ABOVE: Marisa Ulmen, who is running for Minnesota House of Representatives District 22A, speaks to a gathering Monday evening at the Martin County DFL Picnic at Gomsrud Park in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– On Monday evening the Martin County Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party gathered at Gomsrud Park in Fairmont for a family-style potluck picnic and to hear from local candidates running in the 2024 election.

This was just the second year in recent years that the Martin County DFL has put on a picnic but chairman Karen McConnell said they are already planning the next one as she would like to keep up with it consistently in election years.

McConnell brought a sign up sheet to gather contact information for the roughly two dozen people present so that she can everyone in the loop on upcoming local events.

“My goal is to let people know that yes, there is a Democratic party in Martin County. There’s 3,000 people who vote with us in Martin County in almost every election,” McConnell said.

She asked those present to consider signing up to volunteer at the booth at the upcoming Martin County Fair as well.

The first person to speak was Jon Wilson, who is running for Minnesota House of Representatives District 21B, which, since redistricting, covers Trimont and the four northwestern townships of Martin County.

Wilson, who is originally from the area and is a 1990 graduate of Fairmont High School, currently serves as Mayor of St. James.

Wilson detailed some of his education and work experience, which included graduating from Grand View College with a political science degree. After working some odd jobs including selling cars in Fairmont, Wilson went back to school to earn his teaching degree. He actually served on the Fairmont School Board from 2000 to 2005 before moving to Mound for a teaching job.

“Then luckily I found a teaching job in St. James and that’s where I’ve been the last 18 years teaching government and history for the most part,” Wilson said.

In addition to teaching, he does some baseball and football coaching and in 2022 he decided to run for mayor of St. James and won as a write-in candidate with over 60 percent of the votes.

Wilson shared that he was compelled to run after meeting his opponent, incumbent Representative Marj Fogelman (R), and feeling disappointed with her representation.

“I’ve done a lot of things in the last year and a half in St. James for our town and I’m hoping to do that basically for everyone else in the state of Minnesota,” Wilson said.

Marisa Ulmen, who is running against incumbent Representative Bjorn Olson (R) for the Minnesota House of Representatives District 22A seat, was also present. Ulmen was born and raised in Madelia and after moving away for a time, she returned and put down roots in 2006.

“I’m a fifth generation farmer…. we also have a small business. We own a feed mill, raise livestock and farm,” Ulmen said.

She shared that she is the only farmer running as a Democrat this year in the entire state of Minnesota.

In speaking of what she wants to change, Ulmen said she would like to help small farmers have access to markets.

“That’s why we’re seeing so many small farmers get out of the business– we’re losing 500 farm families in Minnesota every year. We’re not losing the acreage, we’re losing the families who used to live on those farms and we’re seeing those farm places bulldozed over so a farmer can have another five acres of land,” Ulmen said.

Looking at the bigger picture, Ulmen said it’s an issue because as those families leave small towns, the school districts lose students and the businesses lose revenue with the absence of people.

“This is how we end up with a town of about 1,000 people like Truman that doesn’t have a grocery store,” Ulmen said.

She gave advice to those present who may be looking for a talking point with their friends or neighbors and brought up the new Free School Meals bill that went into law last year in Minnesota.

“I was one of those kids growing up on free and reduced lunch and I had a lunch ticket that was a different color… no kid is ever going to have to go through that in Minnesota again and that’s because of Democrats– you can’t be against that,” Ulmen said.

In closing, Ulmen said that Democrats have always been pretty quiet but that she thinks they have a lot to be proud of and she encouraged those present to engage in conversation and to vote.

She and McConnell also spoke about the importance of getting involved and taking part in events such as local parades.

“I ran two years ago… and in the Madelia parade we had five walkers. This last cycle in Madelia we had 25, 28 walkers and they were loud,” Ulmen said. “People are tired of being the quiet Democrats on the side.”

As more general conversation about the upcoming election began, McConnell offered some words of encouragement.

“You need to turn your worry into work and as Julie Blaha, our great auditor said, you have to start local. You can’t start these discussions at the top of the ticket. Find out what your neighbors care about– that’s a local issue and talk to them about how Jon and Marisa are the ones who can deal with those issues,” McConnell said.

While Rachel Bohman was unable to attend, a representative was there on her behalf with yard signs. Bohman is running as a Democrat in Minnesota’s First Congressional District, which covers much of southern Minnesota. She is running against Rep. Brad Finstad (R), who has been in office since August 2022. Finstad took over after Rep. Jim Hagedorn died in office.