Filings have closed for the City elections this fall, and the candidates for Mayor run the gamut from the very serious to the “I just want to have fun.” Tom Fiske is the Socialist Workers Party candidate and he’s serious about the Cuban 5 and bank bailouts, but he doesn’t seem to have a grasp of local issues. Bill McGaughey is still serious about white men being discriminated against (he’s run before for other offices). On the other hand, Joey Lombard is running as “Is Awesome,” and Bob Carney Jr. is a “Moderate Progressive Censored”—whatever that means.
Papa John Kolstad is running for Mayor. He’s always fun. When he ran for State Attorney General he had the Green Party endorsement. This time the Green Party didn’t endorse for Mayor, so he could pick up those votes, and he has the Independent and Republican Party’s endorsement. So, this time he could have some people and some organization behind him.
R. T. (“the only job I ever wanted”—until I thought about being Governor) Rybak is clearly the favorite, but it’s hard to tell how upset the voters will be about Rybak’s enthusiastic support of the Pohlad baseball stadium that’s going to cost people in Minneapolis and Hennepin County a billion dollars in a sales tax increase over the next 30 years. Bob Miller was going to challenge Rybak for the DFL nomination because of the way the Mayor and the City Council gutted citizen participation in the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, but he had to drop out because of his wife and mother’s illnesses. Probably no one remembers William McManus, arguably the best Chief of Police since Tony Bouza, and how he gave Rybak a ticket for leaving the engine running in his fancy car and having it run down the street without him. Rybak let him take another job when McManus believed Rybak
wouldn’t rehire him.
Papa John’s got an uphill battle, but he can hope that voter dissatisfaction will turn for him. If a wrestler can win for Governor and a comedian can win a Senate seat, then it’s not so unlikely that a West Bank folkie could become Mayor of Minneapolis.
City Council races:
2nd Ward, Cam Gordon has an Independent running against him, but with DFL and Green Party support, it looks almost over.
6th Ward, two Green candidates are fighting it out to see who comes in second to DFL incumbent Robert Lilligren.
8th Ward, the Green Party has endorsed Jeanine Estime, but Michael Cavlan is running as an Open Progressive. In the past, Cavlan has been endorsed by the Green Party in his bid for a U.S. Senate seat. Who knows what that means. But Elizabeth Glidden has mended her fences and taken care of business on the home front. She took an active role in the struggle against foreclosure, and she should have an easy victory.
9th Ward, Dave Bicking has been fighting a full court press in his attack on Rybak for claiming Cam Gordon’s support on his literature before he actually got it. If he can put that much energy into door-knocking, he stands a chance of unseating DFL incumbent Gary Schiff.
11th Ward, DFL endorsed candidate John Quincy should have a walk against Greg Iverson.
12th Ward, popular peacenik and former elementary teacher Charley Underwood waged a spirited battle against Sandy Colvin Roy for DFL endorsement. He lost, but he’s challenging her again in the General Election. Rick Nyhlen, an Independent candidate, has a strong base around Sibley Park where he volunteered for 19 years. He claims there’s wide dissatisfaction with Roy in that area and that no one really knows anything about her. This could be an interesting race to watch.
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