DFL candidate gives convention speech while having labor contractions
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A Minnesota State Senate candidate is getting attention for her DFL convention speech this weekend.
Erin Maye Quade’s campaign manager, Mitchell Walstad, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the former state representative was in active labor and experiencing contractions during Saturday’s event.
A video of her speech shows Quade pausing during a contraction before pressing onward. (Video Credit: Ayana Smith-Kooiman)
Quade, who is running for office in the 56th Senate District, withdrew from the endorsement after the first ballot, which was inconclusive. Walstad said Quade left the event because she felt she “couldn’t meaningfully engage with delegates.”
She lost the endorsement to Justin Emmerich in a subsequent vote.
Walstad said it was “discouraging that the endorsement wasn’t suspended” and said the campaign is “frustrated” at the way the convention played out.
DFL Senate candidate Erin Maye Quade gives a speech while in active labor Saturday, April 23, 2022. (Courtesy of Ashley Fairbanks via Twitter)
Quade has yet to decide whether to suspend her campaign, Walstad said.
Quade and her wife, Alyse, welcomed a healthy baby girl, Harriet, early Sunday morning. Both mother and child are reportedly doing well.