Election
election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Minnesota
The 1966 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1966. Republican challenger Harold LeVander defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) incumbent Karl Rolvaag.
LeVander took advantage of the weakened DFL, which was dealing with crippling factionalism.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “1966 Minnesota gubernatorial election”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The 1966 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1966. Republican challenger Harold LeVander defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) incumbent Karl Rolvaag.
LeVander took advantage of the weakened DFL, which was dealing with crippling factionalism.
The primary election was held on September 13. The DFL held an internal election for who the party leadership would support in the primary on June 19. However, governor Rolvaag found support within his party dwindling. Rolvaag, despite support from political ally and former governor Orville Freeman, was unable to convince much of the DFL leadership of his ability, most importantly Hubert Humphrey, who had led the party's right since its founding. Amid a short list of achievements, and Rolvaag's worsening alcoholism, the DFL endorsed Alexander Keith for the nomination after a 20-ballot election. Undeterred, Rolvaag entered the DFL's primary with a cry of "Let the people decide!" Rolvaag continued his re-election campaign, and won the nomination.
Keith conceded defeat in the primary election before the full election returns were even counted, due to his massive underperformance. The primary demonstrated the collapse of the control of the party's right-wing, with Humphrey's chosen candidate defeated resoundingly.
The Republican Party held an internal race for who the party's endorsement in the primary would be. LeVander defeated Pillsbury after sixteen ballots. Pillsbury then withdrew from the race.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1966 Minnesota gubernatorial election”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.