The state DFL Party endorsed Saturday former Congressman Rick Nolan to oppose Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack in the state's 8th Congressional District.
DFL party chair Ken Martin released a statement Saturday calling Nolan a proven leader who will work to create jobs.
The other Democrats in the race include former state Sen. Tarryl Clark and former Duluth councilman Jeff Anderson.
Clark already told supporters in March that she plans to take her campaign for the Democratic nomination directly to the August primary. She made clear that she wouldn’t abide by the decision of the endorsing committee.
Jeff Anderson congratulated Nolan for winning the DFL endorsement Saturday, but said he, too, will take his campaign to the August primary.
“While the handful of party regulars that decided this endorsement are celebrating the completion of the process, our campaign will be hitting the streets to help encourage new voters to enter the process.”
Convention vote totals, according to Nolan’s campaign, out of 175 ballots were as follows: Nolan, 133 (76 percent); Anderson, 17.5 (10 percent); Clark, 0; Undecided, 3 (0.1 percent), and no endorsement, 21.5 (12 percent).
The state Republican Party responded to Nolan's endorsement by saying he continues to promote failed policies and unpopular ideas.
Nolan, who entered the race last summer declaring that unsustainable wars, debt and unemployment have put America at a perilous tipping point, received the endorsement on the first ballot following a speech focusing on a renewed vision for Congress, reinvestment in America’s infrastructure and an end to the “right wing wars on workers, women, seniors, students, and the middle class.”
