The 3rd Congressional District Republicans are gathering volunteers to do the critical work of turning out conservative votes in the Primary Election. If you are willing to make phone calls from the comfort of your home, you can help ensure that our Republican-endorsed and Republican-recommended candidates secure places on the November ballot. At the same time, you will contribute to the effort of other CD3 volunteers to secure the $2,500 that the Republican Party of Minnesota has established as an incentive. It will go to the CD that organizes volunteers to make the most calls for the Primary. 

Each CD has been assigned a Group and call lists in Red Dialer, the phone App that makes this easy for volunteers to call from home.  Only calls made by users on those assigned Groups and lists will count towards earning the incentive for our District. 

If you already have a Red Dialer account, please contact MNGOP Data Director Will ([email protected]) to be added to our CD3 Group. 
All who are willing to volunteer: Please contact your Senate District Chair or CD3 Chair Randy Sutter ([email protected]).

Let’s harness the power of teamwork to make a difference in the Primary results!

“…we just didn’t legalize marijuana, did we?” – MN Senator James Abeler, on the passage of the law which legalized selling THC.
“"Oh, are you kidding? Of course you have. No, just kidding. Next, we'll do that next, OK?" – Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester

Liebling was correct – of course they had legalized selling THC. As reported by NPR, Abeler later admitted to the Star-Tribune he did not in fact realize the new law would allow THC-infused edibles to be sold in Minnesota.

The bill’s author, Rep. Heather Edelson (DFL-Edina), issued a statement which tried to shift the emphasis of the bill from legalizing THC (tetrohydracannabinol, the ingredient in marijuana which produces the high; just "dope" from now on because that’s what it is) to "regulating" the sale of delta-8 THC, a similar substance that was present in hemp. Edelson claimed that delta-8 THC sales (which were and are legal) caused health problems. She said she wanted to regulate the sale of the delta-8 version. “This was an important step to regulate edible THC products that were already being sold throughout the State of Minnesota under a gray area of existing law, which was a result of the 2018 Federal Farm bill and CBD state legislation we passed in 2019.”, Edelson said.

“Hemp” means a marijuana plant historically grown mostly to produce rope. “Marijuana” has come to mean a hemp plant specifically bred to be harvested to make dope. SD50NL can find no sources that discuss the quality of rope made from a marijuana plant, but there is no doubt that there is a lot less dope in a hemp plant than in a marijuana plant.

Edelson admitted her real purpose when she went on to say, “Minnesotans 21 and older will now be able to obtain the products they want in a safe and regulated manner.”

Examination of the legislative history and commercial sales suggests that Edelson and her DFL colleague successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of their GOP colleagues, who have stopped similar measures in the past. The House bill was HF3595; its senate counterpart was SF3716. The final legislation passed not as either bill, but as an amendment to HF 4065.  HF 4065 is a 475-page bill that was ostensibly written to regulate the Minnesota Department of Health and health-related services, with a summary that included a reference to "nonintoxicating hemp regulation".

Was there really a clever plan? Well, HF 4065 was passed on May 22nd, 2022 (see Sensible Change Minnesota twitter ). By 1 July, about 40 days later, when the law came into effect, local suppliers already had nice neat packages for sale – tons of them. The line outside Nothing But Hemp in St. Paul was over an hour long, and continued that way all day.

Edina witnessed one of the largest contingents of Republicans ever to march in its July 4^th Parade.  Drizzly rain leading up to the start meant that Senate District 50 elected to keep the tops up on their convertibles and the inflatable elephant stored away in Carol Kerr’s trunk.  However, the banners were unfurled, and the marchers stepped out with great enthusiasm when the parade kicked off.

Edina’s July 4^th Parade is one of the largest in the southwest Twin Cities area.  In a year of state-wide political elections, the large Republican turn-out was a clear indicator of excitement and support of our candidates. 

