Sept/Oct 2024 Newsletter
Minnesota Campaign News
As the campaign continues in Minnesota, things are looking decent for DFL candidates. In the most recent four public polls in the Presidential race in the state, Kamala Harris is up by 6% on average. It doesn’t look as if Minnesota will be considered a battleground state by either party, which means we probably won’t see visits by Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidates, even as Wisconsin gets lots of visits. We may see some commercials on TV, however.
Amy Klobuchar is doing even better with a 10% margin in the three most recent public polls in her race against Royce White, though given what loathsome things White has said and how little money he has for his campaign, many people wonder why the margin isn’t larger. Klobuchar has commercials on TV, but hasn’t done any campaigning in Olmsted County. White is unlikely to be on TV. It doesn’t look as if there will be debates between Klobuchar and White.
The 1st District Congressional race between Rachel Bohman and Brad Finstad appears to be close. A Bohman poll showed a 48.4-51.6% race. Brad Finstad has barely run a campaign turning down chances to appear on the radio or at parades. He had just over $625,000 in cash at the end of July, which is not much if the race is competitive, since there are five media markets to cover, though it’s more than Bohman had then. The first re-election campaign is traditionally the hardest, and he’s being amazingly nonchalant about it.
State legislative campaigns run under the radar. It’s rare to see public polls for individual races. Most people rating these races do not expect any of the local seats to flip. Consistent with that, we are not seeing a lot of outside independent expenditures in these races, but we have had surprises here before. The (statewide) polls asking whether people plan to vote for a DFL or Republican Minnesota House candidate shows the DFL up by 2% on average, but it’s hard to know if that predicts results given that there are 134 separate elections, not one statewide one. House candidates will be sending out mailers and digital ads over the next several weeks as their campaigns continue to knock on doors and call voters.
Both the Harris-Trump presidential debate and the Walz-Vance vice-presidential debate took place since the last edition of the newsletter. Most people thought Harris did far better than Trump in their debate, while the Walz-Vance debate was a draw or slightly favored Walz. The DFL had local debate watch parties for both of these. Gwen Walz and three of the state DFL officers were at the Presidential debate watch party. The VP party was lower-key and had fewer people.
It's almost obligatory to say that polls aren’t results. We all need to vote ourselves and help make sure every person supporting DFL candidates votes!
Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) Effort Starting Soon
A few weeks before the election, campaigns switch from trying to identify the political leanings of voters and persuade those who are undecided in their races to a Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) strategy where they try to make sure the voters who they know or strongly suspect support their candidates vote. We’ll know soon what the strategy the state-wide Coordinated Campaign has chosen for calling these voters or knocking on their doors in the last 3-4 weeks of the campaign, but it’s certain to need a lot of volunteers. This is easier voter contact work, since it’s almost always contacting supporters. However, even if you aren’t interested in calling or door-knocking voters there are plenty of things to do as part of the GOTV effort.
Food preparation and management-The last two weeks we’ll having so many volunteers working lots of hours that we’ll need people to bring in food to the DFL office, so the volunteers and campaign staff can focus on their work and not need to leave for meals, as well as a few people to set up and manage the food in the office.
Visibility- In the last days before and on Election Day we’ll need people to stand on high-traffic street corners and overpasses with signs for our candidates.
Office volunteers- We’ll need more people to help in the office talking to people who call or walk in with questions, putting together packets for door-knocking, and supporting staff with training volunteers, passing out turfs and packets plus all the other things that come up as an election approaches.
Poll challengers- If you’re willing to work most or all of Election Day, the DFL needs people who can be in polling places in Olmsted or neighboring counties on November 5 to try to ensure everyone who’s eligible to vote and comes to their polling place gets a chance to vote. You can work all day or a half-day (morning or afternoon). Being a poll challenger requires training, which can be done in person on October 21 at the Rochester DFL office (sign up for this at https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/721993/) or on Zoom, from the state DFL Voter Protection staff. The DFL almost never challenges voters, but poll challenger is what the position is called in law, so that’s the phrase we use (Think poll watcher or observer if that sounds better). To sign up, go to https://dfl.org/voterprotection/ and click on the graphic that says Poll Challenger to get to the Google Form that you need to fill out.
If you’re interested in volunteering in any of these roles, go to https://olmsted2024dfl.com/contact to let us know what you want to do and when you would be available.
We don’t have details yet, but we expect a caravan of DFL elected and party officials plus DFL candidates, including Senator Klobuchar, to be at the Rochester office for a rally 4-5 days before the election as part of the statewide tour the DFL has every two years. We will make this announcement as we have details.
Election Night Party
Join fellow DFLers and local candidates as we watch the election returns and celebrate all of our hard work together these many months leading up to this historic night! The DFLs of Olmsted County (Olmsted 20/24 DFL and MN SD25 DFL) will host an Election night results watch party at Floral Hall at the Graham Park Fairgrounds on Tuesday, Nov 5th from 8 pm to 1 am.
