Live: DFLers and Republicans are endorsing candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and other statewide races

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

At the DFL state convention in Rochester, Party Chair Richard Carlbom asked how many people in the room were first time delegates, and more than half of the room raised their hands.

Fifty-seven percent of the delegates are first time delegates according to Carlbom.

He opened the proceedings by talking about the killings of two Minneapolis residents by ICE agents, the killing of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the two students killed in a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church in Minneapolis.

Carlbom said Minnesotans have responded to these events by making their voices heard. He said he sees that in the way new people have gotten involved in politics.

“Every time we got knocked down, more Minnesotans rallied together to build together,” he said.

Carlbom said the party found it easy to find state residents who wanted to get involved.

“Our job is to turn the energy we feel right now into results in November,” he said, adding that the key issues for Democrats this year are affordability and fighting against “Trump’s retribution campaign on our people.”

He was followed by Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman, who along with his wife, survived a politically-targeted shooting by the same man charged with killing the Hortmans.

“The weight of it all - public service, personal hardship, the noise, that noise that you hear, the division, it could have pushed us into silence. It could push us all into silence,” Hoffman told the DFL crowd. “But we made a decision. We made a decision not to withdraw, but to engage, because engagement is where change lives.”

“If we don’t show up, someone else will define our future,” he said.

Hoffman encouraged the delegates to engage in real conversations with neighbors and people around the state. 

“You are the connectors, you are the organizers, you are the ones who carry the message into every corner of this state, and when you engage you engage, guess what, others will follow,” he said. “So let's meet this moment.”

Former DFL Chair Ken Martin, who now chairs the Democratic National Committee, spoke briefly to the delegates and declined to take questions from reporters. He has been criticized and faced some calls to resign from some Democrats for delaying the release of a 2024 campaign postmortem and for a lagging fundraising effort. 

“You all are running incredible candidates here in Minnesota, and let's get them elected,” Martin told delegates. “In fact, Democrats are running incredible candidates everywhere. And let's get them all elected. The DNC is here to partner with all of you to do that.”

Election 2026 

Minnesota political conventions 2026: DFL, GOP pick candidates

Peter Cox

Author

The DFL Party opened its state convention in Rochester late Friday afternoon.

Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman speaks to the DFL convention

DFL leaders open convention saying they’re seeing many new delegates

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox