Election results a mixed bag

Election results for left-leaning, progressive candidates in wards 6, 8 and 9 were mixed this year. Councilmember Dean Zimmerman lost to Councilmember Robert Lilligren by a mere 46 votes in the redistricted Ward 6. This result came after a FBI raid on Zimmerman’s home, which has resulted in no indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Zimmerman said his attorney has advised him that the statute of limitations for any indictment is seven years but that “I’m not spending a whole lot of time thinking about that,” Zimmerman said.

What’s next for Zimmerman? “I’m standing at the edge of some new adventure in my life. I don’t know what that will be yet,” he said, adding that it would be fun to be a park ranger, or to get a job promoting clean energy or a better transportation system.

When asked if anyone else can identify with having their home raided by the FBI, Zimmerman answered that “someone who witnessed the raid came up to me and said, ‘Now you know what it feels like to be Black,’ adding that “with homelessness and 2 million people in jail there’s a lot of people who understand.”

Dave Bicking lost his bid for City Council to incumbent Gary Schiff in the 9th Ward.
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.