Prelim. UPDATE - The headline was updated via adding the bracketed material for clarification] Online at left.mn, this link. No excerpt needed.
UPDATE: There is some confusion found upon online search.
First, there is this, suggesting incumbent Erik Simonson was in some manner labor endorsed, at some point in time by somebody, but absent any factual grounding of what labor group, if any, endorsed the guy, if any, this cycle. This websearch, limited to the past year, returned no labor endorsement post in that time frame, unless one might be buried very far down the return list.
Moreover, there is Aaron Brown reporting which is factually credible, as viewed at Crabgrass:
Duluth attorney McEwen thumps Simonson for DFL State Senate endorsement
May 9, 2020 by Aaron Brown 3 Comments
Jen McEwen, a Duluth attorney, won the Senate District 7 DFL endorsement today after party officials tabulated online balloting.
She outpaced incumbent State Sen. Eric Simonson (DFL-Duluth) with more than 70 percent of the vote on the first ballot, a stunning margin for an endorsement challenge. Of 435 eligible delegates, 374 cast votes.
“I am honored to be endorsed by the DFL, and I’m looking forward to working with the party to win in November,” said McEwen in a press release. “The pandemic has made the challenges we face even more clear. We need representatives who will fight for our community with integrity and conviction, and we need to get to work right now.”
[...] Endorsement challenges like this fail more often than not, but one Duluth DFL insider tell me [sic] that McEwen’s campaign came better prepared than most.
For his part, Simonson entered the contest facing a perfect storm.
He took criticism for recently taking an administrative job with a six-figure salary for Lake Superior College. Now, senators are allowed to work other jobs. But this one came after Simonson submitted a bill seeking bonding funding for college. This comes a few years after he had taken a job as director of the Lake Superior Zoo after winning bonding funds for that facility.
Simonson had also developed a more moderate record in the Senate, allying with former Minority Leader Tom Bakk in the recent Senate leadership battle. Duluth’s DFL electorate has moved decisively to the left in recent years, farther away from Simonson’s positions on some issues.
In addition, online voting process greatly improved delegate participation. All these factors together created the conditions for McEwen’s win.
[italics added] Tom Bakk has been down-sized by his statewide party recently, i.e., Hortman successfully challenged his DFL Minnesota Senate leadership.
Tom Bakk is not thought highly of by Crabgrass' author, and that change was a breath of fresh air. People should know a full truth, and what, if any, labor group might have endorsed Simonson remains an incomplete story, i.e., no naming of names.
In any event, McEwan is the DFL endorsed person for the job.
Aaron Brown's reporting seldom if ever is in error, and any reader who cares can do further web research is encouraged to do so. Timmer presents a Twit Tweet, it/s called, from Simonson which seems to suggest things that are muddying things, if not totally not true. The SD7 endorsement of McEwan - a decisive endorsement - is clear and unimpeachable fact.
Anyone running against Bakk's friend, is my friend. That said, McEwan has this Facebook page, and this campaign website - the links given for any reader wishing to make a contribution to the McEwan effort.
There is this subpage:
This websearch - limited to the past year - disclosed no Simonson campaign page. What was found is that whoever edits the Simonson Wikipedia page neglected to mention the two questionable jobs Aaron Brown reported (which Brown mentioned in bonding history context). Whether by error or by intent, there is that failure to make the page current.
That Wikipedia page makes no mention of any labor endorsement, this cycle, or earlier.
Another thing online and relevant, Strib, here. In it Simonson clearly acknowledges that he failed to gain the party endorsement.
This websearch, limited to posts from this past year, returned no labor endorsement this cycle, for Simonson, over the past year. So what the Tweet that Timmer posted means has to be divined by asking Simonson wtf is this claimed "standing by" assertion all about, and is it possibly somewhat misleading? NOTE: Previously this item was found, ambiguous about a "labor endorsement" this cycle, beyond claiming there was one, for Simonson. That leaves the DFL endorsement of McEwan as a main focus unless and until any labor organization endorsing Simonson this cycle is unambiguously resolved.
FURTHER UPDATE: There is this LTE authored by Simonson, has been found online asserting:
I’m sure you’ve already heard I am running for re-election to the Minnesota Senate this year. A few months ago, I proudly received your backing again. I have the support of the MN AFL-CIO, and several individual labor unions. I believe we will flip the Minnesota Senate this fall to DFL control, and we can again work together on behalf of labor.
That "Labor World" site's about/contact page.
BOTTOM LINE: Confusion at Crabgrass on the "labor" endorsement point is admitted, while the DFL endorsement situation is unambiguous.
FURTHER: Simonson's letter terminology "... months ago ..." is the point of confusion. In one of the items linked to above there was an indication McEwan's candidacy was launched in April. There could have been an earlier pro forma incumbency-based endorsement of the only DFL person running before McEwan entered the contest, and in his LTE Simonson fudged things via "... months ago ..." instead of giving a precise date.
When any such endorsement was officially given, relative to the date of McEwan's filing for the seat, is clearly a relevant question for which Crabgrass has found no online answer.
_________FINAL UPDATE________
Further websearch found Erik Simonson's campaign website. And finding it unimpressive. First this lengthy "news" item at
https://simonsonforduluth.com/news-%26-media
Click the image to enlarge and read. It is opinion, not news, and to be that indirect and verbose to say "I did not get the DFL Party endorsement" says something.
A possible McEwan slogan, "Vote for a winner not a whiner." Opinions can differ.
A bottom line with Crabgrass, how can you credibly run there in that Senate district with an "issues" page that does not acknowledge sulfide mining as an issue and then state where you stand on the question, for or against? It boggles the mind.
Or in the man's mind is threat to the environment not an issue?
AGAIN - Opinions can differ. The opinion here, hopefully, is not left unclear.
ONE LAST POINT - AFSCME Council 5 lists Simonson as one of several endorsees, many of whom are recognized to be DFL incumbents. Similar to Simonson in that way. Several districts are skipped without endorsements. Learning the percentage of endorsees who are incumbents would be of interest if someone else took the time to do the scutwork on the listing. Also, are there any DFL incumbents absent from the endorsement listing? As the primary election date nears regional news outlets may publish endorsements, as may be expected from the two statewide papers. That list, whatever detail might be explanatory, is as clear as McEwan having the endorsement of the DFL Party. Facts are as they are.
Sometimes devils are in the details. Sometimes not.
FURTHER: For those to whom it matters, McEwan's endorsement page.
The link for the Simonson issues page has already been posted. McEwan's, here. McEwan has reached a higher level of professional education, appears younger, brighter and more energetic, and she is climate aware. I don't vote there. The Repubican-heavy Senate District within which I reside has been sending Jim Abeler to the legislature, repeatedly, since God was a child. Had Simonson respected the endorsement process and closed ranks, there'd be less chance of the Republicans sneaking the District away from the DFL.