Carla Nelson Unexpectedly Retires

On May 14, Carla Nelson, the Republican Senator for District 24, unexpectedly announced her retirement, just five days before the filing period for the 2026 election was to open. Nelson had been endorsed for that election by the local Republican unit earlier in the spring. It’s almost unheard of for a legislator to announce retirement this late in the legislative session. Nelson was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2002, after Dave Bishop, a Republican who had been in the House for twenty years, retired. In that very Republican year, she beat Tina Liebling, the DFL candidate, and Joe Duffy, the Independence Party candidate, with 40% of the vote to Liebling’s 33% and Duffy’s 27%. However, when Liebling and Nelson faced each other in two-woman races in 2004 and 2006, Liebling won both times. Nelson ran for the Minnesota Senate in 2010, also a very Republican year, and beat incumbent DFL Senator Ann Lynch, who had won an open seat in 2006. Nelson was re-elected in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2022, making her one of the more senior Republicans in the Senate. While she only won narrowly in 2020, the 2022 redistricting made her district more Republican and her 2022 margin was much bigger. This year she was facing a vigorous challenge from Simon Glaser with some evidence the district was moving toward the DFL and with Trump’s approval being very low. The DFL Senate Caucus had identified District 24 as one of its best pick-up chances outside the Metro area and had committed resources and staff to help Glaser.

The local Republicans scrambled to find a candidate and four emerged. The first to announce was Chuck Bradford, who had been Mayor of Mantorville in Dodge County for years. Next were Dan Sepeda and Jesse O’Driscoll, who had competed in 2024 for the Republican nomination in House District 24B to run against Tina Liebling. Last was Nels Pierson, who served in the Minnesota House from 2015-23, representing a district in southern Rochester and a big chunk of rural Olmsted County. He retired when he was redistricted into a DFL-leaning district with Tina Liebling. The District 24 Republicans endorsed Pierson and the other three candidates dropped out.

Nelson’s retirement improves Simon Glaser’s chances of getting elected a lot. Pierson is trying to put together a campaign with fewer than six months before the election, little or no money, and minimal name recognition. He never had to campaign in Dodge County before. Further, Nelson was always able to get more votes in the more DFL portions of her district than other Republican candidates and Pierson will have a hard time doing that.

DFL Convention Results

The 1st Congressional District DFL convention was May 3 at Stewartville High School. Jake Johnson was endorsed by acclamation as our candidate for Congress a few weeks short of the 25th anniversary of his graduation from the high school. Keith Troke was elected a Director for the unit. Will Harvey and Mark Liebow were elected to committees of the state DFL as well.

The state DFL convention was May 29-30 at the Mayo Civic Center. Senator Amy Klobuchar won the endorsement for Governor on the first ballot, but there was a surprisingly strong challenge from the left by Kobey Layne, reflecting the feeling of many activist Metro-area DFLers that Klobuchar is not progressive enough. Klobuchar picked Ben Schierer, who had been running for Auditor, as her Lieutenant Governor candidate, and he was endorsed without opposition. Representative Angie Craig announced on May 27 she was dropping out of the race for the U.S. Senate endorsement but would still run in the primary. This meant Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan didn’t face any opposition for the endorsement, which she received on the first ballot. With Schierer’s withdrawal from the Auditor race, three candidates competed for that endorsement and Zack Filipovich from Duluth was endorsed on the second ballot near the end of the convention. In-between those endorsements, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon were endorsed by acclamation for another term, as they both ran unopposed.

Amazingly, over half of the delegates had not been to a DFL state convention before. Besides endorsements, delegates voted on the DFL platform and Action Agenda for 2026-28 and on proposed constitutional changes for the state DFL. The results of the platform/Action Agenda votes have not yet been announced. As always there were lots of speeches from current office-holders, candidates, and DFL party leaders. Challenges in mastering the electronic voting technology slowed the convention at times, but everything was done by Saturday night.

Who Is on the Ballot??

Candidate filing for the 2026 election opened on May 19 and closed on June 2. Here are the candidates for statewide office and for our local races:

