Do Party Votes Really Help Candidates Win Elections?
Minnesota history shows candidates can win governor races even without their party's official support.
Political parties in Minnesota just finished their big weekend meetings called conventions. The Democratic party chose to support Senator Amy Klobuchar for governor and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate. The Republican party picked Kendall Qualls for governor and Adam Schwarze for U.S. Senate. These choices are called endorsements, which means the party officially supports these candidates.
Getting your party's endorsement brings some big advantages. Larry Jacobs teaches about politics at the University of Minnesota. He says endorsed candidates get more attention from newspapers and TV news. They also get help from their party, like lists of people who might vote for them and volunteers to help with their campaigns.
However, looking at Minnesota's past governors shows that party endorsements don't always lead to victory. Several governors won their races even though their own parties didn't support them at first. In the 1980s, Democrat Rudy Perpich became governor without his party's endorsement. Republican Arne Carlson did the same thing years later.
These successful candidates without endorsements had some things in common. They were already well-known politicians in Minnesota before running for governor. People recognized their names and knew about their past work. They also had enough money to run strong campaigns and supporters who had helped them before.
When it comes to the bigger name, more competitive battles in the primary which there's money, there's advertising, there's controversy, that's when it opens it up and the party endorsing process does not necessarily call the shots.
Comprehension quiz preview
1. What is an endorsement in politics?
2. Which party endorsed Kendall Qualls for governor?
3. When is Minnesota's primary election day?