Would incumbent automatically win plurality in 3-way race?
There are some who are urging Ventura not to run in this race against incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and the DFL’s endorsed candidate, Al Franken. The feeling among those who don’t think he should run is that in a three-way race, an incumbent could win at least a plurality. Recall, in 1998, when there was no incumbent, that Ventura won the governor’s race with 37 percent of the vote. That year, Coleman received 34 percent of the vote and DFLer Skip Humphrey received 28 percent. Barkley, who was the brains behind the Ventura campaign, doesn’t believe that Coleman could be assured of a plurality. He believes that both Coleman and Franken are weak candidates and argues that neither is particularly likable and that both are running away from their pasts. “You’ve got Norm Coleman trying to re-invent himself as Amy Klobuchar,” said Barkley. “I think the only person who think he’s getting away with it is him. And Franken is trying to re-invent himself as this serious politician after all
