![For IP and Greens, Major-Party Status In Minnesota At Stake](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2014/10/Election-InLineToVote_Comstock-Images_630x420-300x200.jpg?w=980&q=75)
For IP and Greens, Major-Party Status In Minnesota At Stake
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For Minnesota's Independence and Green parties, the goal this Election Day isn't so much winning. It's nailing down major-party status.
The IP wants to keep it. The Green Party wants to get it back.
The distinction matters. Major parties get election judges and challengers in polling places. Major-party candidates don't have to go file nominating petitions to be on the general election ballot. And their candidates get far more exposure — Jesse Ventura was elected governor in 1998 from the Reform Party.
The Independence Party needs a statewide candidate to get at least 5 percent or they revert to minor status. The Green Party is hoping former Democratic state Rep. Andy Dawkins gets 5 percent in the attorney general race to make them a major party again.
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