Local party conventions to go virtual

MANKATO — With the November election less than seven months away, Minnesota’s political parties are looking to conduct their endorsements and party business online.

Local DFL delegates will vote via online ballot over a 10-day period starting Saturday on endorsements and platform resolutions. In District 19B, DFLers will vote to endorse one of three candidates vying to replace retiring Rep. Jack Considine, DFL-Mankato, in the Minnesota Legislature.

“The process needs to move forward,” said Jim Hepworth, chair of the 1st Congressional District DFL.

Hepworth said delegates and alternates elected at precinct caucuses on Feb. 25 are all eligible to vote.

This is the first time political parties will conduct conventions online. The changes come as Minnesota continues a stay-at-home order due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.

It appears both the DFL and GOP will conduct their state conventions online as well. State GOP chair Jennifer Carnahan told Minnesota Public Radio News Tuesday the Republican state convention in May will switch online; Hepworth said Monday he expects to hear similar news from the state DFL party over the next week or so, as the DFL convention is also set for next month.

Area Republicans have already held smaller party conventions through Zoom, where participants use a voting system within a call to decide endorsements and platform ideas.

“We can all hear each other where you can ask a question or make an objection where you can raise your hand, the chair unmutes you and everybody’s able to speak,” said Willa Dailey, former Blue Earth County GOP chair and a state GOP convention delegate this year.

Dailey said hosting Zoom meetings feels similar to in-person conventions. She also said she would be interested to hear how the state GOP plans to hold an online convention, as things could get complicated if more than 2,000 people try to participate in a Zoom call.

Still, she said, the meetings seem to work well for local officials.

“It’s really interesting,” she said. “We’ve done over 80 of our local operating conventions using Zoom.”

Republicans will hold legislative district conventions over the next few weeks, followed by congressional district conventions at the beginning of May and the state GOP convention a few weeks after that. The Minnesota Republican party convention was initially set for May 15.

Area Democrats will have the chance to endorse one of three potential legislators this year — Luke Frederick, Jameel Haque and Jason Mattick. The three are vying for Considine’s seat, which represents most of Mankato, Eagle Lake, Skyline and Mankato Township.

Frederick is a Mankato resident who works at the Minnesota Security Hospital. He has held elected offices with the AFSCME Local 404 union for more than five years.

Haque is a history professor and director of the Kessel Peace Institute at Minnesota State University. He has volunteered with the Greater Mankato Diversity Council and has given lectures on inter-community relationships in the past.

Mattick is a former Mankato City Council member and an active DFLer who has also served on the Mankato Planning Commission and the Living Earth Center board of directors. He works as a copywriter.

Considine’s seat is considered a safe lock for Democrats.

Also on the DFL ballot is an endorsement for Dan Feehan of North Mankato to run against Rep. Jim Hagedorn, of Blue Earth, for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District seat in Congress.

Hagedorn narrowly beat Feehan in 2018 by about 1,300 votes, which makes their upcoming race one of the most-watched political contests in the U.S. this fall as Democrats and Republicans jockey for control of the House and Senate.