I've been looking at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website and, admittedly, statewide turnout looks strong for a non-presidential election year. The StarTribune is reporting it to have been in excess of 60 percent. The "unofficial" numbers on the Secretary of State's site have statewide turnout at 73 percent.
(Check out http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/)
But, the story seems a little different in Minneapolis itself. The turnout numbers I see in the Minneapolis State Senate Districts seem to be below the numbers for the state as a whole. In Southwest Minneapolis' District 60, turnout is reported at less than 30%. Granted, there wasn't a lot of suspense there about Sabo going back to Congress and Dibble winning, but still, it seems like these numbers are surprisingly low in comparison to the numbers elsewhere in the state.
Compare, for example, the turnout numbers for State Senate District 32 in suburban, northwest Hennepin County - where Republican Warren Limmer beat his DFL opponent by a sizable margin. Turnout out there was 84 percent - and that's not an isolated case.
Is this the story behind the Democrats' defeats on Tuesday? Were the Republicans just better at getting out the vote? Certainly that was the case in my new home state of Maryland, where rain and an uninspired campaign by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend kept many of her supporters in the traditionally Democratic stronghold of Baltimore at home on election night.
I think there is something worth taking notice of in this year's elections - especially if you are a Minneapolis Democrat. In election years-past, high turnouts often coincided with Democratic victories. This year, high turnouts in Minnesota and across the country coincided with Republican victories. I don't believe that this is a coincidence. This was the first election year that the Republicans employed an aggressive (Democrat-style) get out the vote effort (a product of their Task Force 72 - focusing on critical efforts during the last 72 hours of congressional campaigns).
In all the talk about the Democratic Party "finding a message" and about whether Democrats should take these elections as a signal to move to the right or back to the left, we shouldn't lose sight of election fundamentals: Get the people in your geographical power bases to turn out and vote. The Republicans have finally figured this out. Will Minneapolis Democrats?
Paul C. Rohlfing
(formerly of Linden Hills and Lyndale - now Bethesda, Maryland)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Barbara Lickness <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Jay Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,Minneapolis Issues <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Mpls] Minneapolis Elections Rock
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 05:04:31 -0800 (PST)
Then you should be proud to know that Minneapolis had the highest voter turn-out in the nation on Tuesday including a record turn-out in Minneapolis.
The voter turn-out in my legislative district was HUGE. Generally, my area is very low. The voter turn-out was also huge on the northside of Minneapolis.
Whatever the turn-out. People got out to vote. That is a good thing.
Barb Lickness/Whittier
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
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