Political hardball alleged in Minneapolis council race
MAYA RAO, Star Tribune
April 25, 2013 - 11:44 PM
As endorsing convention approaches, two campaigns have filed challenges against Abdi Warsame in the heavily Somali ward.
Hundreds of East African immigrants cheered and waved when Minneapolis City Council candidate Abdi Warsame took the microphone last week at a DFL caucus across from Riverside Plaza. Shoppers congratulated him as he walked through a Somali mall a few days later, past the bright scarves and carpets for sale.
On the surface, it is a happy tale: the city’s Somalis, denied democracy in their homeland, uniting to elect one of their own to the council.
But the Sixth Ward’s two other campaigns tell a darker story of political hardball, and have filed challenges to the caucuses after complaining to DFL leaders that Warsame’s supporters harassed and intimidated attendees.
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Ward 6
Ward 6
http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 88551.html
Nick Magrino
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[email protected]
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- Moderator
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Re: Ward 6
That sounds pretty crazy. Have there been any candidate forums or questionnaires filled out by Lilligren's opponents? If there's a good chance Warsame becomes our next council, I'd like to hear more about his positions. I can't seem to find anything though.
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Re: Ward 6
I'm in Ward 6 and I couldn't get any information. I got a letter from Warsame and Lilligren that just said "I'm great caucuss for me." I think Warsame's platform is that he's Somali, and there isn't much Lilligren can do about that. The 3rd contender, is another Somali, but other than having his name listed on the DFL website, there is zero information about him.
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Re: Ward 6
Just saw on Facebook that Abdi got the nomination.
Re: Ward 6
Lilligren withdrew from the endorsement race and will be running without it.
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Re: Ward 6
MPR talks to Abdi Warsame: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... ty-council
Also, Lilligren is asking the DFL to rescind the endorsement.
Also, Lilligren is asking the DFL to rescind the endorsement.
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Re: Ward 6
http://www.startribune.com/politics/sta ... 93002.html
Not trying to be too judge-y, but this just sounds ripe for corruption.
Not trying to be too judge-y, but this just sounds ripe for corruption.
Re: Ward 6
Has there been any recent polls done on this council race? You get the impression Mr ( one issue) Warsame is a shoo-in, but I wonder if there might be a backlash against his machine-like attempt at "ghetto" politics. Robert Lilligren is so much more capable with a solid multi-cultural perspective who crosses barriers. A much better choice for building unity in our very diverse city.
Re: Ward 6
Polling is pretty rare in City Council races -- it's too small of a group to justify the cost, and too small of a group to get very good results from polling.
I haven't been following this race closely, but I did note that Warsame's name came up unflatteringly in the Strib's article about my very least favorite political operative.
I haven't been following this race closely, but I did note that Warsame's name came up unflatteringly in the Strib's article about my very least favorite political operative.
Re: Ward 6
Unflattering about Mark Andrew who I support...lol. Well, always a lot of strange bedfellows in politics. It will be an interesting race in Ward 6. If Warsame wins, and he proves to be a capable guy (which I think is possible), he will be a great asset to the Somali community in their assimilation process which IMO is floundering. He has a heavy weight on his shoulders.
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Re: Ward 6
I'm in Ward 6 and I'm still really torn about who to vote for. On one hand I recognize that there's a lot of Somali immigrants and I see value in that group having their own voice on the city council. On the other hand, I'm not a Somali immigrant, and the stories I hear about how Warsame has conducted himself lead me to believe that he wouldn't do a very good job of representing me as a middle class white guy, whereas I see Lilligren as standing a much better chance of representing more than a single ethnic group.
Re: Ward 6
The issue that Warsame will come across in City Council is not just white middle class men, but a city with a rapidly growing Latino population, not to mention the large Asian, African American , and GLBT community that are already well established ( and his ward is still very diverse). Then you pepper in the growing affluent population of downtown and the Chain of Lakes, which makes up about a third of the population of the city and is creating a boom in school age children. This demographic reality is where I have a problem with Warsame's campaign. He's so focused on one group, whereas I think Lilligren sees the broader picture and is more interested in unifying people from all walks of life to move the city forward in a positive way. Really ,I think right now in our city's history, voting for someone solely because of their ethnic background etc. is playing into very naive politics, and could easily backfire and create even more polarization.I'm in Ward 6 and I'm still really torn about who to vote for. On one hand I recognize that there's a lot of Somali immigrants and I see value in that group having their own voice on the city council. On the other hand, I'm not a Somali immigrant, and the stories I hear about how Warsame has conducted himself lead me to believe that he wouldn't do a very good job of representing me as a middle class white guy, whereas I see Lilligren as standing a much better chance of representing more than a single ethnic group.
Re: Ward 6
As far as density minded folks go I have no idea what Abdi Warsame thinks (all the mailers I've gotten talk about diversity, and somali community, and thats it...).
Lisa Goodman is my council member until November when wards change and I've only lived here for 2 years so I don't really know much about Lilligren, but here is what I've seen lately about him:
Lilligren votes AGAINST smaller units - https://twitter.com/StribRoper/status/3 ... 5617872896
Lilligren votes FOR dinkytown project http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/218106821.html
Lisa Goodman is my council member until November when wards change and I've only lived here for 2 years so I don't really know much about Lilligren, but here is what I've seen lately about him:
Lilligren votes AGAINST smaller units - https://twitter.com/StribRoper/status/3 ... 5617872896
Lilligren votes FOR dinkytown project http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/218106821.html
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Re: Ward 6
Hey, look at this! A certain someone isn't content making shitty-looking (and probably unsafe) buildings:
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/230716011.html
Can we please run this guy out of town?
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/230716011.html
Can we please run this guy out of town?
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