The DFL drop off rule: Where the gov candidates stand
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The Rules Committee of the DFL Party will meet on April 11th to discuss the convention rules. One point of discussion is the rule regarding the endorsement process. Under the draft guidelines, candidates that don't receive strong support from party activists will be dropped off the ballot when the next vote is taken. The threshold increases after every ballot is taken. Here's the proposal:
d. DROP OFF RULE: Candidates receiving less than 5% will be dropped after the first ballot. On subsequent ballots, the drop off percent will be raised by 5% each ballot to a maximum of 25%. After the fifth ballot and each subsequent ballot, the lowest remaining candidates will be dropped so that no more than two candidates remain. In the event that application of the drop off rule would eliminate all but one candidate, then the two candidates who received the highest percent of the vote on the prior ballot shall be the remaining candidates.
The rules can be changed when the Rules Committee meets. That got me wondering where the candidates stand on the current proposal. At least two say they'll work to change it.
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Tom Rukavina says he wants the rules to drop off candidates with less than 5 percent support on the first ballot, 10 percent on the second ballot and 15 percent on the third ballot. "Let's duke it out after that," Rukavina said.
John Marty said he disagrees with the proposal to allow the convention to come down to two candidates. He said 3 or 4 candidates should be allowed to debate and lobby delegates. "if it's the most important race this year, we should spend a little bit of time on it," Marty said.
Here's the breakdown of where the candidates stand:
Supports the rule as it stands:
Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Paul Thissen
Don't support the rules:
Tom Rukavina
John Marty
No comment:
R.T. Rybak
Note:
I only interviewed the candidates who say they'll drop out of the race if they don't win the party endorsement.
UPDATE: Brian Bakst with the Associated Press reports on this twitter feed that the Minnesota Republican Party's drop off rules cut candidates with less than 5 % after 1st ballot, 10% on 3rd, 20% on 5th and later ballots. The GOP rules aren't as critical since Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer appear to be the only candidates with strong support.
