

Jeff Hayden

Jeff Hayden cruised to an easy victory for DFL endorsement Saturday, March 29. Sixty percent of the support of the 276 61B delegates was needed for endorsement. On the first ballot he got 161 votes, or 58.3 percent. Some people left before the second ballot, and of the 259 remaining, he needed 156, or 60 percent. He got 167 or 64.5 percent and was endorsed.

His nearest challenger was Amy Brockman, who received 58 votes on the second ballot, or 22 percent. She moved for a unanimous endorsement of Hayden. Robert Lilligren, the 6th Ward City Council member, called Amy’s action “very classy.”

Jeff was hard to catch. He started early and lined up endorsements from almost all the local DFL elected officials. He has strong roots in the area. He was the former head of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, a former aide to Council Member Gary Schiff, and he is currently working on neighborhood projects to rejuvenate the corner of 38th and Chicago.

He ran for City Council last year, and was widely expected to finish in the top two and run in the general election, but Marie Hauser ran a spirited primary campaign and beat him for the No. 2 spot, but she lost in the general election to Elizabeth Glidden. That race left some unresolved bitterness in the South Minneapolis black community that was smoothed over and almost forgotten in Jeff’s victory.

Hayden will probably face Farheen Hakeem of the Green Party in the general election in November. Hakeem is not endorsed yet, but there is no other challenger in the Green Party, and most people agree it is only a formality that will be observed before summer.

The Republican Party did not endorse a candidate for the 61B seat. The Ron Paul Republican delegates wiped out the Republican regulars in the election of convention delegates. They took all eight of the congressional delegates and all four of the state delegates. There was some talk of fielding a candidate for the vacant 61B House seat and also trying to find a candidate for School Board, but no candidates have emerged at this point.