State Senate race for Skoglund's seat begins March 7

People who attend their precinct caucuses in South Minneapolis’ Senate District 62, which includes most of the Riverside edition of Southside Pride, will have something to vote on this spring. Normally, the DFL endorses longtime incumbents in the spring and the voters reaffirm those decisions in the fall. This year, Wes Skoglund, a 30-year veteran of the Legislature, is retiring. [See Wes Skoglund’s complete statement announcing his retirement on page 2.] This has set off a spirited race for endorsement, and DFL delegates elected at their precinct caucuses on March 7 will suddenly find themselves more popular than this year’s prom queen.

Some of the candidates that will be soliciting delegates and promising undying love and affection are:

Earl Netwal, a former member of the Minneapolis City Council and DFL Chair of Senate District 62 until he resigned just weeks ago to run, has to know the old delegates better than anyone. He’s been around for years, and he’s paid his dues. He has probably worked on every campaign of every DFL incumbent office holder in South Minneapolis. If they don’t support him, current officeholders probably won’t work against him.

Scott Benson is the current city council- member from the 11th Ward. Although the 11th Ward covers less than half of Senate District 62, Benson has earned a reputation as a fiscal conservative that should earn him points in the southern part of the district. That’s the same part of the district in which Netwal would run the strongest.

Alex Eaton announced his candidacy six months ago. He’s already knocked on a thousand doors. As one of the founders of Peace in the Precincts, he’s earned the support of most of the peace and justice community. His strong commitment to health care reform marks him as a genuine progressive. His campaign kick-off party at the Hexagon Bar drew over 125 supporters. He has to be considered the frontrunner at this time.

Tina Sanz announced her candidacy just last week. She’s an AFSCME member and her vote count will measure the continued effectiveness of the AFL-CIO in this once invincible South Minneapolis bastion of labor strength.

Kevin McDonald hasn’t announced his candidacy yet, but he ran such a strong campaign last fall against incumbent City Councilmember Sandra Colvin Roy that he has to be considered a possible candidate.

It’s also possible that the Greens and the Republicans could field strong candidates, but there has been no visible movement in those quarters up to this point.

If you live in the District 62, you should go to your precinct caucuses As a delegate from any party, you’ll get a front row seat in probably the only local political drama playing out this year.