Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin visited the Hastings Journal office Tuesday, Feb. 20 to talk about the need for political participation to bridge the growing divide.
Martin was touring southern Minnesota to drum up participation in party caucuses, which were held Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Martin was joined by Jen Fox of Hastings, who is running as the DFL candidate Minnesota House District 41B seat. The seat is currently held by Shane Hudella of Hastings, who announced late last year that he won’t seek re-election.
“The precinct caucus is a great process that we have here in Minnesota. It gives citizens a huge voice within their party, not only on what our party stands for through the introduction of platform leadership and, most importantly, who our party endorses for offices up and down the ballot. Participation is so important, Republican, Democrat, Independent, the system we have here really is the truest form of grassroots democracy where people have a huge say in their party.”
He noted that some big ideas can come out of the community meetings.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but the idea for the Peace Corps actually started at a precinct caucus up in Ely, MN. It was in the 1950s, and it passed all the way down to become a platform position for the DFL party when a young senator from Minnesota named Hubert Humphrey introduced it.”
The Peace Corps movement made it to Washington, D.C. where its existence was passed into law in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy.
“One person can make a difference,” he said.
Martin said he and his counterpart, David Hahn, Republican Party chair, had joint appearances scheduled to urge people to get involved in the process and to turn out to vote in the March 5 Presidential Primary on Super Tuesday.
“This is really critical of course because for people who want to shape the contours of the upcoming presidential race, it’s the first opportunity for people to vote in the presidential contest. There is a contest on both sides. DFL has nine candidates running for our party,” said Martin.
The most prominent on the Democratic side is President Joe Biden. On the Republican side, only former President Donald J. Trump and Nikki Haley remain active on the campaign trail, though the slate of those who quit campaigning over the last several months still have a spot on the ballot.
The Legal Marijuana Now Party also has a slate of candidates for the partisan primary.
While voters might be a little tired of seeing partisan bickering, the election process is a critical component to democracy.
“It’s critical for everyone to get out to vote,” said Fox. “”Everybody knows that. There’s voter fatigue and there’s a little bit of dismissiveness about this election, but it is as critical as any other and people need to get out and get their voices heard.”
With Hudella, a Republican, stepping aside, Martin said the district, which encompasses Hastings, Nininger and Denmark Townships and the southern part of Cottage Grove, is a very important race this year. The seat will be on the ballot in the November presidential election. In District 41A, Republican incumbent Mark Wiens also is not seeking re-election.
“These seats are really ground zero for the DFL in terms of our legislative majority. We believe we have a great shop to flip both seats, of course. Both are open seats, and we feel really positive about our chances. We’ve got great candidates with Lucia Wroblewski and of course Jen Fox here in Hastings, both deeply connected to community, both city councilmembers. We want candidates who are connected to community, who understand the needs of the community and who have already been serving the community in various ways. It wasn’t too long ago when we had Democrats representing both of these areas. We feel like we can win both of these seats back.”
Fox has served on the Hastings City Council since 2020 and will have to forego running for another term to run for the House seat. She’s eager to hit the campaign trail.
“I am very locally focused,” she said. “Being on the city council was my ultimate goal. That’s where I believe the rubber hits the road. That’s where change happens.”
A bigger goal came into focus the last couple years.
“While I’ve been serving, I’ve noticed a disconnect between our needs and what we’re being represented with,” she said. “That goes back to infrastructure, that goes back to bonding and that goes back to clean water with the big PFAS fight right now. We have a lot of big projects that are starting now and happening in the next 10 years. And Hastings is really focused and clear about their vision, and we need help now. I know Cottage Grove is in the same boat. I was talking to their local officials as well. We need somebody who can bring community voices to St. Paul and say his is how you support our district and actually believe in the system and go through the process to help our community succeed.”
Fox said the decision to run came into focus for her.
“I had a lot of visionary, long-winded conversations about this over the last three months before I announced and one of my dear friends who is a mentor looked at me and said, ‘You have a voice. You have a very important voice. Look at what we need in our community right now. How are we going to get it without someone like you making the ask?’ And that really changed my heart. That allowed me to make the decision.”
