|
May 24, 2002
|
||||||
By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press Writer ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) The Green Party of Minnesota endorsed longtime party activist Ken Pentel as its candidate for governor Saturday, but a failed push by supporters of Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone threw a wrinkle into the third party's choice for U.S. Senate. Delegates gave Pentel 409 votes on the first ballot, followed by 84 for Nick Raleigh, 10 for Bruce Freeman, eight for Ray Tricomo and one for ``None of the Above.'' Pentel reminded the delegates that he had traveled the state to help build the party and organize 12 local chapters. He said he found a ``passion'' among Minnesotans ``to reconnect with their democracy.'' In the Senate race, a number of Wellstone supporters spent the day urging a vote for ``None of the Above.'' They argued that Wellstone is the closest thing to a Green in the Senate, and that control of the Senate is at stake, since Wellstone is in a tight race with Republican Norm Coleman and Democrats have only a one-seat majority. But by the time delegates finally voted late Saturday night, only 64 opted for no endorsement, while Ed McGaa won 221 votes and 190 supported Tim Davis. Since neither candidate had the two-thirds majority needed to win on the first ballot, the voting went to a second ballot, where voters could choose only between the two candidates. McGaa then crossed the threshold to secure the endorsement with 323 votes under a complicated system that allowed delegates to vote for second choices as well. ``You are the Green people, the Green tribe,'' McGaa told the delegates after greeting them in the Lakota language. He's a Sioux Indian, veteran of Korea and Vietnam, holds a law degree and has written books published by Harper/Collins on spirituality and the environment. Those calling for no endorsement said that while they don't agree with Wellstone on everything, keeping him in the Senate is vital to the causes they hold dear. ``To sacrifice Paul Wellstone by splitting the progressive vote is too high a price to pay,'' said Greg Harman, a delegate from Maplewood. Also backing Wellstone was Winona LaDuke, an American Indian activist from Minnesota who was Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader's running mate two years ago. ``If Wellstone loses this November, it is a defeat for the Green Party, for all progressives, and for the agenda we share,'' LaDuke wrote in an open letter to delegates. Among those urging the Greens to endorse their own candidate was Pentel, who said political parties need to run candidates if they're going to advance their platforms. ``I want to get away from fear,'' Pentel said. ``I want to get to the position where we are participating in what we believe in and voting for that. Fear is oppression. Voting for what you believe in and acting accordingly is a liberator.'' Delegates decided not to endorse a candidate for attorney general after no credible candidate emerged. The Greens gained major party status in Minnesota in the 2000 election when Nader received just over 5 percent of the vote in the state. To keep that status which could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign financing from the state at least one statewide candidate needs to poll at least 5 percent this November. The Greens are campaigning on a platform of ``environmental wisdom, nonviolence, social justice and grass-roots democracy'' in a state where Gov. Jesse Ventura showed that third-party candidates can win if their message catches on with the voters. Pentel is one of the party's leading organizers and was its gubernatorial candidate in 1998, when he received 3 percent of the vote on a $17,000 budget. He could qualify for as much as $250,000 in public funds if he raises $35,000 from at least 700 donors. Pentel said he felt ``pretty good'' about his own chances of crossing the 5 percent threshold. The Green endorsees for secretary of state and state auditor Andrew Koebrick and Dave Berger said they're confident they'll do even better and could even win in November. Berger, a sociology professor at Inver Hills Community College who's running for auditor, said that in each of the state's five previous election cycles going back 20 years at least one third-party statewide candidate won 5 percent of the vote. He noted that the endorsed GOP and DFL candidates Eagan Mayor Pat Awada and state Rep. Greg Gray of Minneapolis aren't much better known statewide than he is. Koebrick, who works in Web design for the state agency Minnesota Planning, will be up against better-known candidates in the DFL's Hubert H. ``Buck'' Humphrey IV grandson of the late vice president and Republican incumbent Mary Kiffmeyer. Koebrick said his six years of experience in state government and his work with other agencies makes him more qualified than his opponents. And, in keeping with Green values, Koebrick plans to campaign across the state this summer by bicycle. Party officials said the convention drew 384 delegates while another 159 voted by proxy. About half appeared to be under age 30, with most of the rest middle aged. Nearly all of them were white, and party leaders acknowledged the need to improve on that. ``You've got to get yourself some black folks,'' said Natalie Johnson Lee, who is black and one of two Greens elected to the Minneapolis City Council last year. She told the delegates it's crucial for the party to attract voters of color. ``You aren't going to change the world unless you look like the world you're trying to change,'' she said. |
||||||
