BY ED FELIEN
Our Revolution is shaking the foundations of City Hall. So far, they have challenged three incumbents and beat one for the DFL endorsement and fought two other incumbents to a draw with no DFL endorsement.
Jeremiah Ellison beat Blong Yang for the DFL endorsement in the 5th Ward, and Phillipe Cunningham forced a no endorsement against City Council President Barbara Johnson in the 4th Ward. Janne Flisrand fought the very powerful Lisa Goodman to a draw in the 7th. Lisa Bender, the only incumbent endorsed by O R in the April 22 DFL ward conventions, was endorsed in the 10th.
O R endorsements were based on answers candidates gave to these questions:
Do you support a $15 minimum wage without a tip credit?
Do you support a municipally-owned electric and gas utility in order to meet Minneapolis Climate Action Plan goals?
Do you support participatory budgeting in Minneapolis?
Do you support mandatory inclusionary zoning in Minneapolis?
Do you support allowing all residents voting rights regardless of citizenship status in Minneapolis?
Do you support divesting from fossil fuels and big banks and investing in a municipal bank or credit union?
As representatives of the residents of Minneapolis whose taxes pay for our police, do you support redistributing police funding from the budget and police union contract if they don’t implement training and hiring practices to ensure more equitable outcomes for Minneapolis residents?
There were important ward conventions happening April 29 (too late for our deadline) in Wards 9 and 11. The incumbent, Alondra Cano, is being challenged by Gary Schiff (the former council member from 9) and Mohamed Farah. Cano has the O R endorsement. She supported referendums on the minimum wage and requiring the police to carry liability insurance. Incumbent John Quincy faces two challengers in the 11th Ward, and O R prefers either of them to Quincy. Quincy mocked efforts four years ago when citizens tried to force the City Council to abide by the City Charter and allow voters to decide whether to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer money for the Vikings stadium. Andrea Jenkins is the only candidate seeking DFL endorsement in the 8th Ward.
Two very important DFL conventions will be happening May 6. Incumbent Andrew Johnson is endorsed by O R. He faces a challenge from the relatively unknown Will Jaeger. In the 6th Ward incumbent Abdi Warsame is facing a strong challenge from Mohamud Noor and Tiffini Forslund. Mohamud Noor has O R endorsement. The Convention will be at St Mary’s University Center, 2540 Park Ave. S. It starts at 10 a.m.
The Our Revolution Minnesota website explains how they make endorsements:
“Our Revolution endorses candidates by surveying its membership coordinated with working committees. Candidates soliciting endorsement completed a questionnaire to assess and evaluate the individual’s values, vision, and understanding of progressive politics. Delivery of questionnaires and response time frames to all questionnaires are performed uniformly across candidates and administered in an impartial manner.”
O R is serious about becoming a permanent part of the DFL. They ran spirited campaigns for DFL Party offices and elected four people to the Executive Committee and the new DFL state treasurer. They said, “Congratulations to the other successful candidates, Ken, Marge, Jacob and Shivanthi. We look forward to working with you to build a more progressive Minnesota. Finally, a very special thank you to all of the Our Revolution MN members who made phone calls and/or showed up at the SCC meeting to support our endorsed candidates. It is your involvement and action that gives the candidates their true power.”
