Greens had a good showing with Jim Ivey in the Ward 2 contest back in 2011, and Mortenson himself had a decent showing in the 64A race when Matt Entenza left the legislature and Erin Murphy battled out the DFL endorsement at the convention that spring.
Greens have some pull in Merriam Park and back in 2003 Elizabeth Dickinson came within 123 votes of cutting short DFLer Dave Thune's attempted comeback in Ward 2.
"We're having some conversations with people, but we don't have a candidate right now," Mortenson said of the open 64B race. He's not naming names. But with what is practically a once-in-a-generation opening in the city's delegation, it's a tempting opportunity.
Mortenson says he thinks there is a rising interest in environmental issues in the district, particularly with the potential redevelopment of the Ford Plant site: "That's a big change there, and it remains to be seen how green that redevelopment could be, or whether they'll just settle for another shopping mall. It's easy to give lip service to a space like that."
There IS some transit coming to the area for development to, as they say, orient to: MetroTransit is planning bus rapid transit along Snelling Avenue and Ford Parkway, scheduled to open in 2015.
But even if that's a sign that the Highland Park neighborhood may be recasting some of its post-war, semi-suburban origins, particularly around the old Ford Plant, a Green party run for the Legislature is something else altogether.
Mortenson says the St. Paul Greens are of different minds about whether to take on the DFL establishment.
"My own take is that its really, really hard to win partisan races as a third party," Mortenson says. "You look at it and say 'That's a long shot. But I also think the question is, what are the issues that we can talk about in the neighborhood, when we're out going door to door?"
Those include the minimum wage and health care. Here's what he had to say in an email about the issues:
"The DFL's failure to pass a minimum wage increase last session is a big disappointment. Something is wrong when the DFL can get its officials at every level of MN politics together to pass a huge Vikings subsidy, but can't get two houses together to advance the minimum wage. If you believe in a fair shot for working people, and you look at how much harder this last recession was (and continues to be) on them, then I think it's easy to see that the DFL really whiffed in a way that puts families further behind.
The last Metro Stats report was revealing on that front: if you have a degree, if you were already making middle- or upper-income: then you're seeing a recovery. If you work a retail or service job, then not only did you face more unemployment and a greater percentage drop in income, but those factors haven't gotten much better. What is this next legislator going to do to change the dynamics at the capitol for working families?
And given all the problems with the ACA insurance exchanges, the fact that Vermont is going forward with a single-payer plan seems to be under the radar. Minnesota still has an opportunity to be a leader out of the tangle of paperwork, rising costs and confusing requirements. I talked about it in 2006 and it's still relevant: is our St. Paul delegation pushing forward with innovation or content to do the best job we can with a deeply flawed health care reform?"
So, keep an eye out. Mortenson says if they get some interest from a strong candidate, they'll engage the endorsement process and decide whether to get into the race.
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