Tou Xiong, Peter Fischer, and Leon Lillie earn the DFL endorsement.
Senate District 44 DFL held its convention to endorse local candidates on Saturday, April 2nd. Delegates who participated in the DFL Caucuses in early February attended to vote for candidates seeking the DFL endorsement. State officials like Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and Attorney General Keith Ellison also attended to greet DFLers.
After two ballots, Tou Xiong was endorsed receiving 69% of the votes cast. Tou Xiong is currently a Representative in the Minnesota House for House District 53A where he represents Maplewood, Oakdale, and Woodbury. He also served as a Maplewood City Councilor. You can learn more about Representative Xiong at touxiongsenate.com.
Nancy Livingston and Leslie Lienemann also were seeking the DFL endorsement, but did not prevail.
On the first ballot, of the 213 ballots cast, 114 (53.7%) were for Tou Xiong, 51 (24%) were for Leslie Lienemann, 46 (21.6%) were for Nancy Livingston, 1 was for no endorsement, and 1 was spoiled. Because 128 votes were required for endorsement, and at least two candidates must be on a second ballot, Tou Xiong and Leslie Lienemann moved forward to a second ballot. On the second ballot, of the 209 votes cast, 144 (69%) were for Tou Xiong, 61 (29%) were for Leslie Lienemann, 3 were for no endorsement, and 1 ballot was spoiled. Tou Xiong was declared the DFL-endorsed candidate for the SD44 Senate race. Nancy and Leslie both thanked their supporters.
Representatives Peter Fischer and Leon Lillie also received the DFL endorsement via voice votes due to their races being uncontested. Both thanked delegates, their family, and volunteers for all their support.
You can learn more about SD 44 DFL endorsed candidates here. Senate District 44 DFL is the local organizing unit for the DFL and will work to support and elect Tou Xiong, Peter Fischer, and Leon Lillie both in the primary election in August 2022 and the general election in November 2022. It is crucial to keep these seats blue in order to hold the State House and flip the State Senate!
If you are interested in getting involved or donating, email SD 44 DFL at senatedistrict44dfl@gmail.com.