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DFL candidates for state offices campaign in Marshall

By Deb Gau 4 min read

MARSHALL -- Marshall's Sounds of Summer brought together Democratic political candidates and state officials like Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over the weekend.

On Saturday, Ellison and Zack Filipovich, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate for Minnesota State Auditor, were among the candidates who held meet-and-greets and marched in the Sounds of Summer parade.

Ellison and Filipovich said the chance to meet with Minnesotans out on the street was a positive part of marching in the parade.

"It was awesome to see everybody out there, and I can tell you the spirit was good," Ellison told people gathered at the DFL campaign headquarters in Marshall after the parade.

In the state auditor's race, Filipovich said he was seeing "a lot of energy across the state" from voters.

Ellison and Filipovich joined area Democratic candidates including Nathan Schmig, who is running for Minnesota House of Representatives in District 15A, Rusty Nelson, who is running in House District 21A, Andrea Boettger, who is running for Minnesota Senate in District 15, and Caitlyn Sanow-Minett, who is running in Senate District 21. While he wasn't able to speak at the campaign office afterward, Democratic Congressional candidate Erik Osberg also marched in the parade.

Ellison spoke to area residents about topics including fighting fraud in Minnesota. Ellison said Republicans were "trying to exploit a very serious issue" and turn it to their political advantage.

"I have prosecuted 370 people, convicted them of Medicaid fraud. We're prosecuting fraud," he told area residents. Meanwhile, Ellison said, Republican legislators had not passed any bills addressing fraud.

"We are in a moment in American history when it is vitally important that we let people know what we stand for, that we believe the rule of law is important, and that everybody including the president has to follow that rule of law," Ellison told area residents. Ellison said he has been part of 73 lawsuits against the Trump administration, on subjects ranging from attacks on birthright citizenship to the suspension of SNAP benefits.

Ellison said he had also sued over the Trump administration's tariffs.

"They have destroyed our farmers' export markets. They have driven up our prices. They have done all these things, and this is all making everything more expensive for everybody else," he said. "Which is why, as your Attorney General, every single day we are fighting to help people afford their lives, by challenging these things in court."

Ellison said the Attorney General's Office is also still pursuing an investigation of the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.

"We have had to go to court to sue the government to give us the information," Ellison said. "They've given us a lot of it. They have not given us all of it, but when they do, we'll complete our investigation."

Filipovich said the connections between local government and the State Auditor’s Office were part of the reason people were energized about the State Auditor race.

"The State Auditor's Office is all about local units of government, and I think people really care about their local government and the communities they live in," he said. "So they're able to see that connection between the Auditor's Office and where they live, and how their local taxes are accountable to them."

Filipovich emphasized his background as an accountant, compared to Republican candidate Scott Jensen.

"Scott, he had a quote that he thinks that the auditor's office is too hung up on numbers," Filipovich said. "I think the auditor should be focused on the numbers. That is quite literally the job of being an auditor, making sure that local tax dollars are going to the right places, so people can be confident in their local units of government."

"I am coming out of the primary, going into this general election confident that people recognize and see the value of competence, especially in this office," he said.

Filipovich said he thought a big upcoming challenge for the State Auditor's Office is dealing with a future shortage of certified public accountants in Minnesota.

"I've been talking about this for a long time. Seventy-five percent of CPAs will be retired in the next five to seven years, and that is going to affect every local community across the state," he said. "The Auditor's Office is in, I think, a unique position to help local units of government weather that storm. It might be through facilitation of shared services. It obviously will be with the guidance that the State Auditor's Office helps provide local units of government as well."

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