By Ari Ofsevit

While most of the focus this week will be on who will replace a Mac Grad as DFL candidate for the state house, another grad has been endorsed on the Green Party platform.

Jesse Mortenson ’05 entered the race for the seat in November and recently garnered the endorsement of the Saint Paul Green Party, according to his website, jessemortenson.com. The party vote to endorse was unanimous.

Mortenson graduated from Macalester in 2005 with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Media Studies. He helped charter and edit the Hegemon, an alternative student-run publication. Since 2001 he has run a web design firm, IDC WebDev, and has been active in local progressive politics and the Green Party.

“[The campaign] is going really well,” Mortenson said. “We’ve got a strong base from the [Elizabeth] Dickenson [2005 mayoral] campaign. Dickenson ran a strong third in the September 2005 primary, garnering 19 percent of the vote city-wide.

Mortenson’s views are generally even or to the left of the DFL consensus. “Jesse has worked tirelessly to put the Green Party values into action, both at the local level with the Green Party of St. Paul and statewide with the Green Party of Minnesota,” said Diane J. Peterson, co-chair of the Green Party of St. Paul. “We are confident that he is the best candidate to faithfully represent the interests of District 64A constituents.”

He was also recently endorsed by Sustainable St. Paul, an organization formed last year during the mayoral race.

Mortenson’s campaign does not differ that much from the leading DFL candidates. He has touched on the various progressive issues, wants to drive Wal-Mart out of St. Paul, bring home the troops, universal health care, renewable energy and give undocumented immigrants the right to vote in local elections.

No matter who is endorsed, Mortenson is up for a good race. “There is a lot of consensus amongst a lot…of very good people,” he said. “[The issue is not] can we find somebody good to run against somebody bad, but what can we expect of our elected representative.”