Say Goodbye to the MN Indies?

It looks like the Minnesota Independence Party’s days as a major political party are numbered.  For a second straight election, the party was not able to win 5 percent of the vote in a statewide race. The 5 percent threshold is a minimum to achieve and maintain major party status, which opens the door for funds from the state elections campaign program and allows it to issue political contribution refund receipts.

IP chairman Mark Jenkins told the Associated Press this morning he concedes the loss of the status.  

The party gained high visibility when IP candidate Jesse Ventura was elected governor in 1998.

A Rochester politician also helped gain attention for the party a few years later.  After Republican State Senator Sheila Kiscaden failed to win party support for re-election, she was nominated as the IP candidate and became its first candidate to win a state legislative election.