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Are you tired of the current political climate in our state and across the country?  Are you tired of rising prices of gas and goods at the grocery store? Are you disgusted by the uptick of senseless violence in our communities?  Do you feel like your voice has been ignored by your local school board? Are you annoyed by the lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine requirements pushed across the state by Gov. Walz and his DFL allies the last two years?  If you are nodding your head to any of these, you should get involved in your local Republican Party by attending caucus!  

Minnesota’s biyearly caucus is coming up next week on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. A caucus is the start of the political process where anyone that will be of voting age before the election can make their voice heard in deciding who the 2022 candidates will be and the values we as a party represent. At caucus, you will do four main things:  Vote in the 2022 gubernatorial straw poll, elect delegates to represent your precinct (neighborhood) at the local county convention and legislative endorsing conventions, discuss resolutions on changes you’d like to see to the party platform and hear from candidates for office.  

Besides our great local elected officials like Rep. Peggy Bennett, Sen. Gene Dornink and Congressman Jim Hagedorn, you’ll hear from statewide candidates who will be voted on by the delegates elected at the local county convention. You will hear from candidates running to replace Tim Walz as governor like Sen. Michelle Benson, former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, former Sen. Dr. Scott Jensen and former CD3 candidate Kendall Qualls. You will also hear from other statewide candidates like Doug Wardlow running to defeat our radical attorney general, Keith Ellison, and Kelly Jahner-Byrne, who’s running for secretary of state.

I’ve been attending caucus here in Freeborn County for the last 10 years since I was a junior in high school because I wanted to make a difference not only in our community, but across the state and the country. Over the last two years, I’ve been impressed to see a lot of young people in our area and across the state come out of the woodwork to express their frustrations with Gov. Walz and the Biden administration. Now is the time to act on it! I can attest to the fact that there’s a lot of toxic people in politics, but the Republican Party (and the DFL, too) is only as good as the people that step up to get involved. Both parties are at their best when regular people like you and me are at the table to bring common sense. I hope you’ll join me at the Freeborn County Republican Caucus on Feb. 1 at Southwest Middle School in Albert Lea. If you’re not sure what precinct you live in, go to https://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ for your caucus information.

Spencer Krier

Glenville