Southwest Journal on Ranum

MN Senate, 2006 Elections Today the Southwest Journal published a piece about Ranum's decision not to run again. This issue has been covered by several posts here at SD63, but this article does have a few things worth pointing out. First, had Sen. Ranum ran to replace Amy Klobuchar rather than to work for that person, it may have been an upgrade from the current County Attorney.

Ranum points to legislation she championed in 1994 that overhauled the state's juvenile justice system as one of her most significant accomplishments while in office. The reform legislation, recognized by the New York Times in 1999 for being an innovative model in juvenile justice, implemented blended sentencing for youths convicted of crimes. Teens 16 and older convicted of serious crimes, such as murder or rape, faced adult penalties while youths 14 and older convicted of felonies faced the possibility of adult sentences. She also said she's proud of her work on the state's CriMNet, an information-sharing network for law enforcement agencies, probation officers and judicial officials, among others.

Source: Southwest Journal, February 21, 2006

To her credit, Ranum has a good anti-crime record, while Klobuchar has let the city of Minneapolis slip back into a state of chaos. Rambix and KvM have done a good job documenting Klobuchar's failure. The article also highlights a fourth DFL candidate for the SD63 seat, Mark Fiddler. In a past comment the Minneapolis City and SD63 DFL chair, David Weinlick, hinted there were others. I am guessing this is one of them.

A number of DFLers have expressed interesting in running for Ranum's Senate seat, including state Rep. Dan Larson of Bloomington and Mark Fiddler, a Minneapolis attorney and party activist, said David Weinlick, the district's DFL chair.

Less than two weeks to the caucus for these candidates.