Some DFL delegates say the party needs higher profile in greater Minnesota
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As the DFL convention kicked off in Rochester Friday, some delegates said they’ve felt left behind by party politics and politicians in recent years.
That included Tom Schoper of Jeffers.
He teaches agriculture to middle and high schoolers, and he says that the state party has lost touch with the “F” in its name - ‘farmer’.
“They’ve got to reach out to rural Minnesota, they’ve got to have a presence,” he said. “It's more than FarmFest, it's more than your county fair, and it's more than Farm Bureau.”
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Sitting next to Schoper was Loren Liepold of Windom. He said that as Democrats focused more on urban issues, it left a vacuum for a candidate like President Donald Trump to make inroads with rural voters that once aligned with the DFL. He sees the party trying to reconnect with those voters during this election cycle.
“There is a divide between large cities and the smaller towns,” he said. “A lot of the rural area has been ignored, and I think it was a bad move by the Democrats at the time, and it's one that's being fixed now.”
Schoper said he wants the DFL to promote more candidates like former 7th Congressional District Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who chaired the Agriculture Committee before losing his seat to Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach.
“He was pretty pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment, and he knew how to talk to people,” said.
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is likely to win the DFL endorsement for U.S. Senate at the DFL convention. Schoper said he supports 2nd Congressional District Rep. Angie Craig for U.S. Senate, but Craig said earlier this week she was not going to attend the event. He plans to vote for her in the August primary.
