Nov/Dec 2024 Newsletter
"The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But hear me when I say … the light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting." Vice President Kamala Harris delivering her concession speech on November 6, 2024
Election 2024: Some wins, but big losses…
Concerned DFLers watching the election results on Nov 5th
The results nationally were grim. Donald Trump was re-elected. He carried all seven swing states. The Republicans will have control of the U.S. Senate in the next two years, having flipped seats in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Republicans will continue to control the U.S. House, 220-215. Trump’s announcements as to who he plans to nominate for high-level positions in the Executive Branch are horrifying. Most are incompetent or have shocking pasts.
In our other Federal races, Rachel Bohman lost to Brad Finstad in her race for Congress by 58.5% to 41.1%, the largest win for a Republican in the 1st Congressional District since 2004. However, she carried Olmsted County by almost 4,000 votes (though she lost in Olmsted 20/24 territory). Fortunately, Amy Klobuchar, running well ahead of other DFLers, beat Royce White by half a million votes statewide to win her fourth term.
In Minnesota, Kamala Harris carried the state, the 13th consecutive time a Democrat has carried Minnesota in Presidential elections. Her margin was smaller than Biden’s in 2020 but larger than Clinton’s in 2016.
The one open Minnesota Senate seat was won by a DFLer, so the DFL will again have a one vote majority for the 2025-26 session.
There were three Minnesota House seats up in our area. Tina Liebling won in House District 24B but Mike Hutchinson lost in House District 20B and Heather Holmes lost in House District 24A. Liebling improved the percentage of the vote she got from 56.4% in 2022 to 57.8% in 2024, one of the largest increases for a DFL House incumbent with an opponent this year. Holmes also increased her percentage of the vote over what our candidate in 24A got in 2022. Statewide, the DFL lost 3 seats so the House will be tied 67-67 in 2025-26, the first time that’s happened since 1979.
In Rochester City Council races, Randy Schubring beat Shaun Palmer for the At-Large seat, Nick Miller beat Tripp Welch for the 2nd Ward seat, and Andy Friederichs beat the incumbent Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick for the 4th Ward seat. Schubring and Miller had letters of support from the DFL. In contested Olmsted County Commissioner races, Gregg Wright beat April Sutor for the District 3 seat and Bob Hopkins beat Tawonda Burks in the special election in District 6 to fill the last two years of Sheila Kiscaden’s term, as Kiscaden is resigning. Three other County Commissioners were re-elected without opposition. In Rochester School Board races, Don Barlow, Karen MacLaughlin, and Stephanie Whitehorn, the more progressive candidates, won.
DFL State Chair Martin Running for DNC Chair
Jaime Harrison, the current Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), is not running for re-election. His term expires February 1. Ken Martin, the Chair of the Minnesota DFL, is one of the candidates for DNC Chair. Others (so far) include Martin O’Malley, once Governor of Maryland and 2016 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination; Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party; and a New York state senator. The position will be filled at the Democratic National Committee meeting late in January. If Martin is elected, Marge Hoffa, the first Vice-Chair of the Minnesota DFL will become chair through March 29, when the DFL Business Meeting will elect officers for the 2025-27 term. It’s not clear if Martin will run for an eighth term as Chair of the Minnesota DFL if he doesn’t become DNC chair.
New Office Hours
After being open for many hours each week in the months before election, the office will be open from 1-4 PM Mondays-Fridays for the rest of 2024 and for 2025. If you have DFL or non-partisan campaign signs you want to get rid of, you can bring them to the office when it’s open.
STAY INVOLVED WITH THE DFL
The Trump administration is going to say and do lots of awful things in the next few years. We, as the DFL organizing unit for half of Olmsted County, need to be part of the resistance to those awful things, but we need your help to be heard and to be effective at fighting back. We need help with communications, outreach to underrepresented communities, planning and putting on events, developing a grassroots precinct or township-level organization, and general party unit operations. If you want to help in one or more of these areas, contact olmsted2024dfl@gmail.com and let us know. Please also tell us if you have any skills in an area. Someone from our leadership will get back to you. Our next scheduled Central Committee meeting will be Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 7 PM at the DFL office (1500 1st Ave, NE, Suite A, Rochester), and you’re welcome to attend. We will be hosting an informal informational session for an hour before this meeting about party structure and the different ways to get involved in 2025. We will be sure to announce this closer to this time. In the interim, please follow and engage with us on social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olmsteddfl/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olmsted2024dfl/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/olmsted20-24dfl.bsky.social (note that we will no longer be posting on the X platform)