This will be the election night headquarters with press coverage for several local campaigns, including Rachel Bohman, Tina Liebling, Tina Smith, Kim Hicks, and Heather Holmes. We have all worked in overdrive to get our candidates in office, and this should be an evening of great relief and celebration of many DFL victories!
We will have 3 food trucks there including Jersey Jo’s, Infusion Indian Foods, and Los Compadres. Cash bar will be provided by Tavern 22. Come hungry and support our local businesses!
Register in advance to secure your admittance. A $10 donation is suggested to help cover the costs of the event and will be collected at the door. Arrivals please enter at the North Door.
To register, please visit https://tinyurl.com/DFL-SIGNUP-GENIUS
FDR Dinner a Success!
The 10th Annual FDR Dinner, a joint project of Olmsted 20/24 and Senate District 25 DFLs, was held Saturday, September 21 at Aune Hall in Graham Park. It was sold out, making it the largest fund-raising event we’ve had in years.
Our 225 guests had a delicious buffet dinner, catered by Omar’s Kitchen, and heard powerful speeches from Attorney General Keith Ellison as the keynote speaker, Senator Liz Boldon, Reps. Tina Liebling, Kim Hicks and Andy Smith, and Rep. candidates Heather Holmes and Michael Hutchinson. CD-1 Federal Representative candidate Rachel Bohman and a clip from Senator Amy Klobuchar, as well as a speech by MN DFL Secretary Ceri Everett, rounded out our robust program.
The silent auction, and an amusing live auction with Rep. Andy Smith as the principal auctioneer, were better than ever. Money raised will be used to finance operations of the two party units, including keeping the Rochester DFL office open over the next year.
Save the date for FDR 2025, which is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, September 20th, 2025, also at Aune Hall, with an improved sound system. The 2025 legislative year event will feature local speakers and policy updates, as well as our office holders and state party officers.
Thanks again to our community partners and vendors: Chef Omar and Lori Feyen of Omar’s Kitchen, Tavern 22 and Scott Schneider, Em En Designs, Trader Joe’s, all of our committee members, including Emcee Phil Wheeler and timer Sue Wheeler, event treasurer Joe Nix, auction donors, and our table sponsors. This signature event continues to grow and bring local DFLers together every year.
DFL Office Has Extended Hours
The office is now open from 1 PM-7 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM-4 PM Saturday and Sunday. It may be open even more hours as we get closer to the election. Watch for news about that. Candidate signs are available (or can be reserved if we’re out temporarily). There is a $15 suggested donation for a Harris-Walz sign, as we had to print and pay for those ourselves, but signs for other candidates are free. We don’t have campaign merchandise, but the state DFL has an extensive selection at https://store.dfl.org/.
Voting Information
Early voting has started. If you requested an absentee ballot before it started in mid-September, you should have it by now. If not, please contact the Olmsted County Elections office at elections@olmstedcounty.gov or call 507-328-7650.
Early in-person voting is also available at the Olmsted County Elections office 2122 Campus Dr. SE Suite 300 in Rochester Monday through Friday 8 AM- 5 PM. Until October 18, in-person voting is like voting absentee in terms of what you must fill out. However, from October 18 through November 4, in-person voting is simpler. It’s more like voting on Election Day, except you must fill out a short form instead of signing the register at your polling place.
There will be extra early voting hours the two Saturdays before Election Day (October 26 and November 2) and Sunday, November 3 from 9 AM. to 3 PM) On Tuesday October 29, hours are extended to 7 p.m. From October 29 through November 4 at the Olmsted County Government Center 201 4th St, SE, Rochester. The hours are the same as at the Elections Office (including the extra hours)
An advantage of early voting is that the DFL gets notified every day who has voted early and has had a ballot accepted, so we can stop bothering you to go out and vote (though we can’t promise everyone else will also stop).
Policial Contribution Refund Program
In Minnesota, everyone eligible to vote may get $75/year ($150/year for a married couple) back from the state each year for contributions made to eligible candidates or political party units. If you haven’t made a contribution this year, please consider contributing to the campaigns of Heather Holmes (House District 24A) by check at Friends of Heather Holmes Committee, P.O. Box 360, Byron, MN 55920 or on-line at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/holmes-for-house
or of Michael Hutchinson (House District 20B) by check at Vote For Michael Hutchinson Committee, 884 Golfview Ave, Zumbrota, MN 55992 or online at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/vote4hutch
Our other House candidate and Olmsted 20/24 DFL are less in need of contributions right now.
The campaigns will send you a receipt for your contribution and may send you a form as well. Fill out the form and send it and the receipt to the Minnesota Department of Revenue and you’ll get your refund in a few weeks. You have until April 14, 2025 to apply for your 2024 refund. (If the campaign doesn’t send you a form, it can be downloaded from the Department of Revenue website)
