Posted on by John Edwards

52 Minneapolis candidates registered by DFL caucus deadline

DFL endorsement season begins April 1 with a month-long caucus process. There are 52 Minneapolis candidates (for 25 city offices) who registered by yesterday’s caucus deadline. Four candidates missed the deadline and were added later. This is a party endorsement process and does not affect a candidate’s ability to register for and appear on the ballot in November.

If you’d like to participate in the endorsement process, which includes the opportunity to become a delegate, you have three ways to register: online, by text, or by voicemail. The Minneapolis DFL is touting it as “the most accessible in Minneapolis history.”

Noteworthy items:

  • Mayor Frey waited to register until the afternoon of the deadline, after his campaign helped organize an effort in February to cancel the 2021 endorsement process. His competition for the endorsement are Sheila Nezhad, Kate Knuth, and Phil Sturm.
  • Ward 1 has just one registered candidate: Elliott Payne. Incumbent Kevin Reich did not register.
  • No candidate is is seeking endorsement in Ward 6, not even incumbent council member Jamal Osman, who won his seat in a special election last year.
  • Ward 2 has one candidate seeking endorsement, Tom Anderson, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be alone on the ballot in November. Incumbent Cam Gordon is a member of the Green Party. A third candidate, Robin Wonsley Worlobah is a member of DSA.
  • Linea Palmisano has her first challenger in Ward 13, Mike Norton, which has created no small amount of joy among the many I’ve spoken to about it.
  • Andrea Jenkins in Ward 8 and Jamal Osman in Ward 6 are the only City Council incumbents currently without a challenger (DFL or otherwise).
  • An objective non-partisan analysis shows that Wards 9 and 10 have too many candidates: Seven each.
  • Of the four currently declared candidates for Board of Estimate and Taxation, only two are seeking endorsement (for two seats): Christa Moseng and Steve Brandt.
  • Update: The list of City Council candidates seeking DFL endorsement has grown by four, including incumbents Kevin Reich and Jamal Osman.

Unregistered candidates can still declare their intention to seek the endorsement by a May 26 convention deadline. Though these candidates will not appear on caucus materials, they can encourage caucus participants to become “undeclared” delegates to the virtual endorsing convention. For example: If enough people are enthusiastic about Cam Gordon in Ward 2 they could show up to caucus for “undeclared” and try to make sure nobody is endorsed at the convention. An endorsement requires 60% of delegates.