The 8th District

[question everything]

It is interesting that Walz carried the district, while it was flipped from D to R. Did not follow the race there, but there was a very angry letter in the strib the other day:

t all went wrong for DFLers at their inept endorsing convention

Way to go DFLers! Congrats on losing Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District seat to a Republican for the second time in more than 70 years due to “politics as usual.” When the convention in Duluth failed to “endorse” a candidate for the primary election, five DFL candidates were left to fight for primary election votes. Smart call — using your resources to battle people in your own party, rather than support the people’s choice, Leah Phifer, for endorsement. Phifer captured majority votes in all 10 ballots, garnering 53 percent of the 60 percent needed for endorsement.

Delegates and superdelegates at the Duluth convention, you should be ashamed! Yes, that includes DFL-elected officials and others who raised your hands not to support any endorsement, even after Phifer was the clear leader and responded eloquently to that ridiculous stunt by the Latino Caucus.

Shame on you for perpetuating the good-ol’-boys network! You opted for a Rick Nolan prodigy, with numerous violations on his record, over an intelligent, articulate woman with national-security experience, integrity and enough passion to serve our country that she left a career with the FBI to seek election to represent our Eighth District in Congress. Only to be disparaged by her own political party of dinosaurs, unwilling to move forward with the best candidate for the position.

DFL Party, wake up! If you are a party of the people, start listening to the people. I truly hope Pete Stauber will listen to people and serve the Eighth District well.

Jackie (Phifer) Moen, Isanti, Minn.

The writer is Leah Phifer’s mother.

http://www.startribune.com/readers-write-atmospheric-impressions-of-an-election-doornocker/500178091/

====

I admit, I am all for the people selecting their candidates in primaries and, certainly, Both Dayton and Walz were elected while by passing the endorsements, but I wonder whether she has a point.

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Heard the same story from

our Family member who was a Delegate at that same Convention. His prediction of loosing the 8th because of the Parties choice happened.

Seen this happen in the 6th with a weak Candidate because of a single group who steam rolled our Convention.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. That letter is ill-advised.

If Leah Phifer signed off on her mom sending it, she's even less savvy than I thought.

I wonder whether she has a point.

What point would that be?

[Eric J in MN]

3. Getting the DFL endorsement

...didn’t cause Erin Murphy to win the gubernatorial primary.

It may not have caused her daughter to win the MN-8 primary, either.

Maybe her daughter was more electable and should have been chosen by primary voters; I didn’t follow that primary.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. After she didn't get the endorsement, she withdrew from the race.

It was then a four-way DFL primary, which Joe Radinovich won handily.

[Eric J in MN]

5. Then her mother should tell her not to drop out next time

...instead of criticizing people who were delegates at the DFL convention.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. Indeed.

[Scruffy1]

6. That's how we do it in Minnesota.

Endorsement or not she could have run, but she chose not to. We have had a lot of conventions that didn't endorse the eventual winner. I think this one was a tough race for any democrat. The iron range has been a swing district for a while, with a lot of the residents buying the tea party crap from the radio and Oberstar lost three elections back. I was up there and saw the outside astroturfers at work and I think a lot of dark money has been thrown in by the mining interests. The Republican candidate seemed to be squeaky clean and was a hockey star in college, which is huge on the Range.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. The DFLer won the Range except for 5B, which is oddly drawn and trends R. The bigger issue is the

southern half of the district, particularly Chisago and Isanti, which were added in 2012 to reduce the Range's political power.

[question everything]

9. And yet, Walz carried it, against Johnson - a Trump supporter

And I think that Klobuchar carried it, too.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. No, Klobuchar is the only statewide candidate who won the 8th.

[question everything]

11. This is the map that I have been seeing

https://www.politico.com/election-results/2018/minnesota/governor/

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. How would that map show that Walz won the 8th?

It certainly shows that he won Cook, Lake, St. Louis, Carlton, Kooch and Beltrami. But the 8th is more than those counties.

This page on the Secretary of State's website breaks down races by a variety of geographic options:

https://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20181106

ETA: I see that I was assuming you were talking about the 8th, but maybe you are talking about the Range. If that is the case, I apologize.

[question everything]

13. My mistake. It always warms my heart when I see this vast area of blue at the arrowhead

but, of course, it does not cover all the 8th.