Brainerd Dispatch: State DFL chair meets with Brainerd residents, party-endorsed Slipy

BRAINERD — Listening, learning and leading is the plan for Richard Carlbom, newly elected chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as he works to strengthen the party throughout the state.

After being elected by the State Central Committee on March 29, Carlbom kicked off a statewide listening tour with a trip to Brainerd Tuesday, April 1.

“I’m going to listen to you, I’ll learn from you, and hopefully we can lead together in this moment,” Carlbom said to a crowd of more than 50 people at the Crow Wing County DFL headquarters.

With an upcoming special election for the vacant District 6 Senate seat, Carlbom said Brainerd was a great place to start his tour, adding Greater Minnesota is where the DFL needs to start rebuilding its party.

That rebuilding will happen, he said, through organization, boots-on-the-ground efforts and a focus on listening to the issues facing voters instead of telling them what to think.

“I know Minnesotans are facing a lot, and it’s up to us as Democrats to really think carefully about how to be good listeners so that through listening, they feel heard and seen,” he said.

Upon asking those gathered what issues are facing residents in the Brainerd lakes area, Carlbom heard concerns about housing, jobs, child care education, economic stability and health care. With a lot of frustration expressed at current state and federal Republican leaders, Carlbom expressed his gratitude for the multitude of lawsuits Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed against the Trump Administration.

There were concerns about whether all the federal cuts made in recent months will have any impact on local taxes or if municipalities will have to make them up themselves, while relying on fewer federal government services.

Carlbom said his goal, particularly for the Senate District 6 election, is to activate as many Democrat voters as possible while also targeting independents who might be concerned or conflicted about the current state of politics, promising to listen to voters and work on alleviating the pain they might be feeling after recent federal cuts and executive orders.

“I don’t want any of us to feel like we can look voters in the eye and promise them that we have an answer to all because we don’t. We just simply don’t,” Carlbom said. “... It’s that deep, and it’s that painful, and so we have to be honest about it.”

The answer local DFL party members do have to the open Senate seat, though, is Denise Slipy.

After four DFL candidates filed for the seat recently vacated by Justin Eichorn, Slipy earned the party endorsement. Emily LeClaire, Nicky Hardy and Samuel Grigsby withdrew their names from the race as of Wednesday, April 2, automatically propelling Slipy on to the April 29 general election without the need for a DFL primary.

The primary election is set for April 15, with eight Republican candidates on the ballot — Steve Cotariu, Doug Kern, John Howe, Keri Heintzeman, Jennifer Carnahan, Angel Zierden, Josh Gazelka and Matthew Zinda.

A Breezy Point resident, Slipy comes from a public safety background, having served as a volunteer firefighter, first responder, corrections officer and reserve officer. She is now an environmental health and safety professional, teaching and consulting with companies on Occupational Safety and Health Administrative regulations, as well as a first responder in Zone 3 in Crow Wing County.

Originally from rural Indiana, she has lived in the lakes area for the past six years, and through her work with various DFL candidates and the Crow Wing County DFL over the years, she believes she knows what voters want.

“They tell me what they want,” she said after Tuesday’s town hall. “And so I’m bringing a practical approach back to politics, which is being the voice of the people, not the voice of the party.”

Budgeting, economic development, promoting small businesses and fighting for children and education, she said, are among her top priorities if elected to the Senate seat. She feels she is a moderate who brings a common sense approach to politics, and noted she has close friends on all ends of the political spectrum.

“Once we take the politic side out of things, there’s more that unites us than divides us,” Slipy said.