Minnesota Democrats have officially endorsed a candidate to run against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the darling of the Tea Party right. But the process isn’t over, and there will still be a primary in August.
The district-level convention of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsed state Sen. Tarryl Clark, who has long been supported by other Democratic elected officials and key unions. The other candidate is Maureen Reed, former state University regent and 2006 Independence Party nominee for lieutenant governor — and she will still be contesting the nomination in the primary.
Minnesota political parties traditionally don’t hold real primaries, but instead go through a system of precinct caucuses, county conventions, and district-level and state conventions. If a candidate can get a super-majority of delegates at the appropriate convention, the party then officially endorses that candidate and the opponents are expected by custom to drop out. The primary is still officially held, but would normally be a mere formality.
Reed, however, will continue to run. “On to the primary,” Reed said. “We know that primary voters are a very different group of people than the people who attend the endorsement process.”
Whoever does win the DFL primary will have an uphill fight. Bachmann’s district is the most conservative in the state, having voted for John McCain in 2008 by a margin of 53%-45%. Bachmann nearly lost re-election that year, as a result of her infamous appearance on Hardball in which she called for an in-depth media exposé of alleged anti-American opinions held by Barack Obama and Democratic members of Congress. The question this year is whether her increased national profile will alienate her constituents further, or instead mobilize her support base even more.
