Levy-Pounds won't seek DFL endorsement, calls caucus process flawed
With DFL precinct caucuses set for Tuesday night, two candidates for elected office in Minneapolis announced they won't seek party endorsement.
Nekima Levy-Pounds, who is vying for mayor, and Ward 5 city council candidate Raeisha Williams remain Democrats, but are choosing not to participate in the endorsement process, saying they believe it hasn't been historically friendly to candidates of color.
Levy-Pounds said the caucus process allows a small group of party faithful to make decisions.
"We're talking about a process that includes no more than usually 4,000 people who control who makes it to November," she said. "In the advent of ranked-choice voting, it makes absolutely no sense to continue an antiquated process."
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Levy-Pounds pointed to racial and economic disparities in Minneapolis that she says have not been addressed by the party.
"You will see many of my opponents scrambling for the DFL endorsement. Why? Because they are so used to business as usual," Levy-Pounds said. She and Williams decided to seek "the people's endorsement."
Both said they plan to stay in the race through election day in November.
The Minneapolis DFL declined to comment.
The last mayoral candidate to win a DFL endorsement was R.T. Rybak when he ran for a second term in 2009.