Using his progressive populism and grassroots campaigning tactics, such as his iconic green school bus, Wellstone won in an upset victory that gained him national attention.

After his sudden death, Wellstone was replaced on the ballot by former Vice President Walter Mondale, who lost by a slim margin to Coleman.

[2] In August 1969, Wellstone accepted a tenure-track position at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he taught political science until his election to the Senate in 1990.

In the summer of 1985, he walked the picket line with striking P-9ers during a labor dispute at the Hormel Meat Packing plant in Austin, Minnesota.

He served as an elected committeeman for the Democratic National Committee in 1984, and in 1986 began a second campaign for State Auditor before dropping out to tend his mother's failing health.

Wellstone played off his underdog image with quirky, humorous ads created by political consultant Bill Hillsman, including "Fast Paul"[7] and "Looking for Rudy",[8] a pastiche of the 1989 Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me.

Wellstone's upset victory in 1990 and reelection in 1996 were also credited to a grassroots campaign that inspired college students, poor people, and minorities to get involved in politics, many for the first time.

In 1990, the number of young people involved in the campaign was so notable that shortly after the election, Walter Mondale told Wellstone that "the kids won it for you".

Earlier that year Wellstone announced he had a mild form of multiple sclerosis, causing the limp he had believed was an old wrestling injury.

He intended to retrace the steps Robert F. Kennedy took during a similar tour in 1966, and to highlight the fact that conditions had improved slightly for African-Americans since the civil rights movement, but not much for poor whites despite their dependency on food stamps, government jobs (military) and the massive federal investment in their regions, especially Appalachia.

In 1998, Wellstone formed an exploratory committee and a leadership PAC, the Progressive Politics Network, that paid for his travels to Iowa and New Hampshire, two early primary states in the nomination process.

[2] On January 9, 1999, Wellstone called a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol at which he said he lacked the stamina necessary for a national campaign, citing chronic back problems he ascribed to an old wrestling injury.

He thereafter endorsed former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, the only Democratic candidate to challenge Vice President Al Gore.

[2] Wellstone was known for his work for peace, the environment, labor, and health care; he also joined his wife Sheila to support the rights of victims of domestic violence.

Wellstone called McCain-Feingold's protection of "advocacy" groups a "loophole" allowing "special interests" to run last-minute election ads.

He pushed an amendment to extend McCain-Feingold's ban on last-minute ads to nonprofits like "the NRA, the Sierra Club, the Christian Coalition, and others".

The others were also all Democrats: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii; Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico; Robert Byrd of West Virginia; Kent Conrad of North Dakota; Daniel Inouye of Hawaii; Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts; Patrick Leahy of Vermont; Carl Levin of Michigan; Barbara Mikulski of Maryland; and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.

The other victims were his wife, Sheila; one of his three children, Marcia; the pilots, Richard Conry and Michael Guess;[27] and campaign staffers Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic and Will McLaughlin.

[28] Autopsy reports determined that five of the passengers likely died instantly upon impact, while three others—McEvoy, Lapic, and McLaughlin—showed signs of smoke inhalation from the ensuing fire.

Wellstone decided to go to the funeral instead of a Minneapolis rally and fundraiser attended by Mondale and fellow Senator Ted Kennedy.

The Beechcraft King Air A100 plane crashed into dense forest about two miles from the Eveleth airport, while operating under instrument flight rules.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) judged that while cloud cover might have prevented the flight crew from seeing the airport, icing did not affect the plane's performance during its descent.

[32] Government documents also indicated that the FBI had been following Wellstone before he became a senator, and included records dating as far back as his arrest at a 1970 antiwar protest.

[33] The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later determined that the crash's likely cause was "the flight crew's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover".

In one written statement an FAA pilot told the NTSB that the signal guided him 1 to 2 miles left or south of the runway.

The memorial service for Wellstone and the other victims of the crash was held in Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota and broadcast live on national TV.

[48] Wellstone campaign manager Jeff Blodgett noted after the event that it had not been scripted and apologized to people who were offended or surprised.

The six-acre site, off Bodas Road near Eveleth, is a tribute to Wellstone's life and career, and to his family members and staff who died in the crash.

Visitors sometimes follow the Jewish custom[52] of placing small stones on the boulder marking the family plot or on the individual markers.

[53][54][55][56] In 2007, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter joined David Wellstone to push Congress to pass legislation regarding mental health insurance.