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Article: Barbarian at the Gate; Jesse Ventura's rise to power parallels the rise of pro wrestling
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 9, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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As he stood on the stage at the Canterbury Park Race Track outside
Minneapolis on Election Night 1998, just after a fourth local network
had projected him as the newly elected governor of Minnesota, Jesse
"The Body" Ventura looked out at the assemblage of ebullient young
faces before him and -- for one of the first times in his life --
didn't quite know what to say.
No one had predicted this outcome to the election -- least of all
the candidate himself.
Soon after the polls had closed at 8 o'clock, with 9 percent of
the vote in, Jesse, the Reform Party candidate, was in first place in
his three-way race against the Republican mayor of St. Paul, Norm
Coleman, and the state's Democratic ...