Reed going to a primary

Posted at 7:23 AM on December 3, 2009 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Campaign 2010, Campaign 2010: U.S. House

On the same day that DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar endorsed DFL state Sen. Tarryl Clark for Congress in Minnesota's 6th District, Maureen Reed announced that she's running in the primary. Here's part of the e-mail she sent to supporters:

With this in mind, I want to address the question about the DFL endorsement. After fully analyzing the situation, I have decided that if I do not receive the endorsement at the convention this spring, we will proceed to the DFL primary election.

We used thoughtful consideration to reach this conclusion since I have such a great deal of respect for the dedicated individuals in the DFL who generously give their time working to improve our state and nation. However, the Sixth District is unique in that it is more moderate and independently minded in its political leanings than the state as a whole. In fact, we conducted a poll which showed that the profile of the Democratic primary voter is more diverse in political philosophy than those who participate in the conventions.

Recent campaign results in the Sixth District show that a big-tent Democrat who appeals to independent voters has the best chance to defeat Michele Bachmann. For example, last year, President Obama won Minnesota by double digits but lost to John McCain 53% to 45% in our district. That same year in the Sixth District, Norm Coleman beat Al Franken by 16 points, and Dean Barkley ended up with 17% of the vote.

Democracy works best when more people are involved. We feel that the most democratic action we can take is to let Democrats of all stripes choose their general election candidate in a primary.

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