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Some progressive Democrats and members of the trans community are urging delegates to allow DFL gubernatorial candidate Kobey Layne’s nomination to be accepted at the DFL state convention.

The likely path for that would be delegates from every congressional district to second the nomination.

For Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, it would be an important show of support from the DFL for the trans community.

“We have a strong state for trans protections. We have many, many thousands of trans people who live in the state of Minnesota, and I want to support a candidate for governor who is vocal and clear about protecting trans people,” she said.

Finke said it would be historic as well for the party to nominate a trans-identifying gubernatorial candidate.

“I also believe that every process is better when you have trans and queer people on the stage and participating, this would be a historic moment for our community,” Finke said. “If Kobey is up there giving a speech in her nomination for the governor of Minnesota, that would be a massive achievement for our community, and for recognizing that we are a constituency.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is the odds-on favorite for the endorsement from the DFL convention. 

Finke said she is a fan of Klobuchar, but has concerns at this moment as the federal government has not shown support for any trans issues, that the state continue its protections of trans people.

“I would understand completely the hesitancy of a major candidate to not want to talk every day about trans issues, and nobody's asking for that,” Finke said. “What I'm asking, and what a lot of us are asking, is just let us know that we can rely on you to continue these protections, and I want to be clear, I fully believe that that's what Amy Klobuchar believes, I support Amy, I voted for her many times, I am a fan, I am a friend.”

“But now we're in another phase of life for trans people, and we simply just don't have the luxury of assuming that that's true,” Finke said. “Our community is in danger, and we need to know.”

Election 2026 

Minnesota political conventions 2026: Live updates as DFL, GOP pick candidates

Peter Cox

Author

Some progressive Democrats and members of the trans community are pushing Korey Layne to be nominated for governor at the DFL state convention.

Some DFL delegates push for show of support for trans candidate

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