No worries about Benanav becoming judge!
Ostby leads in judicial contest
BY TIM NELSON
Pioneer Press
Voters in St. Paul and Ramsey County stuck with the tried and true at the polls Tuesday night. Incumbents cruised to fairly easy victories in most of the offices on the primary election ballot and rallied behind endorsed DFLers.
Likely the most closely watched race had Ramsey County District Court Judge Elena Ostby facing challenges from two St. Paul attorneys, including City Council member Jay Benanav.
Although facing a better-known opponent (Benanav ran for mayor in 2001) and trailing in fundraising to both Benanav and Paul Godfrey, an insurance attorney, Ostby led her two rivals by better than 4,000 votes in a rare judicial primary election.
"I haven't been a career politician, and I have been honing my craft as an attorney for 20 years, and I think voters recognize that," said Ostby. She said she considered it a mark of honor that she was a relative unknown. "People haven't had any reason to hear about me," she said.
Benanav noted primary and general elections can have entirely different results: he himself won the 2001 mayoral primary in St. Paul only to lose narrowly in that year's general election. "And, you have to remember, having that incumbent next to your name is a big advantage," said the Ward 4 city council member.
Ostby will face Benanav in the general election Nov. 7.
In the other nonpartisan race on the ballot, incumbent Ramsey County C0mmissioner Rafael Ortega easily bested both businessman Dan Galles and golf caddy Charles Barklind. Ortega pulled ahead of Galles, his nearest rival, by a nearly 3-to-1 margin on the strength of his three terms on the board and the DFL endorsement in the race.
"I've been working hard, and it paid off," Ortega said of the widest election margin he has posted as a county board candidate. "I work hard for transit and housing, and people know that."
Galles didn't sound surprised by the result Tuesday. "There was absolutely no reason for independents or moderates to come out today," Galles said. "He would be in real trouble if he didn't do as well as he did today."
The district includes Highland Park, which votes heavily and does stray on occasion from the dominant-party DFL endorsement in local races. The area went for Randy Kelly in 2001 and sent the last Republican to the Legislature from St. Paul in the 1980s.
Ortega and Galles will face off again in November.
State Sen. Mee Moua easily turned back the first primary challenge she's faced since being elected to succeed Randy Kelly in 2002, when the longtime East Side senator was elected St. Paul mayor.
"It gave us a chance to get the base out early," Moua said. She'll face Republican Richard Mulkern, who did not have a primary opponent, in November. The district has been in DFL hands since 1980.
In the other contested legislative race in St. Paul, Minnesota Nurses Association head Erin Murphy easily beat University of Minnesota public health educator John Gehan in the DFL primary to succeed outgoing state minority leader Matt Entenza.
Entenza left the Legislature to run for attorney general, and Murphy upset rival DFLer Ian Keith in April to win the party endorsement for Entenza's vacant seat. She'll face Republican Kirstin Beach and Green Party challenger Jesse Mortenson in the general election.
It is one of the most liberal districts in the Legislature, and the upstart Green Party has made some inroads — Green mayoral candidate Elizabeth Dickinson won one of the district's 15 precincts outright in last year's mayoral primary.
But DFL party loyalists have represented the area, with a succession of representatives, since 1970, and Murphy posted the widest victory of the night in local races, beating her DFL challenger by 5 to 1.
"I'm just turning that off," Murphy said of the DFL dominance in her district. "This is the first time I've been a candidate, and we're going to work on turning people out and helping the top of the ticket."
BY TIM NELSON
Pioneer Press
Voters in St. Paul and Ramsey County stuck with the tried and true at the polls Tuesday night. Incumbents cruised to fairly easy victories in most of the offices on the primary election ballot and rallied behind endorsed DFLers.
Likely the most closely watched race had Ramsey County District Court Judge Elena Ostby facing challenges from two St. Paul attorneys, including City Council member Jay Benanav.
Although facing a better-known opponent (Benanav ran for mayor in 2001) and trailing in fundraising to both Benanav and Paul Godfrey, an insurance attorney, Ostby led her two rivals by better than 4,000 votes in a rare judicial primary election.
"I haven't been a career politician, and I have been honing my craft as an attorney for 20 years, and I think voters recognize that," said Ostby. She said she considered it a mark of honor that she was a relative unknown. "People haven't had any reason to hear about me," she said.
Benanav noted primary and general elections can have entirely different results: he himself won the 2001 mayoral primary in St. Paul only to lose narrowly in that year's general election. "And, you have to remember, having that incumbent next to your name is a big advantage," said the Ward 4 city council member.
Ostby will face Benanav in the general election Nov. 7.
In the other nonpartisan race on the ballot, incumbent Ramsey County C0mmissioner Rafael Ortega easily bested both businessman Dan Galles and golf caddy Charles Barklind. Ortega pulled ahead of Galles, his nearest rival, by a nearly 3-to-1 margin on the strength of his three terms on the board and the DFL endorsement in the race.
"I've been working hard, and it paid off," Ortega said of the widest election margin he has posted as a county board candidate. "I work hard for transit and housing, and people know that."
Galles didn't sound surprised by the result Tuesday. "There was absolutely no reason for independents or moderates to come out today," Galles said. "He would be in real trouble if he didn't do as well as he did today."
The district includes Highland Park, which votes heavily and does stray on occasion from the dominant-party DFL endorsement in local races. The area went for Randy Kelly in 2001 and sent the last Republican to the Legislature from St. Paul in the 1980s.
Ortega and Galles will face off again in November.
State Sen. Mee Moua easily turned back the first primary challenge she's faced since being elected to succeed Randy Kelly in 2002, when the longtime East Side senator was elected St. Paul mayor.
"It gave us a chance to get the base out early," Moua said. She'll face Republican Richard Mulkern, who did not have a primary opponent, in November. The district has been in DFL hands since 1980.
In the other contested legislative race in St. Paul, Minnesota Nurses Association head Erin Murphy easily beat University of Minnesota public health educator John Gehan in the DFL primary to succeed outgoing state minority leader Matt Entenza.
Entenza left the Legislature to run for attorney general, and Murphy upset rival DFLer Ian Keith in April to win the party endorsement for Entenza's vacant seat. She'll face Republican Kirstin Beach and Green Party challenger Jesse Mortenson in the general election.
It is one of the most liberal districts in the Legislature, and the upstart Green Party has made some inroads — Green mayoral candidate Elizabeth Dickinson won one of the district's 15 precincts outright in last year's mayoral primary.
But DFL party loyalists have represented the area, with a succession of representatives, since 1970, and Murphy posted the widest victory of the night in local races, beating her DFL challenger by 5 to 1.
"I'm just turning that off," Murphy said of the DFL dominance in her district. "This is the first time I've been a candidate, and we're going to work on turning people out and helping the top of the ticket."
posted by Bob at Wednesday, September 13, 2006
3 Comments:
NO WORRIES! GREAT! Cheating on his wife, his "NO code enforcement is enough claim" Not good judgements.
This is all we need is for this bozo to be a judge.
Benanav is a scum bag. He breaks the law every day.
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