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The Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party will elect a new chair on Saturday, the first change at the top in 14 years.

The winner of the two-way race will replace Ken Martin who was tapped to head the DNC. 

The party leader will replace Ken Martin, who is now the Democratic National Committee leader. Martin had served as chair of the DFL since 2011. A contrast to the Republican Party of Minnesota which saw six party chairs come and go during Martin’s tenure. 

Richard Carlbom has prominent backers, including Gov. Tim Walz, and has run the most visible campaign. The Democratic strategist was the mayor of St. Joseph and led the successful campaign in 2012 that defeated a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage. 

Carlbom, 43, referred to Minnesota as “the last brick in the blue wall” in referencing the Upper Midwest’s history of helping Democrats win the presidency. 

“I think not only do we need to bring a message about the economy and about housing and about healthcare, stability of healthcare, and the pain and hurt Donald Trump’s causing,” Carlbom said. “But what Democrats actually are standing on.”

Carlbom also called Minnesota’s state party the “envy of the nation.”

The other candidate, Jack Lindsay, has been active in more local campaigns and stressed the importance of having a good economic message for voters.

“If we have an economic message that appeals to people, regardless of their ideology, regardless of their prior voting patterns,” Lindsay said. “ I think that in an economy as bad as this, a message that offers relief to people could bring more people in.”

Lindsay, 31, ran for a Democratic Party post before and began his run by pledging to stay off social platforms run by Google, Meta, Amazon and Elon Musk’s X “whenever possible.”

Both Carlbom and Lindsay said there is work to be done to mend wounds in the party — like with the “uncommitted” Democratic primary voters who protested the way the Biden-Harris administration handled the war in Gaza.

“I’ve already begun to have conversations with folks who are part of the uncommitted effort in order to ensure that they feel heard,” Carlbom said. “There’s going to be continued work ahead to make sure that ultimately they remain part of our broad coalition.”

Lindsay said the DFL needs to be more than a “fundraising apparatus.” 

“I just sense in recent years that this party is becoming nothing but the nexus for dollars to flow the pot where all the special interests dump their money in exchange for policy concessions,” Lindsay said.

Both also expressed a need to connect with rural Minnesotans and those who are frustrated with President Donald Trump’s actions at the federal level. 

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Two Democrats are vying to lead the state’s DFL Party. Members of the DFL will vote Saturday for a replacement to longtime party chair Ken Martin who left earlier this year to head up the Democratic National Committee.

Thousands of delegates gathered at the United Center in Chicago.

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party will elect a new chair on Saturday

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