The Minnesota DFL will elect a new party leader at the end of March following chairman Ken Martin’s move to the national stage in February.
Richard Carlbom, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Tim Walz, has emerged as a top candidate for the role, which will be filled in an election on March 29, according to the DFL. During the State Central Committee Business Conference at Edina High School, members of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer-Labor Party are set to elect several internal DFL party positions, including chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer.
Carlbom told Forum News last week that after Martin was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee on Feb. 1, people started reaching out to him, encouraging him to step into the state party role.
“I made a commitment to Gov. Walz to serve four years as his deputy chief of staff,” Carlbom said. “And so initially, I just kind of said to folks, ‘Probably not in the cards for me. I made a commitment. I want to follow through on that commitment.’ ”
But Carlbom said after several conversations with family, he realized he could be of service to the party by running. He decided to throw his hat into the ring, with an endorsement from Walz backing his bid.
Carlbom started as a college Democrat at St. John’s University and worked on the 2002 campaign for the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone. In 2004, he was elected mayor of St. Joseph, where he served two terms.
Carlbom began working for Walz’s U.S. House reelection campaign in 2008 before moving on to head the successful “Minnesota United for All Families” campaign against a Republican-backed 2012 constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.
Reflecting on November’s general election, when Democrats lost the presidency and three blue seats flipped red in the Minnesota House, Carlbom said Democrats first and foremost need to begin organizing earlier, but also need to be more “curious” rather than telling voters what to think.
“Democrats need to acknowledge that voters have begun to think about us as people who tell them what to think, rather than being curious about what they’re facing,” he said. “We have to demonstrate that that curiosity means that we want to understand, ultimately, how we can be partners with voters and improve the lives of Minnesotans.”
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