April Newsletter
The Resistance
by Alden Brown
"A house divided against itself, cannot stand.”
-Abraham Lincoln, June 16, 1858
The times in which we live breathe new life into these words no longer bound by the illusion of normalcy. It is time to demand fact not lies from our president and our leaders.
Our lives depend on it.
Many of our neighbors will die needlessly in the coming weeks and months because of the lies spread by the ignorant, the greedy and the orange-stained remnant of a once proud party. Agree or disagree with the Republican party, its members once debated facts not falsehoods.
That is no longer the case.
That failure has left this country – beyond all others with similar means – without the testing and resources to fight the COVID pandemic. The result is an escalation in its spread, its impact on our health system and workers, and its deadly consequences.
We are at war with a virus that appears to be as deadly if not more so than the 1918 Pandemic that killed 675,000 people in the US and 50 million people worldwide (CDC). We are led by a reality star who demands to be taken seriously as he lies to the desperate and the sick.
Yet, half of the country chooses to believe the ridiculous over the science until the virus literally overwhelms the lie.
Even then, this great divide allows the lie to adjust, to move, to maneuver.
Why?
I am certainly not the only one asking. Veteran online journalist Eric Black of the MinnPost wrote in February:
“I worry more about those, presumably most of his supporters, who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the lying. It’s frightening. It’s cultish. It’s 1984-ish.”
After reading Black’s March column, the country appears to be nearly equally divided.
https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2020/03/trumps-approval-ratings-rise-in-several-polls/
To remain so is a deadly bargain. We can see that in real time with the growing infection and death counts as the virus sweeps the country.
We must become consumed by our shared history and Constitution. We must demand a government and leaders who look to facts and science for answers, not as a source for the next budget cut.
Resist.
Vote Democracy.
Vote Democrat.
Senate District 26 and Congressional District 1 Convention Update
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minnesota DFL has decided on procedures that will let us do important party business while staying safe. This means all conventions before May 30 will be virtual instead of in-person conventions with major changes in how the typical convention business is managed.
The three things our party unit must do before the State DFL Convention are:
Endorse a candidate for the District 26 seat in the Minnesota Senate, for the Minnesota House of Representative 26A seat, and for the House’s 26B seat
Elect 17 delegates and 17 alternates to 1st Congressional District (CD) and State DFL Conventions
Adopt up to 34 resolutions to send on to the State DFL convention
All alternates elected at precinct caucuses have been promoted to delegates for this “convention”, so they and the 324 delegates will get a ballot our chair has certified as being accurate with:
the names of candidates for endorsement for the Minnesota Senate and their Minnesota House District, the names of people who want to be delegates (or alternates) to the 1st CD and state DFL conventions, and the 64 resolutions passed by precinct caucuses (after merging similar resolutions). Anyone seeking endorsement for a Minnesota Senate or House race must send first and last names, voting address, telephone number, and email address to Jen Verhagen at sd26mn.dfl@gmail.com or leave a message with that information at 507-536-9785 by April 16
Unless delegates tell us they can’t vote that way, they will receive by email from the Minnesota DFL on April 25 a ballot and a unique code they need to enter into the Google form that contains the ballot. They can vote any time before the end of the day on May 4. Paper ballots will be sent to people who can’t vote by email.
We are using ranked choice voting for endorsements. Aleta Borrud and Tyrel Clark are candidates for the Senate endorsement and there is a “No Endorsement” option. Assuming there are no new candidates, delegates will have three options. They should rank your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preference of the options. They may rank all of these options or leave some preferences blank. The ballot may have a two minute video from each candidate attached. Representative Tina Liebling is currently the only candidate for endorsement in House District 26A and there is no candidate for endorsement in House District 26B.
Delegates also vote for up to 17 delegates for the 1st CD and state DFL conventions from the list of people who want to be delegates or alternates. The top 17 vote-getters will become delegates (assuming gender balance) and the next 17 will become alternates.
If you want to be a delegate or alternate to these conventions, please send your first and last names, voting address, telephone number, email address, gender, and presidential preference to Jen Verhagen at sd26mn.dfl@gmail.com or leave a message with that information at 507-536-9785 by April 16. Gender should be listed as male, female or non-binary. We need this to assure gender balance in our delegation. We also need presidential preference (between the two remaining candidates) since each delegate will only be able to vote on national convention delegates who support their presidential candidate.
Finally, delegates can vote Yes or No on each resolution. The 34 resolutions getting the highest percentage of Yes votes (if above 50% yes votes), will be sent on to the State Platform Commission for consideration at the State DFL convention.
