Delegate hunt takes shape in gubernatorial contests

The vast majority of delegates have now been chosen for April’s state political conventions. While there’s no public master list of where their allegiances lie, a couple of web sites have been keeping close tabs on the gubernatorial delegate hunt.

On the GOP side, Minnesota Democrats Exposed has compiled two different tallies of which candidates delegates are pledged to support. Under one count, state Rep. Marty Seifert leads with 819 pledged delegates. Under the other, state Rep. Tom Emmer has the advantage with 840 delegates.

The bottom line: it’s pretty much a dead heat between Emmer and Seifert. Both candidates have pledged to abide by the endorsement.

The Democratic side (as usual) is much murkier. But MN Progressive Project’s Joe Bodell has put together a list of pledged delegates that campaign officials say is pretty accurate. By far the biggest chunk of delegates — 369 — are uncommitted to any candidate.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak comes in next with 143.5 delegates, followed by House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher with 137.5 delegates. Then there’s a steep dropoff to Rep. Paul Thissen (58.5), Sen. John Marty (49), Rep. Tom Rukavina (41), former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza (25) and Sen. Tom Bakk (20).

This tally, however, doesn’t consider superdelegates, where Kelliher has a substantial lead over the other challengers. The upshot: no candidate is anywhere remotely close to the 60 percent level of support that will be needed to win the party’s endorsement.

2 Responses to “Delegate hunt takes shape in gubernatorial contests”

1. Brian Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 7:33 pm

   Interesting. The delegate count shows SD60 as either 12-1 or 13-0 in favor of Emmer. I am curious to know how these numbers were determined. I’m a delegate…nobody has asked me who I support. it is somewhat difficult to put together an accurate delegate count without actually asking the delegates.

2. Ann Says:
   March 9th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

   Show me the money! Emmer lacks the financial horse-power to make it happen next November. Emmer’s paltry $20,000 Cash-on-Hand, reported 1st of Feb, was $100,000 dollars LESS than Seifert’s $130,000 COH. Emmer LACKS the financial horse-power to make it happen. And Emmer’s further inability to retain his composure under fire means he’s a “Mike Hatch” moment waiting to happen… Emmer’s a major liability for holding onto the governor’s seat by Republicans.

   SEIFERT is the only GOP candidate who can prevail in November.