His candidacy was at one time something of an afterthought in the eyes of most Minnesotans and political observers, but Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is now viewed as something of a second-coming of another college professor-turned-politician: Paul Wellstone. He didn’t run from the comparison Thursday during a two-hour stop in Hutchinson.

As recently as six months ago, Nelson-Pallmeyer was often relegated to an “also-running” comment in news reports on the race for the DFL’s U.S. Senate nomination. Getting all the press attention were nationally known satirist Al Franken and Twin Cities-power attorney Mike Ciresi, both better-known and better-funded.

At McLeod County’s DFL county convention in early February, Franken garnered support from three of the county’s six DFL delegates, Ciresi two and Nelson Pallmeyer only one. But a few weeks later, Ciresi unexpectedly dropped out of the race. Nelson-Pallmeyer is now seen as a serious challenger to Franken, who has been dogged recently by revelations of past tax-filing mistakes.

Nelson-Pallmeyer displayed a down-home-but-energized personality when visiting here with a handful of McLeod County’s DFL delegates and alternates to the state convention June 5-7. The stage was the living room of DFL County Chairman John Hassinger’s Second Avenue Southwest home.

For more, read the May 13 Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)