Iraq War veteran Ashwin Madia won the 3rd district Democratic-Farmer-Labor endorsement at Saturday’s convention, besting the early favorite, state Sen. Terri Bonoff. Because both candidates agreed to abide by the party’s endorsement, Madia is on track to be the Democratic nominee in the race to fill retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad’s (R) seat.

Political insiders initially favored Bonoff last fall, in part because of her strong early fundraising. But the momentum swung toward Madia this spring as he led the field in pledged delegates leading up to the April 12 convention.

According to the Madia campaign, Bonoff conceded the nomination after eight rounds of voting, when his campaign was just a couple of votes short of the 60 percent threshold needed to win the endorsement.

“When this all started last October, few people ever thought we would reach this point, but here we are as the DFL-endorsed campaign in the 3rd Congressional District,” Madia said in a statement after the convention.

Madia will face state Rep. Erik Paulsen (R), who has no primary opposition, this November.

“Given his far-left views, Ashwin Madia is the last person who should fill the seat of a bipartisan problem solver and moderate like Jim Ramstad,” state GOP Chairman Ron Carey said in a statement. “No matter how hard he tries to obscure his true views in the general election, Madia is too partisan and too liberal for the Third.”
— Shira Toeplitz