Barb Davis White to Challenge Keith Ellison for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 29, 2008 – Barb Davis White is running for Congress in the Minnesota 5th District against Keith Ellison. In the month of July 2008 it might not mean much to you when it comes to electing the next congressperson for the 5th Congressional District, but it should.  Minnesota’s 5th Congressional Districts are the cities of Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Richfield, Crystal, Robbinsdale, Golden Valley and Fridley.

In 2006 Martin Sabo, DFL retired after 26 years in the House. Keith Ellison, also a DFLer, replaced him. Although Ellison was endorsed by the DFL convention, three non-endorsed candidates ran strong campaigns against him in the DFL primary: Mike Erlandson, Ember Reichgott Junge, and Paul Ostrow. Ellison won the primary with 41% of the vote. In the general election, he won with 56% of the vote against Jay Pond of the Green Party, Tammy Lee of the Independence Party and Alan Fine of the Republican Party. Ellison is the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress, Representing the 5th Congressional District of Minnesota.

Let’s look deeper into the Cities of the 5th.  The hard working families of the 5th congressional district have been the hardest hit by the mortgage foreclosure crisis in the State of Minnesota.  Even with the partnering of ACORN and the Minneapolis Urban League, (Congressman Ellison’s office is in the Minneapolis Urban League and his campaign headquarters are above the Denny’s on Lake Street near the Light Rail corridor), the crisis grows.  If you follow the money trail, you’ll see that the funding or “grants” that should go directly to homeowners, with qualifications of course, is going to “experts” to consult hard working families losing their dreams and hopes for a future.  These “experts” are in some cases former mortgage bankers, lending and credit approval personnel and others who have play both sides of the feast and famine of the real estate game.

Let’s just to focus on one zip code – 55411, in a recent article written in the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, titled, “The Year 2010 in north Minneapolis” (June 19, 2008) - it states, “looking back, the housing foreclosure crisis was not really a crisis and could of be cured if the $100 million put in to the system to hire counselors was given to homeowners in the form of a grant.  This would have used up only $14 million of the 100 million invested year-to-date.” Hence, no crisis!

The families of the Minnesota 5th Congressional District are in need of some proactive, aggressive change to turn the tables on poverty, homelessness and hopelessness. Our Veterans from past and present Wars are still suffering, at any given night in Minnesota there is over 3,000 homeless veterans.  The men and women who served the United States and Minnesota in the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines deserve better!

Read more at www.tcbusiness.org/blog.