Bluestem Prairie has been looking for coverage in local media of the Miller for Senate 9's effort to motivate voters in Minnesota Senate District 9. We've found it in the Pelican Rapids Press article, Write-in campaign brewing; clouding Republican State Senate 9 campaign.
Subhead: Miller plans long-shot run against fellow Republican Rasmusson and Democrat Cornell Walker.
Louis Hoglund reports:
The race for State Senate District 9 has become slightly murky, with a written announcement that a third candidate is launching a write-in campaign.
After narrowly losing the August Republican State Senate 9 primary against Jordan Rasmusson, Nathan Miller purchased an ad in the Pelican Rapids Press Sept. 15. He announced that voters in Senate District 9, “have the option to write in their vote for honorable representation without being forced to extinguish the flame of truth that burns in their hearts.”
In a rare inner-party challenge, Rasmusson defeated Miller by a margin of fewer than 400 votes, in August. The totals were 5,738-5,385.
Evidently, after a month of contemplation, Miller has decided to run a write-in campaign.
Miller’s write-in candidacy is announced, but technically, not official.
As of press time, Sept. 19, the Otter Tail County auditor’s office has not received an official “write-in candidate” notification. Registration is required by the Minnesota Secretary of State-elections division.
The deadline for a write-in candidacy for the legislature is November 1, so Miller still has over a month to file.
A write-in for a legislative seat is highly uncommon, and an uphill challenge for a write-in to get their name out in circulation. In the case of State Senate District 9, the district spans five counties—Wilkin, Otter Tail, Traverse, and Grant—plus part of Douglas County. The district stretches from the outskirts of Barnesville and Wadena and follows the North Dakota border all the way southwest to Browns Valley.
Write-in candidacies are, as the name implies. The name won’t appear on the ballot, so voters must manually write in the candidate.
Battle Lake area Republican Miller rode a conservative wave into the primary, wearing red-white-blue shirts, a western hat—and a handgun holstered on his hip, at many appearances.
He and conservative followers have questioned the Otter Tail County process that led to Rasmusson’s official party endorsement. In his letter, Miller repeated a request for an independent audit of the Otter Tail endorsement process and delegate counts. State Republican party officials have stood behind Rasmusson, as the officially endorsed Republican candidate.
In his write-in announcement letter, Miller criticized the “establishment” Republicans—describing them as the “status quo, business as usual wing of the party.”
“…We are at a pivotal time in this country and state if we want to save it from the crushing debt, anti-God, anti-Constitution, and anti-American agenda that is being pushed on us,” wrote Miller.
Miller’s announcement drew a string of social media comments on the “Otter Tail County Conservative Coalition” site. The official Republican Party of Otter Tail County had no reference to the inner party challenge. To date, there hasn’t been an official response from the Rasmusson campaign, or on the Rasmusson Facebook site.
Miller supporters, in many cases, never removed the “Miller Time” signs that appeared across the countryside. . . .
Read the rest at the Pelican Rapids Press.
The process of filing a written request by a write-in candidate at the Minnesota Secretary of State's office doesn't seem overly onerous. Here's the form from the Minnesota Secretary of State's website:
Request Write in Votes Be Counted for Federal and State Office uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Meanwhile on social media, as news of the write-in campaign spreads, those favoring Jordan Rasmusson and party unity are pushing back. On a September 16 post:
we found there comments left within the last few days:
Speculating that Miller is an agent of Soros is absurd--though former state representative Bud Nornes may be on to something. See Walker Orenstein's post-primary report Small but mighty showing for anti-establishment GOP candidates in Minnesota primary at MinnPost.
Meanwhile, Rocks and Cows of Minnesota posted this flyer on Facebook:
And the mother of Senate Torrey Westrom, who moved outside of the district so as to avoid competing with Rasmusson and Miller for conservative votes, shared another Miller promo piece on her Facebook page:
Somehow, Bluestem suspects that Miller will manage to get in that paperwork required to have his write-in votes count.
Related posts
- MN9: Yep, Miller is running a write-in campaign, area conservatives organize against Rasmusson
- After losing primary, has Miller launched write-in campaign, attacking "establishment GOP"?
- Will Westrom family support for Rasmusson primary challenger ruffle MNSenate GOP unity?
- Rocks and Cows' Facebook post author Carol Hexum walks back anti-LGBTQ rally frame
- Fergus Falls Pride: GOP Senate primary challenger Miller schedules anti-LGBQT event
- Will 2020 redistricting plan boundary adjustment get snuck in to let Westrom live in lake house?
Screenshot: From the Miller for 9A Facebook page.
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