Political harassment, violence needs to stop

To the editor:

I am hurt to my soul to hear of the killing of Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband in an extreme act of political violence. The threats against me, my family, my property and in one case a threat against my dogs placed in my mailbox came flooding back.

I have been politically active in my district for 20 years and have seen the political discourse become more and more divided over time, but nothing like I experienced when I ran for State Representative for the second time in 2024. I ran on the issues of rural healthcare, child care, housing and education; hardly threat-worth stances.

While most threats were on-line through primarily three local organizations on Facebook, I was spit at multiple times at the Martin County Fair. During a forum in Fairmont with Representatives Olson and Fogelman, we were asked if there were any people on the other side of the aisle we could talk to, and Rep. Olson said there was one person he sometimes said hello to, but Rep Fogleman said no there wasn’t. As if being able to have a conversation across the aisle was a bad thing. At the next forum I explained the threats I was receiving to Rep Olson and to please post something on his Facebook asking for this to stop. He did not. While I am not accusing my representative of condoning violence, he also did nothing to try to stop it. The race I was running in was never going to be close; my district votes 70-percent republican.

I did not ask anyone to put a lawn sign in front of their house as I didn’t want to make them a target, I’ve got a pretty thick skin but seeing a bullet hole through your name still takes your breath away. The harassment stopped immediately after the election and as I write this, I know I’m leaving myself and my family open again. There are extremists everywhere, a few members of my district were at the Jan. 6 riots, and we don’t know what sets them to further extremes. I’m sick of giving people a break or trying to figure out their motivations. This behavior needs to stop and good people who witness it need to say something.

This was my experience running for office.

Marisa Ulmen

Madelia