Then There Were Two

MN Senate, 2006 Elections Larson has a fight on his hands for the SD63 State Senate seat. Now both Rep. Dan Larson and former state representative Mark Gleason are seeking the DFL endorsement for this seat. As the email to friends and supporters indicates, Mark will abide by the endorsement process. This will make for an interesting seven or eight weeks for the SD63 DFL.

From: Mark Gleason To: Mark Gleason Subject: I'm running for the Minnesota Senate in District 63 Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:40:14 -0600 Dear Friends, Over the past weekend I decided to run for an open Senate seat here is District 63. Senator Ranum recently announced her retirement at the end of 2006. Senator Ranum did a great job and I believe that I am the best person to carry on her work in representing the people District 63 in the Minnesota Senate. Senate District consists of the entire city of Richfield, five precincts in SW Minneapolis and eight precincts in NE Bloomington. I have lived here since 1984 and represented roughly half of this district in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1999-2002. My campaign began yesterday. I'm planning a formal announcement later on this month. The first phase of the campaign will revolve around the precinct caucuses on March 7, followed by the District 63 DFL convention on April 8. I will not run without the local DFL's endorsement, so the endorsing process will make or break this campaign. I'm hoping I can count on your support and would love to discuss this endeavor with you at the earliest opportunity. I'll be working the phones during the next eight weeks and will be focusing on the local decision makers that participate in the caucuses here in Richfield, Minneapolis and Bloomington. Mark Gleason 612-xxx-xxxx

Gleason represented 63b at the Minnesota House for two terms, 1999 to 2002. SD63 has changed significantly since Mark represented the seat. In those days, 63B was most of Richfield and the very southern edges of Minneapolis. In 1998 he beat Mitchell Hadley 56.2% to 43.6% and then in 2000 he beat Kristian Olav Dahl 62.93% to 37.08%. I have to confess I know little about Mark or these races since I was not as active at the time and I happen to live in the small part of Richfield that was not part of 63B. In 2002, Mark then made a run for the State Auditor seat. If you google "mark gleason" state auditor you get a fair amount of hits, his run ended when he lost the endorsement to Greg Gray. The same link above regarding the endorsement loss also speculated that if Thissen went after the Ranum seat, Gleason would go after the 63A seat vacated by Thissen.

Tuesday January 24, 2006 State Senator Jane Ranum told constituents in a January 20 letter that she will not seek re-election to another term. Ranum, a Hennepin County prosecutor, reportedly has tired of the fundraising and is ready to move on. The move opens up the seat to a couple of DFL reps, Dan Larson and Paul Thissen, who share the Minneapolis-Richfield-Bloomington district. We’re told Larson plans to run and that Thissen will certainly consider it. If Thissen runs, look for former state rep. Mark Gleason, who gave up his seat to Thissen four years ago when he ran for state auditor (and lost the DFL endorsement to Greg Gray), to make a bid for his old seat.