2022 Inner Saint Anthony special election
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The 2022 Inner Saint Anthony special election was special election held from May 8 to May 20 in order to determine the next representative for Inner Saint Anthony in the House of Delegates. The election was triggered due to the resignation of Jennifer Granholm as Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party over Courtgate and the political fallout from the controversy. Due to her resiging during an election and not standing for re-election as president, she represented the district until the formal swearing in of the 42nd Parliament on January 7. The special election took place at least two months after the 2022 Superian federal election on January 3.
Due to Minnesota having progressive election laws, numerous candidates can run against one another, even against those in the same party, using a jungle primary, forgoing the need for a traditional primary election. Due to the district being previously held by the president, it was deeply contested with the election ultimately becoming a three-way race between Liberal Democrat Michelle Brown, a state representative, labor activist Iyanna Turner of the New Labor Party and city council member Michael Gordon of the Green Party.
The first round was held on May 8 with Brown and Turner advancing to the second round as they both met the 15% electoral threshold needed to do so and the final round was held on May 20 with Brown emerging victorious. It was the first special election in Minnesota where both of the leadning candidates were Black women. Brown's victory was in-line with general predictions as analysts predicted that the district would remain in Liberal Democratic hands due to its political leanings inspite of the party's historic loss at the 2022 federal election. Brown was sworn into the House of Delegates on May 22.
Background
Inner Saint Anthony, officially Mineapolis's 3rd electoral district, is an electoral district in the State of Minnesota located in the Metropolitan Area of Saint Anthony, the capital of both Minnesota and Superior. Since 2003, the district has been represented by Jennifer Granholm after be elected in the federal election that year. A long-time stronghold for the Liberal Democratic Party, Granholm has been re-elected by wide margins with the district's alignment towards the LDP persisting despite Granholm winning some of the lowest shares of a sitting president in their district in modern historu with 60% and 58% in both 2019 and 2020 respectively.
On November 25, Granholm announced her resignation as Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party during her 2021 Thanksgiving Presidential Address in the early morning on Thanksgiving and that she wouldn't stand for re-election as president on January 3. Due to her resigning as party leader during a federal election season, it indicated that she wouldn't stand as the party's nominee for the presidency and formally stepped down on November 28. In accordance with election law, Granholm will continue to represent Inner Saint Anthony until the 40th Superian Parliament is sworn in on January 7.
Electoral reform
In 2014, the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Democratic and Electoral Reform Act which instituted a series of new electoral systems for elections in the state on all levels of government. It not only introduced party-list proportional representation for state legislative elections, it also instituted ranked-choice voting for many local elections and special elections for parliamentary elections including both the House of Delegates and High Council. Under said system, candidates are ranked in terms of preference with the goal ensuring that the winner of the election wins a majority of the vote. It also instituted a nonpartisan blanket primary and two-round system as well combining them with ranked-choice voting to allow multiple candidates, regardless of party affiliation, to run in elections with the second round consisting of candidates that won the most votes on the first round.
In order to advance to the second round, a candidate must reach the threshold of 22% of the total popular vote at least in order to advance to the second round. Any candidate that fails to reach this threshold is automatically elminated from the primary and the election at large. In the event that happens, the former candidate can endorse another candidate of their chosing, though all votes who went to them will go to whatever candidate is second in terms of the order of preference by the individual voter.
Candidates
Finalists
- Michelle Brown, Member of the Minnesota State Assembly (2016–2022)
- Iyanna Turner, State senator (2008–2020), community organizer
- Michael Gordon, Member of the Saint Anthony City Council for the 2nd Ward (2006–2022)
Eliminated in run-off
Campaign
General election
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| North Star Tribune | Solid LD | December 28, 2019 |
| New Hamburg Journal Sentinel | Solid LD | January 2, 2020 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe LD | January 10, 2020 |