Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
DFL logo
Party Chairman Brian Melendez
Senate Leader Lawrence Pogemiller
House Leader Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Founded April 15, 1944
Headquarters 255 East Plato Blvd
St. Paul, MN 55107
Political ideology American Liberalism
Progressivism
Center-left
Political position
National affiliation Democratic Party
Color(s) Blue
Web Site www.dfl.org
DFL logo used on a podium at the 2006 DFL state convention.
DFL logo used on a podium at the 2006 DFL state convention.

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is a major political party in the US state of Minnesota. It was created on April 15, 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and Farmer-Labor Party merged. Hubert Humphrey was instrumental in this merger. The party is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The nickname "DFLers" is often used in Minnesota by both members and non-members of the party as an alternative to "Democrats".[1]

In 1954 Orville Freeman was elected the state's first DFL governor. Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey, and Walter Mondale, who each served as a US Senator and as US vice president, were important members of the party.

Other important party members include Senator Eugene McCarthy, who ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1968 as the anti-Vietnam War candidate, and Senator Paul Wellstone, known during his years in the Senate (1991-2002) as one of that body's chief voices of populist progressivism.[2] The party's headquarters are in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Two DFLers became Vice President and ran for the presidency as the nominees of the national Democratic Party. They were Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and Walter Mondale in 1984. Both were unsuccessful, losing to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan respectively.


Contents

[edit] Current elected officials

[edit] Constitutional officers

[edit] State legislative leaders

[edit] Members of Congress

DFL 2006 state convention registration desk.
DFL 2006 state convention registration desk.

[edit] Current leadership

  • Chair - Brian Melendez
  • Associate Chair - Donna Cassut
  • Treasurer - Bill Davis
  • Secretary - Sue Rego
  • Affirmative Action Officer - Megan Thomas

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Farmer Labor Party. Spartacus. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  2. ^ Loughlin, Sean (2002-08-25). Wellstone Made Mark as a Liberal Champion. CNN Washington Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Delton, Jennifer A. Making Minnesota Liberal: Civil Rights and the Transformation of the Democratic Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.
  • Haynes, John Earl. Farm Coops and the Election of Hubert Humphrey to the Senate. Agricultural History 57, no. 2 (Fall 1983).
  • Haynes, John Earl. Dubious Alliance: The Making of Minnesota’s DFL Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
  • Henrickson, Gary P. Minnesota in the "McCarthy’ Period": 1946-1954. Ph.D. diss. University of Minnesota, 1981.
  • Lebedoff, David. The 21st Ballot: A Political Party Struggle in Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1969.
  • Lebedoff, David. Ward Number Six. New York: Scribner, 1972. Discusses the entry of radicals into the DFL party in 1968.
  • Mitau, G. Theodore. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Schism of 1948. Minnesota History 34 (Spring 1955).
v • d • e
Democratic Party state branches and affiliates