C&B CD-5 Update for Today

Checks & Balances agrees (reg. req)that Nelson-Pallmeyer and the pro-peace group is going to be a factor in the race somehow.

The Ever-changing Picture in the 5th Congressional District

The races for U.S. Senate and Governor nearly completely obscure the race in the 5th Congressional District to replace Congressman Martin Sabo (D-MN5). The field of candidates on the DFL side, which is the only side worth talking about, continues to slog ahead. Over the weekend four senate district conventions chose delegates for both the congressional and state conventions. The leader in named sub caucuses so far is peace activist/Professor Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (D) resulting in a total of 15 delegates, former DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson with 5, Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-58B, Minneapolis) has 4, Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman (D) has had 3, City Council member Gary Schiff (D) scored 2 and Jorge Saavedra remains with 1. To be clear we are not saying this is the strength of each of these campaigns only the number of named sub caucuses and the resulting delegates. As we have said before supporters for many of the campaigns are located in sub caucuses for U.S. Senate and Governor. Although the existence of named sub caucuses for some of these candidates does tend to reinforce our analysis of this race. We still feel the front runners are Dorfman, Ellison and Erlandson we now must include Nelson-Pallmeyer in our considerations. Nelson-Pallmeyer is leading in visible support, but because he will not abide by the endorsement we expect he will start to lag once the process commences in earnest. The peace contingent will need to make a choice in supporting their person or supporting the endorsement process. They may seek to swing their support to the candidate they feel will be best against Nelson-Pallmeyer in a primary. Source: Checks & Balances 4/4/06