Reality Check: Do Candidates Need Party Endorsements?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota Republicans and Democrats hold conventions this weekend to pick candidates up and down the election ticket.
But getting the party endorsement does not guarantee you will be the party's candidate by the time November rolls around.
A political party endorsement brings significant advantages, including money, volunteers and voter lists. But history is not always kind to party-endorsed candidates, and history may be repeating itself in 2018.
Former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty won two close elections with the GOP endorsement. He is running for a third term this year, but he is skipping the party.
History shows the odds favor candidates who buck the party. Over the last 36 years, four of the last five Minnesota governors ran for office -- and won -- against the endorsed candidates in their own party.
Democratic Governor Rudy Perpich started the party-bucking trend in 1982, and won.
Republican Governor Arne Carlson won the governor's office twice without party blessing.
The next governor did not need an endorsement from Democrats or Republicans. Reform Party Governor Jesse Ventura foreshadowed Donald Trump -- the anti-party politician.
In 2010, DFLers banned a member of their own party from their convention. Fellow Democrat Mark Dayton committed the sin of ignoring the party, and won the election on his own.
Minnesota politics are unpredictable every year. This year setting up every bit like the last 40.
