Paul Wellstone

Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American politician and two-term U.S. Senator from Minnesota. He was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and was a professor of political science at Carleton College before being elected to the Senate in 1990. Wellstone was a liberal and a leading spokesperson for the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party. He served in the Senate until his death in a plane crash on 25 October 2002. His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. They had two other grown children, David and Mark, who now co-chair the Wellstone Action nonprofit group.

Aftermath

Wellstone's death came just 11 days before his potential re-election in a crucial race to maintain Democratic control of the Senate. Campaigning was halted by all sides. Wellstone followed Governor Mel Carnahan and Congressman Jerry Litton in dying in plane crashes during Senate campaigns (in 2000 and 1976, respectively). Additionally, Richard "Dick" Obenshain of Virginia died in a plane crash in 1978 shortly after receiving the GOP Nomination.

Related Topics:
Mel Carnahan - Jerry Litton - 2000 - 1976

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Minnesota law required that his name be struck from the ballot, to be replaced by a candidate chosen by the party. This replacement candidate was former Vice President Walter Mondale, who accepted the nomination and later lost the election to Norm Coleman.

Related Topics:
Vice President - Walter Mondale - Norm Coleman

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The 20,000 capacity memorial service for Wellstone and the other victims of the crash was held in Williams Arena of the University of Minnesota and was broadcast live on national TV. Such high profile politicians that showed up for the memorial were Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Trent Lott, and Rod Grams. After Rick Kahn began urging that the crowd should win the election for Wellstone and that Republicans should stop their opposition to the Senate seat, Governor Jesse Ventura stormed out of the service in disgust, Republican Senator Trent Lott, after being largely heckled by the crowd during his speech, left before the service was over. Later in the service, Wellstone's personal eulogy was delivered by Senator Tom Harkin, another notable progressive and Wellstone's close friend in the Senate.

Related Topics:
Williams Arena - University of Minnesota - Bill Clinton - Hillary Clinton - Al Gore - Ted Kennedy - Trent Lott - Rod Grams - Rick Kahn - Jesse Ventura - Tom Harkin - Senate

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Republicans later claimed that the event was partisan, and that the Democrats had essentially received free election campaign airtime. Governor Jesse Ventura, who had the option to pick a replacement senator to serve out Wellstone's term which lasted until January 2003, went so far as to declare he would solicit resumés for the senatorial position but refuse Democrats. On the other hand, the pre-election outrage swirling around Wellstone's memorial was condemned by Democrats, like radio personality Al Franken, who claimed that the outrage was overblown in order to damage the Democrat running as Wellstone's replacement.

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On November 4th, the day before Election Day, Ventura appointed state planning commissioner Dean Barkley of the Independence Party to complete Wellstone's Senate term. Barkey was U.S. Senator from November 4, 2002, through January 3, 2003, when Coleman's term began.

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Wellstone is survived by his sons David and Mark and six grandchildren. The AFL-CIO, has created the AFL-CIO Senator Paul Wellstone Award for supporters of the rights of labor. Presidential candidate Howard Dean and California state senator John Burton both received the first award in January 2003. In 2004, the University of North Carolina dedicated the Paul and Shelia Wellstone Memorial Garden as a tribute to the couple, both alumni of the university.

Related Topics:
AFL-CIO - Howard Dean - John Burton - 2003 - University of North Carolina

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