Glidden Wins!

BY Ed Felien

In a come from behind victory, Elizabeth Glidden won the City Council seat in the 8th Ward by a convincing 3,368 votes to Marie Hauser’s 2,323 (58.73 percent to 40.5 percent).

Marie Hauser was the surprising front runner in the primary election. In a crowded field of eight candidates, Hauser got 30 percent and an even 1,000 votes.

It was widely believed that the two top candidates coming out of the primary would be Jeff Hayden and Elizabeth Glidden. They were the two candidates left standing at the end of the deadlocked DFL Convention just a few months before. Hayden, a popular community organizer, former head of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association and aide to Councilmember Gary Schiff, and the favorite son of the South Minneapolis Black community, seemed sure to make it through the primary. But he only got 20.89 percent or 688 votes. Glidden got 25.17 percent or 829 votes. It was Glidden facing off against Hauser in the general.

In the last days before the primary, the Hauser campaign dropped a campaign piece that urged voters to vote for DFL candidates like Marie Hauser and Mary Merrill Anderson. It ran a picture of Mary Merrill Anderson. Although the piece never said Marie Hauser was a DFL-endorsed candidate or that Mary Merrill Anderson supported Hauser, support was suggested by association. To complicate things further, Anderson had never given permission for her photo to be used, and, as a crowning blow, she was actually Jeff Hayden’s aunt.

The Black community cried “Foul” and overwhelmingly turned to support Glidden.
Kevin McDonald ran a spirited and serious campaign in the 12th Ward to try to unseat incumbent Sandy Colvin Roy, but he lost by 3,582 votes, or 46 percent, to Roy’s 4,123 votes, or 53 percent. He tried to get traction with local issues, but every time he talked about an issue, Roy was able to convince voters she was there first.

Finally, he was able to connect with voters about Roy’s campaign contributors. Roy got most of her money from developers outside her ward.

But by that time it was too late. Most voters had already made up their minds.

Scott Benson coasted to an easy victory in the 11th Ward. Greg Iverson only got 594 votes, or 9 percent, but he spent nothing on the campaign, so his cost per vote was probably lower than any other candidate in the City.

Congratulations to the winners and special thanks to all who ran and didn't win but tried to contribute to meaningful public discussion of community issues.