ABOVE: State Senate candidate Marisa Ulmen speaks at the Martin County DFL convention in Fairmont on March 28. Congressional candidate Jake Johnson and representatives for Amy Klobuchar and Peggy Flanagan were also present. Submitted photo

FAIRMONT – After February’s caucuses, the Republican and Democratic parties of Martin County sewed up loose ends and heard from candidates at their respective county conventions

The Republican Party held its first on March 7 at the Red Rock Center for the Arts in Fairmont. Co-Chair Rochelle Krusemark said there are plenty of responsibilities necessary for the convention.

“We have a resolutions committee that meets to go through the resolutions submitted at caucus,” she said. “If there are similar ones, you combine them and then compile that list of resolutions. Martin County’s constitution says that we come up with a proposed list of delegates and alternates to serve for the congressional district and state conventions. That committee meets as well and organizes everybody to fulfill all the jobs that are necessary and invite all the candidates to come if they want to speak.”

When all of this went through, there were enough attendees to make a full list of delegates and alternates for both events, over 30 attendees and their guests. Overall, 13 resolutions were presented and all of them were approved to move forward and be voted on at state convention to be added to the MNGOP’s platform.

For speakers, Krusemark said they presented in all forms.

“We told the candidates they could be in person, they could call in, or they could send videos,” she said. “We had all of that happen.”

This included current state representative Bjorn Olson, who is running for re-election, state senate candidate Jeremy Munson and a representative for Brad Finstad. Across their speeches, Krusemark said several things stood out to her.

“The need to restore Minnesota,” she said. “The accountability for this fraud, wasted tax dollars and increased amount of taxation. It resonated across all the candidates.”

With all of this business taken care of, the next step for Martin County Republicans is the First Congressional District Convention, which the 11 delegates will attend on April 11 in Albert Lea. There will also be delegates attending the state convention on May 29 and 30 in Duluth.

On the DFL side, they also worked on identifying all the necessary delegates and compiling the resolutions for discussion and voting at their convention at the Red Rock Center March on 28.

Martin County DFL Chair Karen McConnell said they also passed a majority of their created resolutions, nine, and elected delegates. They also selected seven officers and 12 members for their board of directors, including several new ones.

Overall, McConnell said the Martin County DFL has experienced growth over the past couple of years.

“We’re getting a lot of new people,” she said. “I think two years ago, maybe we had 20 people at the convention. We had maybe 88 there at the Red Rock Center.”

Congressional candidate Jake Johnson and state senate candidate Marisa Ulmen both spoke at the event, as well as representatives for Peggy Flanagan and Amy Klobuchar. McConnell said the candidates touched on a few key issues.

“Affordability is a big issue,” she said. “Marisa is a fifth-generation farmer, so some of the challenges facing our current farmers, in this current situation.”

Looking forward, Martin County DFL has its First Congressional District Convention May 3 at Stewartville High School and state convention May 29-31 at the convention center in Rochester.