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It’s clear the two candidates for the District 2A Minnesota House race don’t really like each other much.

At a recent Red Lake Nation candidate fair at the community center — Oshkiimaajitahdah in Redby — DFLer Reed Olson talked about allegations Republican newcomer Bidal Duran made during closing remarks of a televised debate a few days earlier. 

Just before it wrapped up Duran accused Olson of being a member of an ultra-progressive caucus led by Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. Olson said it enraged him. He likened the comment not to a dog whistle but a dog siren.  

“That was straight up race baiting, it was misogynistic, it was Islamophobic and it was racist,” Olson said. “And he did that on purpose at the end of the debate, when I didn’t have a chance to be able to rebut.” 

In January, Olson won the endorsement of the Red Lake Nation which he believes could be a key factor to victory. It’s a relationship he said Duran will never have stemming from a 2018 traffic stop in Bemidji that ended with Duran shooting and killing Red Lake Nation citizen Vernon May, who was armed at the time.  

“For him to even run to represent the tribe is so callous and just not understanding,” Olson said. “There’s a lot of things that he can do. He doesn’t have to try to run for office to represent Red Lake.” 

Duran was cleared of any wrongdoing.   

“If my opponent is pushing this in any way, shame on him,” Duran said. “If he wants to tote that as something that’s going to benefit him with the Native American population, wow!”  

It’s a complicated race in a complicated place. The district contains both Bemidji and Red Lake. The seat is open after four-term incumbent Republican Matt Grossell announced his retirement.      

In the 2022 election only 15 of Minnesota's 134 House seats were won by less than 5 percentage points

Both candidates say they will bring useful experience to the job.

“We are in my basement office at our new day center,” said Olson as he led a tour of his work place. “The New Day Center is a drop-in homeless shelter for daytime. We’re open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., we’re open 365 days a year. One of my favorite things to do is celebrate Christmas here.” 

Olson is a small business owner and executive director of the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless. He said his experience as a former Bemidji City Council member and Beltrami County Board of Commissioner makes him the perfect fit for the open House 2A seat. He’s campaigning on better housing, child care and expanding access to rural health care.   

“These are very important things in Bemidji, in Beltrami County. But then I got to see that this actually is affecting our entire state and the district,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why I want to go down to St. Paul to try to find statewide solutions to statewide problems.” 

Duran is a Marine veteran with combat experience in Afghanistan. He then spent multiple years as a law enforcement officer — eight and half years with the Bemidji Police Department and several with the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office.

Duran said his experience will help him effectively represent the district, especially since the White House Office of National Drug Policy recently designated Beltrami County as a high intensity drug trafficking area or HIDTA. 

“I’m an honest, hardworking individual, just like we have up here in northern Minnesota,” he said. “I believe in a lot of the things that northern Minnesotans believe in, lower taxes, public safety and education for kids, and those are the things that I’m running on.”

But Duran has garnered attention for decisions he made while a law enforcement officer. In 2023 he was admonished by a judge in a memorandum that stated Duran “intentionally or recklessly mischaracterized the truth.”

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The judge was upset about two search warrants Duran sought after a 2022 traffic stop which resulted in a large seizure of drugs and money. That drug case was later dropped. Duran said the judge never talked to him in person about any concerns. 

“He just wrote it off of his own feelings and what his own perceptions were, which it’s an assumption. It’s all an assumption on his behalf,” Duran said. “And you know, he never got the facts straight.”

A later investigation conducted by Becker County investigators cleared Duran of any wrongdoing.

Then in fall of 2023 Duran received a written reprimand for turning off his body camera while questioning someone. He said he turned off the camera to protect the individual from sharing sensitive information. Duran said he knew the person from his time working with the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force. 

“If you want to know the truth, I did violate the policy. I separated myself from my body-worn camera in order to have a conversation with this individual,” Duran said. “The fact of the matter is that we found the individual who was overdosing because of what my actions did. So, I guess in the end, like I said, I’ll take my lumps for this one.” 

Bemidji State University political science professor Patrick Donnay said he does not think Duran’s personal history will lose him the race. Donnay said in this deeply red district it’s DFLer Olson facing a tough road. 

“This district is a stretch for any Democrat,” Donnay said. “And you’d have to have really big margin and big turnout in Bemidji to make up for all the solidly red precincts across the rest of the district.” 

During 2022’s election all Republicans running for federal and state offices won by about a 10-point margin.   

Donnay added that outside spending in the district has been limited. 

“I’m not seeing any or very little of that in this race,” he said. “Which to me is a tell that the forces that are battling for control of the Minnesota House are not looking at 2A as a place that they can swing a vote.”  

However, Olson disputes this analysis. He said in the last election only about 45 percent of DFLers showed up to the polls. Olson contends if they get that number to between 70-75 percent he will win.  

Mathew Holding Eagle III

Author

A little-known Minnesota House race in the northwest is at fever pitch. It pits DFLer Reed Olson against Republican newcomer Bidal Duran for the open House 2A seat. Duran has a somewhat controversial record from working law enforcement, however, in a very red area of the state Olson has an uphill battle. 

A little-known Minnesota House race in the northwest is at fever pitch. It pits DFLer Reed Olson against Republican newcomer Bidal Duran for the open House 2A seat. Duran has a somewhat controversial record from working law enforcement, however, in a very red area of the state Olson has an uphill battle. 

Politics run hot in Bemidji area Minnesota House race

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