“This is our moment to build our future together,” said Minnesota Senate candidate Erin Maye Quade to a crowd of hundreds at her party’s nomination convention. But Quade, who was in full-blown, active labor, didn’t get to see that vision through; her immediate future involved rushing to the hospital to give birth to her daughter.
She was forced to withdraw from the race when her opponent did not accept her proposal to move the nomination process to a primary vote. Instead, he consulted with his campaign team, the leadership of the convention sat idly by and a woman who was still in the race had to forfeit her candidacy to choose her health—and the health of her child—over the election. And nobody who had the power to change this series of events did anything about it.
Today in Minnesota, @ErinMayeQuade gave a convention speech while in active labor. And her opponent didn’t think to ask to postpone the convention as she, you know, had to go to the hospital to deliver her baby. What the hell. pic.twitter.com/Wmu5fh40I6
— ashley fairbanks (@ziibiing) April 24, 2022
On April 23, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party delegates convened to vote on who would be the party’s nominee for the race. A little background—during this convention, the candidates were to make speeches, meet with constituents and endure several rounds of voting with the hopes of securing their party’s spot on the Senate ticket. The goal was to see a clear leader emerge from this process, but in the event that two candidates were closely supported, a plan B—to turn the process to a straight primary vote—would be set in motion.
Around 2 a.m. on the morning of the convention, Quade went into labor, notifying her campaign manager around 6 a.m. of her condition. She decided (like a boss) to attend the convention, speak to delegates as she slowly mingled through the crowds and take breaks in a private room during her contractions.
Instead of leaving, Quade and her campaign decided to stay for the question-and-answer period following her speech. The first round of balloting was next on the schedule, and if she or her opponent won 60% of the delegates’ votes, the convention would end, and the party would declare that candidate the official party nominee.
Quade hung in there until the first ballot’s votes were cast, but then approached her opponent, Justin Emmerich, with a proposal to suspend the convention—moving to Plan B, which would bypass the convention and put the nomination vote to a primary—so that she could go to the hospital.
“She asked if I would be willing to suspend the convention and take the race to a primary since it appeared to be about even,” her opponent said in a statement to CBS News. “I responded by saying I hadn’t verified the count yet and would get back to her. She said that was fine. However, before I was able to speak with her again, she made the decision to suspend her campaign.”
Turns out, Quade was right. Neither she nor her opponent had secured the 60% of the votes needed to be declared the candidate, so the convention would have had to continue for another round of speeches, meetings and campaigning. However, that never happened. Quade headed to the hospital, and without the agreement of her opponent to proceed with a primary election instead of the convention, she had no real option but to withdraw from the race.
Where were all the grownups, you might be wondering? Well, her opponent has since said that he would have agreed to postpone the convention if she had only made a formal request. In a statement, party leaders who witnessed Quade in active labor said that convention chairs “cannot unilaterally close or delay the endorsement process.” According to them, they were in support of moving the endorsement process, “but (Quade) wanted to be present and move forward with the endorsement process that day.”
INCREDIBLY EXCITED to announce I won the @MinnesotaDFL Endorsement on the 2nd ballot with 71% of the vote!!! We are going to work hard till the election to keep this seat blue and #flipthesenate
— Justin Emmerich (@JustinWEmmerich) April 23, 2022
Thank you to all my supporters!
Quade’s opponent won the nomination—unopposed—tweeting “INCREDIBLY EXCITED to announce I won the @MinnesotaDFL Endorsement on the 2nd ballot with 71% of the vote!!! We are going to work hard till the election to keep this seat blue and #flipthesenate Thank you to all my supporters!”
Quade, meanwhile, had other matters to attend to. “Welcome to the world, Harriet Blake Maye Quade – roaring into our lives at 2:20 this morning, and coming in at a very average 6 pounds, 14 oz. People (we) will be calling her Hattie!” wrote Quade’s wife in her own Instagram post, hours later.
And while we’re thrilled for Quade and her family, we’re also wildly disappointed by all that went down.
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