DFL to elect party chair Saturday; 1 candidate in race

The state DFL plans to elect a new party chair Saturday, and Ken Martin is the only candidate who is currently running for the position.

Martin worked on Mike Hatch's gubernatorial campaign in 2006, and was state director for John Kerry's presidential run in 2004. He also organized the successful campaign to pass a constitutional amendment in 2008 that raised the sales tax. Last year, he raised money for the group Alliance for a Better Minnesota, which supported Mark Dayton for governor.

Martin said the DFL Party has a lot of challenges heading into 2012.

"We just came off of one of the most bruising election defeats in our state party history, but also around the country," Martin said. "The message to DFLers needs to be loud and clear that we need to reorganize, refocus, dust ourselves off, pick ourselves up and get ready to fight because 2012, after redistricting, is going to be a very difficult year."

Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton also announced this week that he'd like to run for another term. Independence Party Chair Jack Uldrich resigned his position effective February 13.