Apparently, the failure of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to turn their eyes to the Left and give Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL; MN 5) a chance to bring a bit of the Sanders-inspired verve to the party central committee is supposed to give me some hope, because after all, Ellison will be Deputy to the cabal that has overseen a 3 decades-long incremental march to the Right. That was sarcasm, by the way, and it is all I have to say about national offices and party politics at this time.
Instead, let’s talk local elections and party politics. Because if its political, the Parties are going to get involved. One way or another. Minneapolis politics does not feature the scorched earth partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans that bedevil so many other governments, but the DFL still flexes their campaign funding and resources muscles to protect the incumbents and party faithful. While Ranked Choice Voting blunts a bit of the mainstream party’s dominance, the resources and cash that flow from an endorsement are important advantages for the anointed candidates. Early sparring in the Minneapolis Mayoral race reflected the competition for endorsement at the DFL City Convention for which a date remains uncertain. Mayor Betsy Hodges is clearly feeling the heat. Her campaign floated a rumor that City Council Member Jacob Frey (DFL; Ward 3), a serious contender for Mayor, was considering a run for Congress in a feeble attempt at painting Frey as an opportunistic career politician intent on climbing the ladder. When the MN Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board decided that Frey could roll-over the $100,000 his campaign for City Council has in the bank to support his run for Mayor, he became a strong contender. The move prompted Nekima Levy-Pounds, a strong grass-roots candidate for Mayor, to suggest that it encouraged politicians to look toward their next step up the ladder, rather than focus on using their current position to benefit their constituents. This issue is both critical to Levy-Pounds activist campaign because it raises the funding bar and favors establishment DFL party members, and a theme of her campaign as she outlined at a recent fund-raiser at Pimento Caribbean Restaurant:
The Levy-Pounds campaign is emblematic of a host of new candidates running for every part of MPLS city government. Many of these candidates had no party affiliation until they took the initiative to start campaigning for elected office. One of the first lessons they learned was that the Parties – DFL, Green, or even GOP – play major roles in determining viability, and they had to make a decision about where to hitch their wagon. Their race for votes and support from the public quickly became a competition for the blessings from party operatives and leaders. On one hand, the RCV mechanism diminishes the relevance of party endorsement, but the reality of campaign finances and the reach of established political parties significantly increases the value of such. Relatively easy access to the ballot coupled with RCV, however, makes insurgent candidacies more viable, especially if the Convention fails to endorse because it has been shut down by one candidate of another. It has happened before. Despite the influences of the MPLS Party machines to disfavor political coalitions and mutual support among candidates and campaigns, the 2017 election has been a study in cooperative, synergistic interaction.
Nowhere has this new political movement been more obvious or effective than in the race for the 3 At Large Commissioner seats on the MPRB. Russ Henry, Devin Hogan, and Londel French have co-endorsed each campaign and it is not uncommon to find them at one or the others campaign events. Their approach has shone a light on the somewhat elusive MPRB and begun to rattle the incumbent MPRB members as they seek to maintain their powerful seats and continue to turn control of our public spaces to private concerns. Certainly the MPRB deserves credit for creating an award winning park system, but their insular planning and design meetings, lack of budgetary transparency, and inability to positively connect with people of color that are directly impacted by the decisions made by the Board, clearly leave a lot of room for improvement. I think this short video of Russ urging the MPRB to transition away from pesticide use in MPLS parks in 2016 summed it up quite well. Not only has Russ followed through on his pledge, his words ring true for so many other candidates, too. The most fundamental change that may come from the Minneapolis Election 2017 is to refocus campaigns on specific issues relevant to the people, and away from party politics, personal status, and building a career in public office. If that happens to reinvigorate the progressives and Leftists in the DFL toward taking more offices in 2018, 19, or 20 so be it. I’m down with it even is there ain’t no party, because they are certainly not foolin’ around.
“If the MPRB won’t take action to stop pesticide use, we will elect Commissioners that will.” – Russ Henry, April 2016