Tag: Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

Still, she said the recent revelation is no surprise, given the prevalence of the problem in society and she said she’s disappointed that the alleged offender, chief policy director Jim Swiderski, was not held accountable. “This isn’t a women’s issue, this is a man’s issue,” she said, and believes that progress will be possible only when men understand their role in the solution. For Kennedy, there is a moral concern, as well, over the Trump administration’s treatment of undocumented immigrants and refugees. Immigrants are who we are.” On healthcare, Kennedy favors bolstering the existing Affordable Care Act, while supporting a phased transition to a universal, single-payer system. She said she favors allowing Americans to immediately qualify for full Medicare at age 62 and lowering that eligibility age to 58 within two-to-three years. She has joined some other congressional candidates in calling for a Green New Deal as part of any infrastructure plan, in order to reorient the economy toward a more sustainable direction. “I call on my fellow constituents to stand with me against fast-tracking legislation on any issue to circumvent public involvement to the benefit of multinational corporations who do not have the best interests of Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District citizens in mind,” she said. We also need to make sure that Congress doesn’t legislatively overreach by preempting citizens from their due process by circumventing the state and the court system.” Kennedy’s position shift on the most divisive issue in the race somewhat alters the dynamics of the race. And as the sole breadwinner for her family of five, she said she has to continue to work two jobs to make ends meet. “I don’t have the luxury of being retired, or being able to take 18 days to drive around the district,” she said.

The endorsement is functionally a symbolic gesture, since all five candidates will appear on the Aug. 14 primary ballot no matter what happens. But official party backing still confers some status in the heavily Democratic Fifth District, which includes all of Minneapolis as well as St. Louis Park, Edina, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale and other nearby suburbs. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison has represented the district since 2003 but decided this month to run for state attorney general. That set off a scramble among would-be successors, including three with some experience at the State Capitol: former House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, state Rep. Ilhan Omar and state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray, all of Minneapolis. The other two candidates filed to run as DFLers are Jamal Abdulahi of Minneapolis, president of a health care information startup and the founder of the DFL Somali-American Caucus, and Frank Nelson Drake of Edina, a Realtor who was the Republican candidate against Ellison in 2016. There are three candidates in the Republican primary: Jennifer Zielinski, an Allina Health employee who got the party endorsement; Christopher Chamberlin, a St. Anderson Kelliher, president and CEO of the Minnesota High Tech Association, served six terms in the state House from 1999 to 2010, including two as speaker. She was the DFL-endorsed candidate for governor in 2010 but lost the primary to Mark Dayton. Though a relative newcomer to state politics, she's had national media attention for her story of coming to the U.S. as a refugee and becoming the first Somali-American to serve in any state legislature. Torres Ray, the first Latina to serve in the Minnesota Senate, was first elected in 2006.

“She was just so smart, and she was in charge and she was energetic,” Klobuchar said. Staples Tuttle went on to win a seat in the Minnesota Senate in 1976, becoming the first DFL woman to do so. She continued to break barriers for women, helping to found the Minnesota Women’s Campaign Fund and the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus. “I stand on her shoulders,” Klobuchar said. from the University of Minnesota in 1950 and her M.P.A. Her husband, who had served as mayor of Plymouth, remained a Republican. “My dad really supported her,” Staples Thompson said. “Any time Emily Anne knocked on any legislator’s door, whether it was in St. Paul or Washington, D.C., people always welcomed her,” said Carol Engebretson Byrne, president of the local nonprofit Global Minnesota. Among Staples Tuttle’s accomplishments was a family planning program for low-income individuals that last year provided 90,000 people with birth control information, counseled 40,000 people and provided 31,000 people with access to family planning services. She is survived by daughters Thompson of St. Paul and Kathryn Staples of Copake Falls, N.Y.; son Gregory Staples of Norwalk, Conn.; stepsons Andrew, Carl, Jeff and John Tuttle, and 16 grandchildren and stepgrandchildren.