We had about twelve hundred folks in Rochester last weekend. More than half were there for their first state convention. That really hit me, right from the start. The room was younger than I expected, and people came from all sorts of backgrounds and hometowns. It wasn't just about age. It felt good seeing so many from small towns, farms, and rural communities stepping up to be heard. That sticks with you. Here's how I voted, and why.
First up was the governor ballot: Amy Klobuchar against Kobey Layne. Layne ran a real campaign. Her ideas lined up with a lot of what our party stands for. She got 27 percent of the room, which tells you her message landed with plenty of folks, myself included, but I voted for Senator Klobuchar. Every time I look at a race this year, I ask myself, who gives us the best shot at holding back a GOP that's targeting rural Minnesota? I don't just mean city people, but those of us in small towns and out on the gravel roads too. Amy's record is clear. She stands up for working people, family farmers, rural health care, and small businesses. She's not afraid of a tough fight, and she knows what our communities are up against. Klobuchar's name means something here. She's proven she can bring people together and win. That's who I want leading the ticket.
For lieutenant governor, I voted for Ben Schierer. Ben and I talked a few weeks back, when he was still running for state auditor, and that conversation stuck with me. Ben listens. He's good at working with folks who might not always agree, and he gets things done. When he was mayor of Fergus Falls, he proved he understands rural Minnesota. He knows what we're up against, but he also sees the opportunities we have if we work together. At West Central Initiative, he's helped bring local leaders together. He's earned trust from all directions, and groups like the League of Minnesota Cities and the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities have noticed. Ben's the kind of person who puts in the work at the table, not just on a stage.
I voted for Peggy Flanagan for the United States Senate. I was proud to vote for the Walz-Flanagan ticket the first time they ran, and every opportunity since. It saddens me to see Governor Walz step away from public office, but I am thrilled to see Peggy continuing to represent Minnesota. Watching her work both as lieutenant governor and in helping Native people like me step into leadership and representation is the kind of work I believe strengthens a state and a nation. She does the work in a good way, with a commitment that comes through in everything she does. She has spent her career as an advocate, and she has exactly the kind of voice this state should be sending to the Senate.
I voted to endorse Keith Ellison for another term as attorney general. His body of work makes the case. I have watched the way he has carried himself in this office, including the testimony he gave to the Senate Homeland Security Committee this February, when he stood up and told Washington that the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota had already gone too far. I have heard him speak in interviews about being the kind of leader who never asked for the role but stepped into it when the moment called for it. The cases that have come through this state under his watch say the same. He earned my vote, and I am glad to have given it.
State auditor was the toughest decision. Adam Jennings, Dan Wolgamott, and Zack Filipovich would all serve Minnesota well. I went with Zack because what set him apart wasn't just his experience. He's humble, and he really cares about serving Minnesotans. He called me, not just asking for a vote, but wanting to talk through how he'd support towns like ours and how the auditor's office could help rural places. Zack wants to partner with local governments, especially in Greater Minnesota. He gets it. That matters to me.
There were many resolutions before us, and the agenda moved quickly. My instinct walking in was to make sure that even if one of the many overlapping resolutions did not pass, we would still have the related substance on the record. So I voted to affirm nearly all of them. The one I could not vote yes on was the assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban.
I want to be careful here, because this kind of vote can be misread in either direction. I'm a firearms owner and a permit-to-carry holder, just like a lot of my neighbors and friends. My perspective on gun policy has changed over time. Living in rural Minnesota does that. Law enforcement is often ten or fifteen minutes away, and sometimes you only have seconds to protect your family, livestock, or property. But I've also seen what gun violence can do, both on the news and in my work as a first responder. That's why I support strong regulation. I voted yes on other measures that go after the real causes of gun violence. But I couldn't vote for this specific ban. Folks deserve an honest explanation, not just silence.
My honest read is that a ban on this category of firearm, as defined in the last legislative session, without a constitutional amendment to back it up, leaves too many comparably lethal weapons in play and asks the courts to do work the legislature can do more durably. The resolution for this DFL platform position passed, and when the bill that delivers on it comes before the Senate, my vote will be with the platform as long as the legislation respects the differences and needs of all our communities. What I want is for that bill to do more than just ban. I want it to do what the evidence, the firearms instructors I trust, and the bipartisan record actually say works.
