Ellison gets DFL nod for Congress

BY PHIL WILLKIE

State Representative Keith Ellison received the DFL endorsement of Congress to replace retiring incumbent Martin Sabo. Ellison is the first person of color to be endorsed for Congress by a major political party in Minnesota.

The DFL Fifth District met at St. Louis Park High School. It started early with backers of Mike Erlandson, Sabo’s chief of staff of 13 years, trying to limit the number of ballots to six. The old regulars’ best chance was to deadlock the convention. Deadlocked conventions are rare, and that motion went nowhere.
The halls were packed with supporters of anti-war candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Nelson-Pallmeyer entered the race prior to the DFL caucuses, before Sabo decided not to seek re-election. It is well known that Sabo dislikes challenges. In 1992, supporters of Paul Wellstone backed Lisa Niebauer-Stall for Sabo’s seat. They managed to drag out the DFL endorsement process into the night until the party regulars dragged some labor hacks out of bed.

Nelson-Pallmeyer might not have toppled Sabo but he would have made Sabo’s 15th re-election campaign a miserable one all the way through a contested primary. Though Sabo voted against the war resolution, he consistently voted to fund the war. And over the years, he also received large contributions from military contractors.

Sabo hoped to be succeeded by his chief of staff, Mike Erlandson. But the all-white and mostly male regulars were not the majority at this convention.
A slough of candidates were nominated. Three opted out of the endorsement race; Minneapolis Councilmember Paul Ostrow, Park Board President Jon Olson and former state Senator Ember Reichgott Junge. Ostrow and Reichgott Junge plan to take their campaigns to the primary.

On the second ballot, Erlandson’s delegates voted for Dorfman, unsuccessfully trying to deadlock the convention. But just after the third ballot it was a love fest in the hall, with everyone cheering for Ellison.