Cam Winton

Cam Winton
Personal details
Born Randolph Cameron Winton
(1978-11-12) November 12, 1978
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Emily Pryor Winton
Children 2
Residence Fulton, Minneapolis[1]
Website www.wintonformayor.org

Randolph Cameron "Cam" Winton (born November 12, 1978)[2] is an American businessperson and attorney who was a declared independent candidate in the 2013 Minneapolis mayoral election.

He is a lobbyist for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.[3]


Early life

Cam Winton was born Randolph Cameron Winton[4] and grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania where he attended Strath Haven High School.[5] Winton graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science.[5][6] While Winton was earning his J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center, he spent a summer in Botswana serving as a consultant to Botswana's government regarding a project to distribute AIDS treatments.[6][7] As an outgrowth of his service in Botswana, Winton founded the Victoria Falls Children’s Fund, a social service program for the health and education needs of children in neighboring Zimbabwe.[4][7]

Career

Winton began his legal career in 2006 as an associate at Minneapolis-based national law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP.[5][6] He specialized in business litigation, representing clients such as Honeywell, Best Buy, and UnitedHealth Group.[6] His pro-bono practice included representing and securing compensation for a victim of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse as well as successfully assisting immigrants in Minneapolis with avoiding violence in their home country by securing their asylum in the United States.[8] In 2009, Winton left Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi to join Outland Renewable Energy (later renamed Outland Energy Services), a Minnesota-based company providing operations and maintenance services for wind-mill facilities in the United States and abroad.[6][9] In 2011, Winton was promoted to be the Vice President and General Counsel of Outland Energy Services. Outland's CEO, Steve Scott, recognized Winton for his business-building achievements and his abilities to "simplify the complex" and "effectively communicate".[9] Winton's work at Outland helped build the company into a leading national and international service provider for wind and solar-powered electrical facilities. Winton was instrumental in achieving Outland's eventual sale to Duke Energy Corporation, avoiding the layoff of any Outland employees in the process and enabling all Outland employees to benefit from the sale.[10][11]

When Duke Energy Corporation purchased Outland Energy Services in 2012, Winton was appointed Senior Counsel at Duke Energy.[11] In 2013, Winton was selected from over 350 nominees to be honored by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal as a recipient of their "40 Under 40" recognition for leaders under 40 years of age who demonstrate distinguished accomplishments in professional life paired with service to the community.[12]

Political life

A man in his mid-30s wearing a purple polo shirt waves as people behind him hold up signs with his name, Cam Winton.
Winton campaigning for mayor at the 2013 Twin Cities Pride Parade

Winton formally announced his campaign for mayor of Minneapolis on April 12, 2013 and filed his affidavit of candidacy for mayor of Minneapolis on August 12, 2013. Winton did not seek the endorsement of any political party nor did he declare a party affiliation, instead filing under the principles "independent responsible inclusive".[13][14][15] Winton described himself as "fiscally responsible, socially inclusive, and offering a fresh set of eyes for City Hall." [16] As mayor, he stated that he would prioritize improving essential municipal services such as police and fire departments, road maintenance, and basic infrastructure while cutting wasteful spending.[10][11] Winton stated a specific need for hiring 100 additional police officers to protect a city of Minneapolis's size and plans to fund this measure by consolidating city and county back offices and 911 services.[5][14] Winton proposed to streamline the regulatory review process to make it easier for companies to start, grow, and hire in Minneapolis.[17]

Winton's educational policy plans included pursuit of the power to make mayoral appointments to the Minneapolis School Board in order to effect changes such as an expanded school year, lengthened school days, increased principal discretion in choosing teachers, and merit-based teacher compensation.[15] Winton's economic goals included increasing job growth, specifically via removing barriers for small business formation.[14] Winton's mayoral campaign has been noted for its creative ways of directing attention towards Winton's platform issues; notably, Winton announced a contest for citizens to find Minneapolis' worst pothole and then held a press conference about road maintenance from within a pothole. During a press conference held aboard a moving bus on Nicollet Mall, Winton touted the benefits of augmented bus services over a proposed streetcar system.[5][18][19] Winton arrived at another press conference on the back of a garbage truck, calling for free and fair bidding for city sanitation services.[20] Winton made a formal inquiry to the Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development, requesting transparency regarding municipal financing of real estate development near the new Vikings stadium; his inquiry resulted in the release of previously undisclosed information regarding a potential "Ultimate Park" development and attracted increased public scrutiny for the financing of the proposed developments.[21][22]

