Minnesota Democratic-farmer-labor Party Article Index for
Minnesota
Website Links For
Minnesota
 

Information About

Minnesota Democratic-farmer-labor Party




  Chairman Brian Melendez
  Senateleader Lawrence Pogemiller
  Houseleader Margaret Anderson Kelliher
  Foundation April 15, 1944
  Colours Blue <!--Doesn't display when the spelling "colors" is used -->
  Ideology American Liberalism <br> Progressivism <br> Center-left
  National Democratic Party
  Headquarters 255 East Plato Blvd <br> St Paul, MN 55107
  Website wwwdflorg


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 that body's chief voice of populist progressivism.2 The party's headquarters are in St. Paul , Minnesota .

Two DFLers became Vice President and ran for 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.

Several moderate Democrats candidates and officeholders have now left the party, some of them moving to the Independence Party Of Minnesota , which considers itself a centrist party; among them are Tim Penny , Peter Hutchinson and Tammy Lee .


CURRENT ELECTED OFFICIALS



Constitutional officers



State legislative leaders



Members of Congress




CURRENT LEADERSHIP

  • Chair - Brian Melendez

  • Associate Chair - Donna Cassut

  • Treasurer - Bill Davis

  • Secretary - Sue Rego

  • Affirmative Action Officer - Megan Thomas



SEE ALSO



REFERENCES



EXTERNAL LINKS




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).