Candidate Forum tomorrow, follow it here live

The Senate District 64 DFL is hosting a candidate forum at Macalester College tomorrow for the six candidates vying for the party endorsement on March 23.

Weyerhauser Chapel, in warmer days

The Race for 64B will be covering the event live, and will have the full audio of the forum available shortly after it concludes. You should also be able to hear the event, as it happens, via Mixlr. Here are the deets:

Don't forget to join us this Sunday, March 9, at Macalester College's Weyerhauser Chapel from 1-2:30pm for a forum for the 64B candidates. If you'd like to chat with the candidates in advance, we're doing an optional meet & greet starting at 12:15. Former State Representative Kathleen Vellenga will be moderating. We'll be focusing more on policy issues for this forum. If you have topics/questions you'd like to suggest, please send them to chair@sd64dfl.org.

On the DFL agenda: Beat the Clock

The rules for the Senate District 64 convention are out. You can see the whole shebang below.

A couple of observations: The drop off rules aren't exactly steep. Anybody with less than 10 percent of the ballots in the first round will be dropped -- which could easily leave EVERYBODY in the race for the second ballot. The drop-off only goes up by 5 percent per round, which may mean the runners up may linger on a little longer.

Here's the relevant rule:

Candidates receiving less than 10% will be dropped after the first ballot. On subsequent ballots, the drop-off percentage will be raised by 5% each ballot. In addition, after the 3rd ballot, the lowest remaining candidate will be dropped, regardless of the candidate’s percentage.
However, in no case will this drop-off rule be used to reduce the number of candidates remaining on the next ballot to less than two.

And there are a couple of fail safes in the rules. The Senate District DFL will NOT endorse before the primary if the convention doesn't pick a candidate -- it's do or die on Sunday. Also, no "no endorsement" motion can be introduced before the 7th ballot. That's some pressure to endorse.

Will it go that many rounds? With three candidates reporting five-figure war chests in 2013 alone, as well as the Take Action and womenwinning endorsements for Greta Bergstrom, the top four could have the resources for a long, drawn out battle later this month - possibly setting up a scenario like last year's mayoral race in Minneapolis where delegates had to decamp from the Convention Center before endorsing either Mark Andrew or Betsy Hodges. And this time, since there's NO ranked-choice voting, it would set up a battle royale for the Aug. 12 primary.

The Senate District 64 convention start has been moved up to 11 a.m. on March 23rd at Central High School to give the party more runway. But the convention has to wrap up its business by 9 and be out of the building by 10, according to district chair Elizabeth Wefel.

"We're going to be taking steps, both in the rules and the preparations to try to get through the business as soon as possible," says Wefel, although the 64B endorsement is the last scheduled business before the adjournment.

She noted the agenda floor fight in the 64A endorsement battle when Matt Entenza retired and Erin Murphy won the DFL nod in 2006, and said this time, they're going to keep the agenda moving -- including electing state delegates from the "A" side first, so they don't have to stick around for the "B" side politicking, if they don't want to.

Here's the rules of the game:

SD 64 DFL Convention Rules Final

Beth Fraser delegate letter

Here's the letter Beth Fraser is sending out to delegates for the March 23 DFL convention, where six candidates will be vying for the party endorsement:

Fraser Letter by theracefor64b

Greta Bergstrom delegate letter

Here's candidate Greta Bergstrom's letter to DFL delegates:

Bergstrom Delegate Letter by theracefor64b

Dave Pinto delegate letter

Here's candidate Dave Pinto's letter to District 64B DFL delegates:

Pinto Delegate Letter

By the numbers: Here's a look at the DFL delegate count

Since 64B has gone to the DFL for decades, it's probably a worthwhile effort to look at the party mechanism that's likely to pick the next representative for the area. 

Here's what the Senate District emailed out to candidates late last month for a head count:

Precinct	Delegates
ST. PAUL W-2 P-06	11
ST. PAUL W-3 P-01	36
ST. PAUL W-3 P-02	43
ST. PAUL W-3 P-03	47
ST. PAUL W-3 P-04	25
ST. PAUL W-3 P-05	27
ST. PAUL W-3 P-06	36
ST. PAUL W-3 P-08	29
ST. PAUL W-3 P-09	44
ST. PAUL W-3 P-10	29
ST. PAUL W-3 P-11	29
ST. PAUL W-3 P-13	34
ST. PAUL W-3 P-14	62
ST. PAUL W-4 P-07	31
Total	483

The DFL has a standard 60 percent endorsement requirement; that would mean a candidate will have to get 299 delegates to win the endorsement -- if everybody shows up.

"I think we'll come close to filling everything," says Elizabeth Wefel, a Senate District 64 chair.

The precinct caucuses are 55 days away.