The Minnesota Independence Party’s U.S. Senate candidate Dean Barkley is polling around 14% recently, with his support on the rise as the contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken turns increasingly negative. If that level of support holds or increases, Barkley will be far and away the party’s most successful candidate for Senate… and may rival Tim Penny’s showing for Governor in the 2002 race.
It’s important to keep in mind, also, that Penny’s race was run while Jesse Ventura was still sitting in the Governor’s mansion. Barkley’s campaign represents a real post-Ventura opportunity to reinvigorate the MNIP.
What follows is a history of the Minnesota Independence/Reform party’s performance in Senate and Gubernatorial races since Barkley’s own first run back in 1994…
2006 – Governor
Peter Hutchinson (6.43%)
2006 – US Senate
Robert Fitzgerald (3.23%)
2002 – Governor
Tim Penny (16.18%)
2002 – US Senate
Jim Moore (2.00%)
2000 – US Senate
James Gibson (5.81%)
1998 – Governor
Jesse Ventura (36.99%)
1996 – US Senate
Dean Barkley (6.98%)
1994 – US Senate
Dean Barkley (5.38%)
Barkley didn’t become a sitting U.S. Senator until after the filing deadline. And he wasn’t seeking the job. Ventura appointed him after he got mad at the Democrats for turning Paul Wellstone’s funeral into a political rally — all of which happened just a couple of weeks before the election.
Barkely didn’t run for election when he was a sitting U.S. Senator?
Two neocons vs. the guy who cast the deciding vote for the Department of Homeland Security
Ain’t democracy grand?
I expect Barkley to do really well if he holds up in the five debates scheduled soon. He should top out in the higher teens or maybe lower twenties, though it’s still a huge longshot to win. Too bad Ventura didn’t run, he would be above Franken by now and possibly inching up on Norm Coleman.