Within minutes of results of the second ballot being announced, Marty Seifert stepped to the podium and said, “Elect Tom Emmer the next governor of Minnesota!’’
The delegates cheered.
“Marty! Marty! Marty! Emmer! Emmer! Emmer!”
The second, and final, ballot showed Emmer moving up to 56 percent of the vote, with 60 percent neeed for endorsement. Seifert held at 43.8 per cent.
Seifert had been the presumptive leader in this race for months, but throughout the winter months Emmer’s stock kept rising.
Seifert, who is only 38, said his political career is over.
“I will retire from the Legislature,” the Marshall representative said, “and go back to the city I love and the family I love.
Calling for unity, he left the podium.
I agree with comments overheard during the convention live stream that Seifert seems too young to be “giving up” on politics just because he lost this endorsement. Does anyone else find it surprising that he announced his pending retirement from the legislature?
Best news for the DFL yet!
I think Paul nails it. There is a quite a bit of space between Rep. Emmer and Speaker Kelliher regarding their policies and political rhetoric. I can imagine that both candidates will begin their shift towards the middle before the start of the next news cycle. Or am I being too cynical here?
In some measure, this election will either validate Governor Pawlenty’s rhetoric and policies or to a degree reject them. It will be fascinating to see how the voting public will react to these two vastly different candidates.
I think Marty’s action is a reflection of the strain legislative service imposes on it’s younger members. It’s got to be really hard to raise a family while serving. If Tom gets elected, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marty got a post in state government. And it would hard to rule a return to public life later on for Marty.