Senate District 49 held its 2021 convention on Saturday, February 20, as a remote meeting. Eighty-three (83) delegates and alternates registered, and 72 signed-in to participate. All who participated were able to vote during the convention.

Co-Chair Russ Burnison convened the convention shortly after 10 am. Louis Tiggas (pictued at left) once again chaired the meeting and kept the proceedings on track through its completion just after 1 pm.

Doug Wardlow joined the convention by video. He has officially declared as a Republican candidate to run against Keith Ellison for MN Attorney General in 2022. Sen. Mark Koran, candidate for MNGOP Chair, also appeared via Zoom. Joel Quinnell spoke on behalf of the current MNGOP Chair, Jennifer Carnahan, who is running for re-election.

Key business at the convention was the election of the SD49 Executive Committee officers and State Central Committee delegates and alternates. Congratulations to:

• Russ Burnison and Joel Quinnell (Co-chairs)
• Louis Tiggas (Treasurer)
• Leah Hollenbeck (Secretary)
• Randy Sutter (Communications Chair)
• Louis Dennard, Lynn Hovde, Dennis Hogan, Anna Lima, and Sarah Patzloff (HD49A Vice Chairs)
• Jim Bowen (pictured at right), Steve Curry, Lane Hersey, Julia Tate, and Pam Tucholke (HD49B Vice Chairs)
• Russ Burnison, Louis Dennard, Joel Quinnell, and Randy Sutter (State Central Delegates)
• Michael Barg, Carol Brumwell, Molly Cronin, Larry Frost, Carol Kerr, John Metil, Marty Probst, Vince Riehm, Shirley Schaff, Louis Tiggas, and Wayne Wenger (State Central Alternates)

The Executive Committee officers were elected to one-year terms this year, given the redistricting that is expected to occur by the start of 2022. State Central Committee delegates and alternates will serve two-year terms.

The convention went smoothly due to the dedicated efforts of a few volunteers, who perfected their game through two dry runs and the formal convention. Thanks go to Michael Barg, Jim Bowen, Carol Brumwell, Russ Burnison, Louis Dennard, Joel Quinnell, Vince Riehm (pictured at right), Randy Sutter, Julia Tate, Louis Tiggas, Pam Tucholke (pictured at right), and a couple dozen volunteers who called in as mock delegates and alternates.

Special thanks go out to Sam Adjei (pictured at left), a Republican from Chaska, who developed the software application that we used for registration, credentialing, and voting. SD49 was the first formal use of CVote, and it went so well that several Congressional Districts have asked to use the software for their future conventions.

Photo credits: Barb Sutter