MARSHALL — Michelle Fischbach, who announced her candidacy for Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District earlier this month, took a message of support for President Donald Trump to the Lyon County Republican banquet held at Southwest Minnesota State University on Thursday.

Two other candidates hoping to face Democrat Rep. Colin Peterson in the 2020 general election, Noel Collis and Jayesun Sherman, also attended the event. All three preached about the dire consequences of letting the Democrats have the ability dictate national policies.

“I do support the president of the United States and I want to go to Washington and I want to help him and I want to help him secure the borders and I want to help pass reasonable and good immigration policies,” Fischbach, the former lieutenant governor, told the Republicans attending the banquet.

While all three candidates appeared to be united on criticizing Peterson’s record in Congress, Collis took time to question Fischbach’s support for Trump. He said she once sought a lobbying job.

“A lobbying job is not what Republicans and freedom are about,” Collis said in his speech.

But Fischbach repeated her support for Trump throughout her speech, while saying Peterson doesn’t care about our borders.

“He voted to ban the money for the wall. He voted for amnesty for some of those horrible, illegal gang members that are out there like MS-13. He voted against money for border patrol agents. These are things we don’t support,” she said.

Sherman also criticized Peterson’s voting record, saying it was time for change. He also railed against Democratic policies and values.

“I’m disgusted with the patterns we see, especially from the squad — the four — right,” he said, referring to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rep. Rashida Tlab of Michigan.

“We need to put a full stop on this stuff,” he said.

In his speech, Collis also talked about the fear of “losing America.”

“I’m running now because I believe we are one election away from losing America as we found it. I’m running now because I believe we are one election away from losing America as a special country and bastion of freedom,” he said.

Three local state representatives also spoke at the event.

Sen. Gary Dahms of District 16 warned that this upcoming election is going to be very important.

“If any of you watched the presidential debates, the DFL side, it gives you a flavor what’s happening, not only nationally, but also in the state of Minnesota,” Dahms said. “When the Democrats can make some of these really liberal folks that are running look like conservative, we got a problem.

Dahms also warned of the consequences if Democrats capture the Senate and hold onto the House.

“I know this sounds like a real stretch, but folks, this is not a stretch.” he said. “Last year we were able to hold them back (on post-abortion and recreational marijuana). It was a budget year so we were able to keep a lot of the policy on the back burner. This year is a policy and bonding year and it’s going to be hard to keep that on the back burner.”

Rep. Chris Swedzinski, District 16A, also stressed the importance of the upcoming election and also took a jab at U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar who is running for president.

“I was just reading an article about the last Democratic debate that said Amy Klobuchar comes out as a middle of road candidate. And I’m thinking, if Amy Klobuchar is the middle of the road candidate it must be an awfully wide road.

“So we got a lot of work to do folks. We have a lot of friends and neighbors to reach out to. Politics is just like having a conversation around a table. Going to talk about the issues and being real with folks and being respectful. I think this country will need to have some common sense, respectful conversations, whether you are conservative or liberal.”