Patricia Torres Ray wins big upset in DFL endorsement for Senate District 62

BY ED FELIEN

Things got pretty exciting at the state Senate District 62 Convention on Sat., April 1 at Roosevelt High School.

Alex Eaton had been challenging Wes Skoglund before Wes decided to retire. He was co-chair of Peace in the Precincts, and he was a strong supporter of single payer health care. He was progressive on all the issues and had to be considered the front runner once Wes dropped out. When Ward 11 City Councilmember Scott Benson announced, he was able to get the support of DFL regulars and party operatives like former City Councilmember Tony Scallon, former State Representative Lee Greenfield, staff people from R.T.’s office, Councilmember Lisa Goodman and Rod Krueger of the Library Board. It looked like he was the front runner and at one point Skoglund even worked the floor for him.

It was shaping up as the familiar battle between the flakes (those who believe in platforms and ideals) and the hacks (those who believe in winning elections), a battle the flakes almost always lose.
More candidates joined the race: Matt Gladue, a labor and peace activist currently working for Catholic Charities’ Office for Social Justice; Patricia Torres Ray, an activist on behalf of children who resigned from her position with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to run for the seat; Earl Netwal, former member of the Minneapolis City Council and former chair of District 62; and three others.
The convention rules were shaped to encourage endorsement. Any candidate with less than 10 percent was dropped after the first ballot. After the second ballot the candidate receiving the least number of votes would be dropped until only two candidates remained. Sixty percent was needed for endorsement.
It would have seemed with so many candidates that an endorsement would’ve been difficult, but delegates to this convention wanted an endorsement and events moved quickly.

Results of the first ballot were shocking! Patricia Ray jumped out in front with 25.6 percent; Alex Eaton came in second with 20.1 percent; Matt Gladue got 18 percent; and Scott Benson got only 16.3 percent. Earl Netwal and three other candidates were eliminated. Earl missed by a whisker. He got 9.3 percent.
On the second ballot Patricia Ray picked up 59 votes and had 31.8 percent. Matt Gladue picked up 41 votes and had 22.4 percent. Scott Benson picked up 49 votes for 21.7 percent. Alex Eaton only picked up 4 votes to stay at 20 percent, and he was dropped. In his concession speech he urged his supporters to vote for Ray.

On the third ballot Ray picked up 108 votes and had 46.8 percent. Gladue picked up 40 votes for 28.4 percent. Benson only picked up 29 votes for 24.6 percent and he was dropped.
On the fourth ballot Ray had 58.2 percent and Gladue had 41.4 percent Gladue withdrew and moved a unanimous ballot for Ray.
In this heavily DFL Senate District, the DFL endorsement is generally tantamount to the election process, so Patricia Torres Ray is well on her way to becoming the first Latina elected to the Minnesota State Senate.