The 2013 mayor's race ended with Betsy Hodges' victory. "He topped out at 11 percent of the vote. In spite of that drubbing, local media continue to quote him when they need a credible GOP perspective."[23] The Minneapolis Star Tribune has continued to seek out comment from Winton on variety of topics, including road-maintenance practices,[24] expenditures on infrastructure,[25] the newly elected City Council,[26] and a requirement that certain businesses provide earplugs to patrons.[27]

Post-election, the Star Tribune also published Winton's proposal for using technology to improve infrastructure maintenance.[28]

Personal life

Winton lives in the Fulton neighborhood of Minneapolis with his wife Emily Pryor Winton—a Minnesota native and active member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party—as well as the couple's two children.[5][11] They are members of Westminster Presbyterian Church, where they were married on September 16, 2006[4] and where their two children were baptized.[29]

References

  1. ↑ Rao, Maya (March 25, 2013). "Independent Minneapolis mayoral candidate says he's 'the only fresh set of eyes'". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  2. ↑ Brandt, Steve (October 18, 2013). "Minneapolis mayoral candidate Cam Winton emphasizes jobs, schools and services". Star Tribune. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ Bakst, Brian (November 21, 2016). "GOP's new muscle may remake Minnesota Capitol agenda". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Emily Pryor, Cam Winton". The New York Times. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Halter, Nick (June 21, 2013). "Winton: City needs fresh eyes and a back-to-the-basics approach". Southwest Journal. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "40 under 40: Cam Winton, Duke Energy". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  7. 1 2 "The Kids of Cam". The Pennsylvania Gazette. 2005 [January–February 2005]. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "About Cam". Winton for Mayor. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Outland Energy Services Names Steve Scott as President & CEO; Cam Winton as VP & General Counsel". Duke Energy Renewables / Outland Energy Services. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  10. 1 2 Roper, Eric. "Minneapolis Mayoral Hopefuls: Cam Winton". Star Tribune. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Halter, Nick (11 January 2013). "Wind power attorney becomes first Republican to enter mayoral race". The Journal. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Reilly, Mark (15 March 2013). "MSPBJ announces 2013 40 Under 40". Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Sturdevant, Lori (17 August 2013). "Cam Winton: Runs as independent, but gives GOP hope". StarTribune. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 Arola, Brian (19 February 2013). "Lone conservative, Cam Winton, joins DFL-heavy mayoral race". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  15. 1 2 Halter, Nick (4 April 2013). "Garbage burning, upbringing hot topics in second mayoral debate". Southwest Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Cam Winton for Mayor". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  17. ↑ "Cam Winton for Mayor - Issues". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  18. ↑ Roper, Eric (7 May 2013). "From pothole, Winton slams city road conditions". Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  19. ↑ Roper, Eric (30 May 2013). "Winton slams streetcars during "moving press conference"". Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  20. ↑ Halter, Nick (10 July 2013). "Winton says trash hauling bid process is rubbish". Southwest Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  21. ↑ Nelson, Tim (31 May 2013). "Minneapolis mayor candidate questions stadium district financing". MPR News. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  22. ↑ Nelson, Tim (6 June 2013). "Minneapolis mulling an "Ultimate Park" for Vikings stadium district". MPR News. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  23. ↑ Gilbert, Curtis "Politico Cam Winton defends his notability on Wikipedia," MPR, July 28, 2014 http://blogs.mprnews.org/cities/2014/07/politico-cam-winton-defends-his-notability-on-wikipedia/
  24. ↑ Maya Rao, "Minneapolis Goes the Distance for Its Asphalt," Star Tribune, May 30, 2014 http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/261337971.html
  25. ↑ "Steve Brandt, Minneapolis Building $3 million bike-walk trail, the most expensive yet," May 16, 2014 http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/259474571.html
  26. ↑ Jon Tevlin, "Tevlin: New council members take Minneapolis on quite a ‘joy ride’," Star Tribune column, April 28, 2014 http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/257083631.html
  27. ↑ Eric Roper, "Heard this Mpls. proposal? Free earplugs at clubs," Star Tribune, March 22, 2014 http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/251625821.html
  28. ↑ Cam Winton, "In Minneapolis, it's not the potholes, it's the data." Star Tribune commentary, April 9, 2014 http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/254639581.html
  29. ↑ "Westminster Presbyterian Church". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
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