Emailed to contact.ipr@gmail.com:

At a meeting in St Paul, the recently formed Minnesota Open Progressives endorsed Maplewood Mayor Diane Longrie in her bid for re-election.

Mayor Longrie sat with the MN-OP and discussed her goals of increased citizen participation and empowerment, honesty, transparency and maintaining respectful relations with others, even when they disagree. She also talked about facing the status quo and special interests that pervades democracy today.

Mayor Longrie stated that “The only special interests which we should heed is the people of Maplewood and of Minnesota. The mayor has a record of opening up the Maplewood City Council to more public participation. This reflected the beliefs and values of the MN-OP members who have had a long and productive relationship with her and so found it easy to endorse Mayor Lungrie.

This is the second candidate that the Minnesota Open Progressives have endorsed. The MN-OP have found itself in the unique position of endorsing a sitting Mayor without being an official political party yet.

There are a number of ways that the MN-OP can be an official political party, one being to run a state wide candidate that would gather at least 1% of the vote. Garnering 5% can gain the Open Progressives of Minnesota major party status.

The Minnesota Open Progressives website is www.MOPPC.org