What works is community violence intervention. The street-level programs in cities that have implemented Cure Violence or Operation Ceasefire have driven down shootings by thirty to seventy percent in the neighborhoods that funded them. What works is universal background checks at every point of sale, which polls above eighty-five percent across party lines. What works is red flag laws that let a family member or a clinician get a firearm out of a home when a person is in acute crisis. Florida passed one after Parkland with a Republican governor's signature, and part of being a responsible gun owner is knowing when you or someone you love needs someone outside yourself to be looking at your firearms. What works is safe-storage requirements that prevent impulsive suicide and the accidents that kill children. What works is training that covers safe handling, because if you want to carry a firearm in public, you absolutely should be qualified to do so. And what works is a tracing framework that lets law enforcement track a firearm back to its last lawful owner when it shows up where it shouldn't, and a clear path for hobbyist gunsmiths to keep doing the work they have been doing for generations. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 passed the United States Senate with fifteen Republican votes. That is the room we are actually in, and that is the work that has the evidence to back it up.
All of that is part of the answer, but the deeper work is on the conditions that drive gun violence in the first place. When people cannot get healthcare before a crisis, when they cannot afford rent, when their work does not pay enough to feed a family, harm becomes the next thing that happens. Until we build that foundation, no rule about what kind of firearm someone can own will close the gap.
With that in mind, I voted no on the resolution. The vote also sits inside a moment that complicates it. The federal administration in office today is using its power to violate the rights of American citizens. Alex Pretti is one name on a list that has gotten longer than any of us should be comfortable with, and at both the federal and state levels, we've had representatives blaming his killing on his constitutional right as well as his commitment to protecting his neighbors. I am not in a position to vote to expand federal authority over what people keep in their homes, while the existing authority is being abused against people who represent the best of us. The Second Amendment is in our Constitution for reasons that still matter. It tells the world that a free people are not easily occupied. It tells governments at every level that the people they answer to have not surrendered the means to refuse. In 1946, World War II veterans returned to Athens, Tennessee, to find that a corrupt machine had seized their county while they were overseas. They took up arms once more to restore their communities' voting rights. That is one example of many in this country's history. I do not believe we are at that point now, but I do not believe in handing over the protection that has prevented us from reaching it.
I'd like to give you all an example that emphasizes the Farmer-Labor views within the DFL. Take the black bears that have been hanging around my homestead lately. When they're destroying my property and confident enough not to be scared off through normal means, I'd reach for an AR-10. That's the heavier-caliber cousin of the rifle you see on cable news. Someone who doesn't have 800lbs or more of bear walking through their front yard regularly may not see a need for these types of firearms, but out here, it's just a tool that works. It's loud enough to make a bear think twice, and if it comes to it, strong enough to stop one. The ban, as written last session, didn't draw a line between that kind of rifle or any other firearm that may be one of the best tools for the jobs we have out in rural Minnesota.
If we're going to talk about safety, we need to listen to people who use these rifles for real reasons. That means protecting livestock, keeping wildlife at bay, or looking out for your family when help is fifteen or twenty minutes away. What we face out here isn't what folks in the metro face. The law ought to respect that difference.
That's why I voted no on the resolution. I get why folks want a fix, and we need one. But how we do it matters, and it has to make sense for every community. No matter how I voted, this isn't just a debate to me. This is real life. I have been the first responder on the scene of what gun violence does. I do not want to see another child pleading for their mother on the way to the trauma center. I do not want anyone to know what that sounds like. The position I hold on this is one I have held long before I filed to run for office. We agree across party lines that this is an epidemic that has to be addressed. The honest conversation about how we get there starts with what drives a person to a gun in the first place. That is the conversation I want to have with everyone. We are after the same thing.
Bringing it home
What I keep thinking about is the room and the work we did. Twelve hundred people gave up a beautiful Minnesota weekend to carefully debate who should represent us and what we should fight for. More than half of us, myself included, had never done this before. We read the resolutions. We thought about our votes. We listened to each other across the floor when we did not understand a position. There was real hope in that room. Not the bumper-sticker kind. The kind you only get from being shoulder to shoulder with people who showed up. For those who took part for the first time, I hope you will stay engaged and keep bringing your voice to the table. Our work is only beginning, and the party grows stronger every time someone steps forward and participates. Whether it is volunteering locally, getting in touch with your neighbors, or simply showing up to the next meeting, there are countless ways to sustain the momentum. I look forward to working alongside you as we continue to build together. I am also grateful to the Hubbard County DFL for sending me to represent our home, and to everyone who put in the work to make the weekend happen. I came home proud to be a DFLer, and proud of the people who make this party what it is.