Ford Bell
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Ford Bell Jr. (born 22 July, 1949) is a veterinarian and an American politician. Bell currently is the president of the [Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation] and a Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party candidate for the 2006 United States Senate election in Minnesota. Bell is the grandson of James Ford Bell, the founder of General Mills.
Background
Bell was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, Ford (Senior), started the Red Owl chain of grocery stores and his mother, Elinor, taught music.Bell is currently married to Amy Bell, and has two children with her, Jamie and Emilie; they currently live in Wayzata, Minnesota. Bell also has two grown daughters, Mary Bell Bradley and Jeanie Bell.
Bell was formerly the chair of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Education
Bell earned his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Minnesota, where he also earned his bachelor of arts degree.2006 U.S. Senate election
Bell is one of two declared DFL candidates seeking the party's nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton, who decided in 2005 to retire.
Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar is widely regarded as the current DFL frontrunner. Children's safety advocate Patty Wetterling was also seeking the endorsement, but dropped out in January to run for a House seat instead, and endorsed Klobuchar; former Senate candidate Mike Ciresi has also dropped out of the race[link].
Both Bell and Klobuchar had pledged to abide by the endorsement process, meaning that they would not run in the September 2006 primary election if another candidate received the endorsement. On May 26, 2006, however, Bell, who did poorly in the caucuses that selected delegates to the convention, announced that he would not seek the endorsement and would run in the primary instead. The candidate who wins the DFL nomination will likely face conservative Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy in the general election on 7 November, 2006. The DFL endorsed Klobuchar on June 9, 2006. Bell said he would continue, blasting both Klobuchar and Kennedy as "captives of their parties, controlled by Washington." [link]
Bell's campaign has focused generally on health care issues, veterans' issues, poverty and the War in Iraq. As of January 2006, Bell was the only DFL candidate to call for the immediate withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq [link].
External links
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