U.S. Senator- DFL: Peggy Flanagan (endorsed), Angie Craig and 4 others vs Republican: Adam Schwarze (endorsed), Michelle Tafoya, Royce White, and 7 others
U.S. House (1st District) DFL: Jake Johnson (endorsed) and Alex Eaton vs. Republican: Brad Finstad (endorsed) and 2 others
Governor/Lieutenant Governor: DFL: Amy Klobuchar/Ben Schierer (endorsed), Kobey Layne/Paul Ference, and 6 others vs Republican: Kendall Qualls/Brian Nicholson (endorsed), Lisa Demuth/Ryan Wilson, Mike Lindell/Phillip Parrish, and 4 others
Attorney General: DFL: Keith Ellison (endorsed) or David Madgett vs. Republican: Ronald Schultz (endorsed)
Auditor: DFL: Zack Filipovich (endorsed) vs. Republican: Nate George (endorsed), Scott Jensen, or Will Finn
Secretary of State: DFL: Steve Simon (endorsed) vs. Republican: Tad Jude (endorsed) or Wendy Phillips
Senate District 20: DFL: Jason Lohmann (endorsed) vs. Republican: Steve Jacob (endorsed) or Teddy Kimble
Senate District 24: DFL: Simon Glaser (endorsed) vs. Republican: Nels Pierson (endorsed) This race will not be on the primary ballot
House District 20B: DFL: Steve Holm (endorsed) or Mark Thoreson vs. Republican: Sara Bertschinger (endorsed) or Brady Rouhoff
House District 24A: DFL: Heather Holmes (endorsed) vs. Republican: Duane Quam (endorsed) This race will not be on the primary ballot
House District 24B: DFL: Tina Liebling (endorsed) vs. Republican: John Ajouri (endorsed) This race will not be on the primary ballot

In Olmsted County: Tim Parkin is running unopposed for Sheriff and Brian Mueller is running unopposed for the District 4 seat on the County Board, Michael Walters and Karen MacLaughlin are running for County Attorney and Tawonda Burke, Bob Hopkins, and Michael Wojcik are running for the District 6 seat on the County Board. Only the last of these races will appear on the primary ballot.

In Rochester: Eight people are running for Mayor while Patrick Keane and Lisa Ross are running for the Ward 1 Council seat and Ruchi Gupta, Sean Palmer and Acacia Ward are running for the Ward 5 seat. The Ward 1 race will not be on the primary ballot.

DFL Summer Events

Olmsted 20/24 DFL has a lot going on this summer this summer. Here’s a list of recent and upcoming events:

Pine Island Cheese Festival Parade (Sunday, June 7th)
Rochester Juneteenth (Saturday, June 13th)
Viola Gopher Count Parade (Thursday, June 18th)
Rochesterfest Grand Parade (Saturday, June 27th, 2 PM, lineup at noon, NW side of Soldiers Field Park)
Eyota Days Parade (Saturday, July 18th, 11 AM, lineup at 9:30 AM, Dover-Eyota High School)
Byron Good Neighbor Days Parade (Sunday, July 19th, 2:00 PM, lineup at 12:30 PM, Byron Intermediate School)
Olmsted County Fair (Tuesday, July 28th to Sunday August 2nd, 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM) Commercial Building-We’ll share a booth with Senate District 25 DFL
Chatfield Western Days Parade (August 8th, 2026, 1 PM, in partnership with Fillmore County DFL).

Check our website (olmsted2024dfl.com) for details for parades and the fair as we get them. We need volunteers to staff our fair booth. Volunteer for a slot via our Sign-Up Genius. We welcome marchers at all the parades. You don’t need to sign up for these. Just show up.

FDR Day Dinner

The 2026 FDR Day Dinner, the principal fundraiser for Olmsted 20/24 and Senate District 25 DFLs, will be Sunday, August 30 starting at 4 PM at the Empire Event Center (1517 16th St, SW, Rochester). Auditor Julie Blaha will be the emcee. We are working on a keynote speaker. We have invited Governor Walz and all our endorsed statewide candidates along with DFL party leaders. We will hear from our Congressional candidate and state legislative candidates. Tickets are $85 with a PCR refund of $50 or $110 with a PCR refund of $75. There is a VIP event at the Empire Center before the main event for an additional $50. For more information, check the website at https://secure.actblue.com/donate26fdr

Early Voting for the Primary Election Begins June 26th!

If you asked to have an absentee ballot mailed to you for the primary election or are on the permanent absentee ballot list, it should arrive later this month. Starting on June 26, you can go to the Olmsted County Elections Office (2122 Campus Dr SE, Suite 300) from 8 AM- 5 PM Monday-Friday to apply for an absentee ballot, then fill it out and return it there. Starting on July 24, you can vote early at the Elections Office during business hours. There will be some weekend hours and an additional site for voting early. These will be announced later and we will post these on the website

Summarizing the 2026 Session of the Minnesota Legislature

A lot didn’t happen during the 2026 session because of the tie between DFLers and Republicans in the House and a ONE vote DFL majority in the Senate, but a bonding bill to support projects across the state passed, as did a bunch of anti-fraud bills including one to create an Inspector General’s office. While a good gun safety bill passed the Senate, the Republican House speaker kept it from being heard or voted on in the House. At the last minute, a bill to save Hennepin County Medical Center from going bankrupt passed. There were some small (and sometimes temporary) tax or fee cuts. Some money will go for emergency rental assistance and rehabbing public housing. Several consumer protection bills passed, notably one banning prediction markets in Minnesota.

June 2026 Newsletter