State DFL stands firm on its retraction of Minneapolis mayoral endorsement
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There will be no DFL endorsement for Minneapolis mayor this year. The party's State Executive Committee on Monday upheld its retraction of an earlier endorsement for candidate Omar Fateh.
That endorsement was pulled last month after a party committee found the Minneapolis convention used “a flawed electronic voting system.”
In his appeal of that decision Monday, Minneapolis DFL Chair John Maraist explained that a technical problem left out the votes of alternates who had replaced absent delegates. That resulted in an undercount of 176 votes and denied candidate DeWayne Davis votes that would have advanced him to the next round of voting.
Maraist said the convention was made aware of the problem and that it voted to move forward without a recount — a move he said was within convention rules. He added that the uncounted votes did not change the order of candidates, nor the spread between them.
“This is nothing more than pure sophistry,” said Tim O'Brien, co-chair of the committee that overturned the endorsement. “As everyone who has participated in endorsement conventions knows, momentum and votes can and do fluctuate from vote to vote. As such, it is impossible to predict what would have happened on a legitimate second ballot.”
The executive committee ultimately sided with O’Brien. It also voted to form a subcommittee to ensure the Minneapolis caucus is in compliance with party rules and regulations.
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