A number of candidates marched with Senate District 50.  Lt Gov. candidate Matt Birk, Secretary of State candidate Kim Crockett, 3^rd Congressional District candidate Tom Weiler, Hennepin County Attorney candidate Tad Jude, Hennepin County Sheriff candidate Jai Hansen, SD50 Senate candidate Doug Fulton, and House District 50B candidate Beth Beebe and their volunteers really filled out the ranks of the local Republican marchers. 

In addition, State Auditor candidate Ryan Wilson and 5^th Congressional District candidate Cicely Davis had separate parade units and a number of their own supporters.

US Bank Stadium hosted an estimated 50,000 Muslim worshipers on Saturday, July 9, a record turn-out. Quietly greeting them as they entered the stadium were a number of MNGOP leaders and Republican candidates with staffers. Significantly, the representatives of the Republican Party of Minnesota outnumbered those of the DFL.

The presence of the Republican Party inside and outside US Bank stadium clearly came as a surprise to the DFL. As Faisal Deri, a well-known member of the Somali community, was walking through the stadium on Saturday with a respected Imam, he was asked, “Why did you bring THEM here?” Deri, the chair of the MNGOP’s East African Affiliate, answered, “We ARE them.”

The party also was able to post candidate signs at the exit of the stadium. The signs can be seen at the upper right of the photo above.

Republicans in Minnesota have an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss. Yes, there are some radical elements within the Somali diaspora, but we must not brand the entire community as unworthy of our affiliation. We have been labeled by the DFL as prejudiced; we must demonstrate clearly that we are not. If we reach our hand out now, we will find that there are strong allies willing to take it. And in numbers significant enough to make a difference in the upcoming elections.

Candidates who attended the July 11 Pints & Politics provided insights into their backgrounds and approaches to address the issues of crime/safety and other concerns of local voters.  SD50 Newsletter writer Larry Frost listened as they circulated and answered individual questions, and also as they spoke more formally to the entire group of attendees.

Tad Jude (running for Hennepin County Attorney)

Jai Hanson (Running for Hennepin County Sheriff)

Frank Pafko (candidate for state Senate, District 51 / Richfield, East Bloomington) 

Chad Anderson (candidate for state House of Representatives District 51B/ East Bloomington)

Ryan Wiskerchen (candidate for state House of Representatives District 51A/ Richfield)

Alpha News reports that the state teacher licensing agency is preparing standards which will require teachers to adopt and teach students Marxist ideological principles. 

SD50 Newsletter has compared the fourteen specific claims Alpha News has made to the actual proposed rules and concluded that the Alpha News claims are generally sound, with a few technical exceptions. Unfortunately SD50 Newsletter doesn’t have the space to properly convey how bad these proposed rules are.

It is very difficult to sort out what the bill says because it uses language that means nothing in ordinary English. For example: 

“ ‘Understand “systemic trauma,” including racism and “micro and macro aggressions ‘ [Trauma is presumed to have been inflicted upon victims from the oppressor classes.]portions in [ ] are comment by Alpha news, not quotes from the proposed regulations.

The actual language in the proposed rules is: “ 37.12 The teacher understands the diverse impacts of individual and systemic trauma, such as experiencing homelessness, foster care, incarceration, migration, medical fragility, racism, and micro and macro aggressions, on learning and development and knows how to support students using culturally responsive strategies and resources to address these impacts.” . (The number at the front is the location of the language in the proposed rule.)

In order to make any sense out of this you have to know what a ‘microaggression’ is. It took half an hour to find a definition that seemed to include most of what microaggressions are used for in news stories and on the internet. According to Auburn University  an example of a microaggression is “When Blacks are told that “I don’t see color” or “We are all human beings,” the effect is to negate their experiences as racial/cultural beings.”

Yes, it is a microaggression to deny that you treat people based on race.

The proposed rules also routinely assume as proven facts assertions which are, at the very least, all debatable, and many of which are flatly untrue.