How much weight does the endorsement of St. Paul’s Green Party carry in Frogtown and Summit-University? We’re about to find out. On Sunday, the party met at a special convention and endorsed Johnny Howard, a founder of the Thomas-Dale Block Clubs, for the Ward 1 city council seat.
Howard — who had previously sought the DFL endorsement — is opening his Van Buren Avenue home to the Greens and other supporters during a fundraiser from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 10. A news alert from the Greens includes warm words from former mayoral candidate Roger Meyer and party co-chair Vanessa Vogl.
The seat, recently vacated by Melvin Carter III, is coveted ground in the November election. So far, five candidates have filed to run for the position, drawing some early endorsements from labor and political action groups. The candidates include Mark Voerding, Noel Nix (AFSCME Council 5 and Teamsters 120), Dai Thao (Take Action Minnesota and the firefighters local) and Paul Holmgren (the city GOP committee).
At the special DFL endorsing convention this month (which Howard also attended, seeking DFL support), Debbie Montgomery, Matt Hill and Kazoua Kong-Thao also threw their names into the ring, though they have yet to file candidacy papers with the Ramsey County Elections office.
A write-up on each candidate, including their description of a key platform issue in their own words, is online here.
