Minneapolis City DFL Chairman Brian Melendez beat out two challengers Saturday to win election as state party chair for the next two years.
"To change the world, we must win elections. To win elections, we must build an effective, relentless party organization. That's what I do," Melendez said before the vote of the DFL State Central Committee at St. Cloud's Apollo High School auditorium.
Melendez, 40, a partner at the Minneapolis law firm Faegre & Benson, beat out Josh Syrjamaki, an activist with the United Steelworkers of America and a former deputy campaign chairman for Sen. Paul Wellstone. Former state Rep. Betty Folliard also ran but dropped out after the first ballot and encouraged her backers to vote for Melendez.
"We all agree on the end, returning the government of Minnesota to the people of Minnesota and the vehicle for that is going to be the DFL Party," Melendez told the crowd.
Departing state chair Mike Erlandson, also chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo, had served for six years, the longest tenure. The campaign for chair was much more high-tech this year than when Erlandson beat out Mary McEvoy for the job in 1999. Supporters were working the floor with headphones and delegate lists.
Minneapolis activist Donna Cassutt was elected associate chair.
Melendez, who has served as the unpaid city chairman in Minneapolis for six years, is known for being pragmatic, highly organized and efficient.
"The Democratic Party is going to become the voice of the middle class," he said of his main goal for his term.
Melendez has three degrees from Harvard, including a law degree and a master's from the Divinity School. "I'd like to see the Democrats talk about faith and values rather than let the Republicans claim the moral high ground," he said.
Before he won, Melendez said the party needed to get out its message of accountability, opportunity and fair play. He pledged to hold training sessions for activists on how to get out the message.
Melendez also offered four priorities: fundraising, organizing, communications and customer service, which he described as reconnecting the state party with local party units.
Melendez said the legacy of Erlandson's tenure is healthy finances so as incoming chair, he can focus on party building.
In his preelection address, Melendez said he grew up without money, living in a two-bedroom apartment with his mom, an aunt and six other children. "My mother married my stepfather, and we got to move into a trailer," he said, bringing laughs.
When Republicans cut funding to higher education for disadvantaged children, they cut funding for people like him, Melendez said. "I can't stand by as Karl Rove and Tim Pawlenty build the America of their dreams while crushing our dreams," he said.
Melendez was born in upstate New York, raised in Florida and moved to Minnesota right after college. "I moved here because I liked the weather," he said in all seriousness.
The new chair will see the DFL through the 2006 election as the party seeks to hold on to the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Mark Dayton and to regain the governor's office.
Hatch on the stump
Another question for the party is whether Attorney General Mike Hatch will run for the governor against Pawlenty.
"I don't know yet," Hatch said when he arrived at the event. When he addressed the delegates, he gave a fiery speech.
"I joined a new organization today; it's called the Minnesota Fee Payers Association," he said, referring to Pawlenty's proposal to add a 75-cent "health impact fee" to the cost of a pack of cigarettes.
On departing, Erlandson said, "We won more elections than we lost while I was party chair, including twice delivering the state as a blue state [in presidential voting]." Party officials provided a list of his accomplishments, among them, overseeing the election of U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, the first woman elected to Congress in Minnesota in 50 years.
Erlandson also led the party during one of the most tragic events in its history: the 2002 plane crash that killed Wellstone, his wife, Sheila, their daughter, Marcia, and five other people, including McEvoy. Erlandson called that day, Oct. 25, his most difficult day as chair. "It was a heartbreaking year. If I could take anything back, I'd take the airplane crash back and have lost every election," he said.
After a turbulent couple of weeks, the DFL lost Wellstone's Senate seat to Norm Coleman and the governor's office to Pawlenty as well as several seats in the state House. In 2004, the party picked up 13 seats in the state House.
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