Minnesota Lawyer
Sen. Mee Moua
The last-minute retirement of Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, coupled with the decision of SD 67 Democrats to make no endorsement in the race to replace her, has made for a nine-person primary race in the district. The candidates (drum roll, please): John M. Harrington, Foung Hawj (Heu), Tom Hilber, Chai Lee, Vang T. Lor, Jim McGowan, Trayshana P. Thomas, Avi Viswanathan and Cha Yang.
We phoned the invaluable Robbie LaFleur at the (likewise invaluable) Legislative Reference Library to ask if there’s ever been a primary — any party, any district — with so many contestants. As it turns out, the surprising answer is yes — and, on one occasion, more.
Assisted by LRL staffer Lacey Mamek, LaFleur has turned up three primary races with nine or more contestants. She writes:
- “So far, we identified one race in which there were 10 primary contenders. It was for the special election primary in District 52B on January 28, 2003. Matt Dean won the IR primary, but was defeated by Rebecca Otto in the special election on February 11.” [Details]
- “In 1994 there were nine Independent Republicans running in the primary for Senate District 31 on September 13, 1994. Kenric Scheevel was the winner of the primary and he went on to win narrowly over Neil Haugerud in the general election.” [Details]
- “In 1954 there were nine people running in the primary for House District 55 on September 14, 1954. That’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison with the current situation of nine people running in a primary. In 1954, candidates ran without party designation. Of the nine candidates, the three top vote-getters went on to the general election. Ultimately, George Alderink won.” [Details]