The 1st CD convention will also not be an in-person convention. All alternates elected by us to that convention will be considered delegates. The Minnesota DFL still hopes to have an in-person state convention in Rochester May 30-31. If that happens, alternates will remain alternates for that convention. The DFL will decide by April 24 whether there will be an in-person convention
When the Senate District 26 DFL Central Committee next meets again in person, which will be after June 1, we will elect Senate District 26 DFL’s officers, directors, and members and alternates to the 1st CD and Minnesota DFL Central Committees.
BIDEN SURGES UNTIL CORONAVIRUS SLOWS VOTING
The contest for the Democratic presidential nomination has narrowed to two candidates. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg dropped out soon after Super Tuesday. Tulsi Gabbard dropped out later in March.
Biden had a spectacular March. In the two weeks after Super Tuesday, Biden won primaries in 8 of the 9 states that had them, including large states such as Florida, Illinois, and Michigan. Sanders won in North Dakota along with the Democrats Abroad and the Northern Marianas Islands primaries. Biden is now over 300 delegates ahead.
All primaries scheduled for the last two weeks of March were delayed. The only in-person state primary scheduled for April is in Wisconsin (April 4) while several states will have mail-only primaries this month. Campaigning has slowed dramatically as in-person events are banned. Sanders has announced he plans to stay in the race for the time being.
DONATE TO SENATE DISTRICT 26 DFL
We need your help to keep a DFL presence in Rochester in 2020. We have a year-round office, which is expensive, but is crucial in a battleground area like Rochester. While one-time donations are welcome, we especially need monthly donations. We don’t get money from the national Democratic Party. The state DFL only contributes $500 a month, less than 1/3 of our rent. We rely on our local supporters to keep going and to get the DFL message out. There are tremendous opportunities for the DFL, locally and statewide, this year, including replacing Carla Nelson with a DFL Senator and Jim Hagedorn with a DFL member of Congress. We need more money at the local level to take advantage of them. We need the money and you want an active DFL. If you give, there will be an office for DFL events and meetings when those are possible again, DFL participation in events and parades that require entry fees, technology that makes the DFL work better, and outreach into underrepresented communities. Donate to Senate District 26 DFL and you can get up to $50/person or $100 per married couple back from the state of Minnesota if you are eligible to vote in Minnesota. You can make a refundable donation in 2020 even if you made a contribution and got a refund in 2019. Do it now. Make your donation via ActBlue (https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/senate-district-26-dfl-party-1?refcode=sd2). If you would rather write a check, please make it payable to DFL SD26 and send it to:
P.O. Box 9044
Rochester, MN 55904-9044
Send us a donation and we’ll send you a receipt. Send the receipt and a form
(https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/media/59866) needed to claim the reimbursement to Minnesota Revenue Political Contribution Refund St. Paul, MN 55146-1800. Make a donation, file a claim, and you’ll get a check back soon.
If you send a check, please include whether you are retired, self-employed or employed. If employed, include the name of your employer and your job title. The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board requires us to collect that information. If you use Act Blue, the appropriate information is collected.
CENSUS 2020 IS COMING SOON
April 1 was Census Day. The Census’s efforts have been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic but its leaders still hope to count everyone. Mail reminders have gone out and you can fill out your Census form online if you haven’t done that already.
It’s important that everyone completes the census, since undercounts cost governments funding and decrease political representation of undercounted areas. Olmsted County, and especially Rochester, are at high risk for undercounts, since we are the most diverse county in southern Minnesota and the poor, immigrants, and people of color are the most likely to be missed by the census. The Trump administration’s attempt to put a citizenship question on the census form, though unsuccessful, may reduce the willingness of families that have undocumented people or legal immigrants to complete census forms. There will be efforts to encourage people to talk to enumerators when they go house-to-house.
The Census has to hire lots of people, so this may be an opportunity for short-term work, either part-time or full-time. Go to https://www.census.gov/about/regions/chicago/jobs/minnesota.html if interested.
Connect with us!
This is a monthly newsletter. However, events often happen on short notice, so we may not be able to include them in the newsletter.
Email: sd26mn.dfl@gmail.com
Twitter: @sd26dfl
Facebook: DFL in Olmsted County
Instagram: dflsenatedistrict26.
Our office is unstaffed for now because of the stay-at-home order but you can leave a message for us at 507-536-9785. We are monitoring the messages.
