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Sunday, June 01, 2014

Simon.

Reporting, Marshall Independent, here; and MinnPost here. Eric Ferguson's live blogging report at MPP is a must read. Anybody, regardless of party, who live blogs a convention or similar event takes on a daunting task and is doing a public service which should be commended.

The Independent reported:

Several speakers stressed the importance of bringing out Democratic voters for the off-year general election in November, when Republicans are expected to make gains across the country. Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, of Cook, warned that the party will be in "big trouble" if turnout falls below 50 percent.

"We cannot allow ourselves to take our foot off the pedal," St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said.

In the only competitive race of the convention, delegates endorsed state Rep. Steve Simon over state Rep. Debra Hilstrom for secretary of state. Simon was declared the winner by acclamation after Hilstrom conceded before the first-ballot vote total was announced. Both said they would not challenge the endorsed candidate in the primary.

Simon, of St. Louis Park, touted his work to defeat a constitutional amendment that would have required Minnesota voters to present identification at the polls.

Well, a GOTV litany, vote to win being a simple enough concept.

Then, a "by acclimation" concession, and none of that messy multi-ballot political intrigue that Tweedle Dum indulged in, these folks were polite and correct.

Now, Simon stressed his work to upend that awful voter disenfranchisement attempt.

And about that, a look back at legislation sponsorship is due soon. Who when trusted with legislative responsibility was a big time booster of voter disenfranchisement?

Worth a look, in a later post; and DFL stalwarts in CD6 can cross over and vote the GOP primary, and should.

NEXT: What did MinnPost report? This excerpt:

Despite its down-ticket status, Simon’s race — against Rep. Debra Hilstrom — was of far more interest than at most conventions because it was the only competitive race at an otherwise ho-hum convention.

And because it was the only competitive race, it was surrounded by all sorts of political scuttlebutt and rumor-mongering.

Brooklyn Center’s Hilstrom apparently was receiving campaign advice from former DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch.

She was expected to get strong support from Iron Range delegates because Simon has taken positions on mining that Rangers see as unfriendly.

Hilstrom indirectly attacked Simon on his refusal to push forward a bill that would have given access to voting to 50,000 Minnesota felons who have served their sentences. (Simon, who supports expanding access, had not pushed the legislation forward because it did not have bipartisan support and Gov. Mark Dayton said he would veto voting legislation that does not have support of members of both parties.)

Turns out Simon had a pretty powerful trump card for every turn Hilstrom could make.

[...] Simon talked about his own future campaign.

The name of the game is ballot access for all Minnesotans," Simon said. “That’s what we have to do going forward.’’

He said it would be “a cold day in hell or a warm day in Duluth’’ before Minnesotans allow “chipping away’’ at limiting opportunities to vote.

[emphasis added] Simon said, just as in the game.

And that cold day in hell statement; who in the hell in Minnesota's CD6 would ever have wanted voter disenfranchisement? To have championed it?

A parallel question, who lost a recount-tainted election to Mark Dayton?

More on such questions in a later post.

LAST: Any reader here who did not read the MPP live blogging should do that now. It is excellent reporting.