'The whole thing is goofy': Proposal to liberalize rules for minor party candidates in Minnesota

[TexasTowelie]

‘The whole thing is goofy’: Proposal to liberalize rules for minor party candidates in Minnesota would also block some major party candidates from primary ballot


Maybe it should be called the Richard Painter Bill. Or the power that no one wanted.

A set of proposals filed in the Minnesota House and Senate would give the state’s political parties the authority to block some candidates from appearing on state primary ballots with party affiliation.

House File 708 and its companion Senate bill, Senate File 752, make several changes to state law governing how candidates from both major and minor political parties get on the ballot. But a new section of law would also change the current procedure for major party filing.

Currently, anyone who wants to run as a Republican or a Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate can do so without challenge. If they get more votes in the primary than other candidates with the same party identification, they move on to the general election. Think DFLer Tim Walz, who defeated the party’s endorsed candidate, Erin Murphy, in the primary before going to win the governorship in November.

Read more: https://www.minnpost.com/state-government/2019/02/the-whole-thing-is-goofy-proposal-to-liberalize-rules-for-minor-party-candidates-in-minnesota-would-also-block-some-major-party-candidates-from-primary-ballot/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. This bill sounds ridiculous. Also, fuck Richard Painter.

[dflprincess]

2. Tim Walz really isn't a good example of this

He is a long time DFLer and there was no doubt about that (for what it's worth, Mark Dayton beat the endorsed candidate in the primary the first time he ran for governor as well). After the primary Walz was endorsed by the DFL State Central Committee, which allowed the party to spend resources supporting him. A DFL candidate not respecting the endorsement process and challenging the endorsed candidate in the primary used to be rare, but it has become more common over the years. Fortunately, we have avoided any of the big party splits that have sometimes occured when this happens.

Richard Painter coming out of nowhere, filing as DFL candidate and challenging Tina Smith, is what this is meant to address.