top of page
Search

THE PLAN from the GRASSROOTS: Election Action MN 2018

  • delphiablize
  • Apr 6, 2018
  • 5 min read

Now that we have our endorsed candidates for almost all MN congressional districts, we can start making things happen!

First steps! Amplify, social media-fy, donate. Like their FB page and follow on Twitter. Research shows people take people that have large followings more seriously, and it's easy to do! Also spread the word about the endorsed candidates, get to know their issues and spend some time on their pages. Of course, donate if you can. This isn't the time to be under-spent. If you can't donate, start talking. Tweet 'em, Facebook 'em, and old-school chat about 'em with your neighbors!

Door-knocking and other activities start in June – the #1 thing we've heard from candidates about what they need is help getting to all their doors. So get outside your comfort zone, you are needed! If every Democrat in Minnesota donates one day of door-knocking in these flipable districts, we'll be in fantastic shape.

OVERVIEW

The Governor's Race: Help elect Walz/Flannagan. Although truth be told, this race is pretty safe. Dems do great in statewide races. If you're wondering where to spend your energy, we recommend helping your local MN House of Rep candidates. If you're in Hennepin County, there is also a crucial race going on against Richard Stanek, a pro-ICE buddy of Trump using voter suppression tactics. Help Dave "Huthc" Hutchinson take him out! For videos see Dave's FB page.

The MN State Senate: the election for this chamber is not until 2020 EXCEPT for one seat which will be up this election due to special circumstances. The current breakdown is 33/33. If DFL-endorsed Joe Perske wins in SD 13 we flip the senate from red to blue, which would be a huge relief in case we don't flip the house. The importance of this race cannot be over-stated. Facebook link for Joe, campaign website.

In the MN House of Reps the current breakdown is 77 GOP reps and 57 Dem Representatives. We need to flip 11 seats to take back the majority and make that 66/68. It's extremely do-able if we all put some real muscle, money & hustle into it.

In coming up with this list we looked at this map from the Secretary of State's office that has the margin of victory by which the GOP or Dem candidate won last time. So lighter pink = less margin of GOP victory.

We also talked to several groups, including MN Indivisible Alliance and the DFL, and the general consensus is these are solid choices for flippables, although all these groups have their own ideas, and all districts are important. We've created a list that we feel is focused and attainable for those 11 seats, with amazing candidates, but please talk to your local DFL, SwingBlueMN or other groups about additional candidates and districts. ALL districts are up for grabs and as we've seen with special elections nation-wide, anything can happen. We support every candidate in MN (and we do need to defend our incumbent Dem Reps as well), but will be putting extra energy into these top 11.

1) Top 11 Flippable Districts (in addition to all the other awesomeness going on with 2018 candidates!) for MN House of Reps

NOTE: Unless their name is preceded by "Representative", these are not incumbents or current legislators. District maps included for all. For the candidate's website, click the name.

LESS THAN 5% MARGIN

LESS THAN 11% MARGIN

2) Other Highlights

  • 37B(.74%) District map. Amir Malik. Facebook. Twitter. Last year the margin of victory for the GOP was so small only because the GOP candidate made some absolutely atrocious comments (and still won), so a normal GOP candidate might be expected to take the district by a large margin. But Amir is a fantastic candidate and as I said, anything is possible!

  • 34B (11%) District map. Kristen Bahner. Facebook. This is a fantastic candidate who is running a very strong campaign and is getting out early for doork-nocking and meet-and-greets. With some added volunteer help she could take it.

  • 17A (18.09%) District map. Lyle Koenen. Facebook. (no website yet). Lyle ran for senate in 2016 and actually won that side of the district, so a win is entirely possible here!

  • 48B (24.68%) District map. Carlie Koytza-Witthun. Facebook. The Democratic candidate lost by a large margin in 2016 but probably due to age (he was 19), so the data is not entirely telling here. Carlie is a business woman who grew up in a union family and looks great.

  • 21B (30.6%) District Map. Jonathan Isenor. Facebook. This district is directly next to a deep-blue district (28A) which went Dem by over 26% in 2016 for the last House race. The GOP candidate is also rumored to be extremely de-motivated in this race, and Jonathan is extremely motivated (also quite funny, it turns out.) He could definitely do it if 28A (and others!) lend a hand with doorknocking.

  • 16A (36.20%). District Map. Tom Wyatt-Yerka. Facebook. Running a great grassroots campaign and has a lot of energy!

  • 16B (46.24% -!!) District map. Mindy Kimmel. Facebook. Born and raised in New Ulm and is a family therapist. God knows we need more therapists at the legislature!! (and everywhere). Her dad plays in a band so she has a lot of home-town recognition. Really tough district with that 46% margin, but ya never know! Dems actually have come really close here in the past.

3) National Congressional Candidates

FLIP:

Swing Left is a national organization targeting the national House of Reps race (not the senate). They are targeting specific districts across the county, and in MN they're targeting Minnesota's 2d district (Erik Paulsen's) and Minnesota's 3rd district (Jason Lewis). I'm on board with that. In other words, focus on those two, skip Tom Emmer's district (6th district).

Our candidate in the 2d congressional district against Jason Lewis is Angie Craig Facebook Twitter or click here on Angie's Action Page to get involved

Our candidate in the 3rd congressional district against Erik Paulsen is Dean Phillips Facebook Twitter or click here on Dean's Action Page to get involved

DEFEND (FOR U.S CONGRESS)

CD1: formerly Tim Walz's seat, DFL candidate Dan Feehan

CD4: re-elect Betty McCollum

CD5: formerly Keith Ellison's seat, elect DFL candidate Ilhan Omar

CD7: re-elect Collin Peterson

CD8: formerly Rick Nolan’s seat, elect DFL candidate Joe Radinovich

4) National U.S Senate Candidates

Help re-elect Amy Klobuchar and elect Tina Smith!

Ever wondered how congressional districts, senate districts and other voting blocks are formed? You're in luck! Check out these videos about the national legislature and state legislature and how districts work.

 
 
 

Comments

Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Follow Us
  • Twitter Basic Square
bottom of page