Braxton Seifert off and running in political career at age 21
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Took a detour off of Main Street and headed down Highway 23 to Russell this week to check out the 130th annual Election Day Dinner at Grace First Parish church on Tuesday evening.
Think about that for a second. For 130 years, the parish has hosted a dinner for voters.
I was there for some Election Day photos. This was my first time at this event and I was not only amazed by the number of people who showed up for the dinner, but the number of volunteers who worked in several rooms in the church to prepare and serve in-house meals and take-out.
And luck would have it that I spotted Minnesota District 15 Senate candidate Braxton Seifert sitting at one of the tables with his dad, former state representative Marty Seifert.
I asked if I could join them and ask a few questions while they enjoyed their turkey dinner. It was only 5 p.m., so polls were still open. I believe Braxton had a pretty good feeling he would be victorious over his opponent Andrea Boettger, but results wouldn't be available for hours. But I wanted find out what it was like to complete his first election campaign as a 21-year-old candidate. And also get Marty's perspective as a former candidate and helping his son with his campaign many year after his last campaign.
I asked Marty what was his reaction when his son told him he was running for state senator?
"Are you sure you know what you’re getting into? But the answer is yes because I did it," he said.
Of course, we all now know Braxton officially won the race with 66% of the votes in a dominate Republican district. Braxton, however, stressed he took nothing for granted during his campaign.
"I feel really good. You know, I’ve been to all 50 cities in the district, door knocked at 1,000 homes. Been to all of the parades in the district, and you know, dotted our i's and crossed our t's with all of the marketing pieces that you can do," Braxton said. "And from what I’ve heard on the streets, our message is resonating: bringing affordability to Minnesotans, ending the fraud, you know, supporting equality education, and looking at the next generation where they can look at Minnesota and be proud of their state."
Marty pointed out his son's campaign went full circle from meeting the mayor of Russell, Hilary Buchert, at the beginning in the spring and seeing her again at the dinner.
"We had our jackets and raincoats on because it was May showers, and I was in November the same way," Braxton said. "But it’s been really fun. It’s been educating. One of my favorite things that I’ve done is touring all 50 cities in the district. I’ve asked the mayors or the clerks -- and lots of times they’ve been around for long periods of time -- what’s one fun fact or interesting thing about your community? You know it ranges from Echo has the only cooperative funeral home service, to Redwood Falls has no street assessments, to Revere had the oldest firefighter -- and it was a lady who was 91, oldest on record. You you bring in those fun things into the campaign, and it makes it more joyful."
It was interesting to hear Marty share his perspectives on campaigning today compared to when he ran in the 1990s.
"I'm amazed by the changes. I ran 30 years ago in my 20s. I mean, we didn’t have Facebook, Instagram, Roku TV stream ads. We didn’t have social media at all," he said. Texting was barely a thing. We played Snake (video game) on our flip phone if we had one at all. I didn’t have my first cell phone until the year 2000. I ran in 1996. My district was carried by Bill Clinton, and David Minge was our DFL congressman."
Marty spoke like a proud father looking back at Braxton's run for Minnesota State senate.
"He’s been running 100 mph. Just, we’ve got to earn every vote. And a lot of people are like, well, the district leads Republican anyway. But you know I’ve always felt we need to earn every vote. It doesn’t matter what what letter is after your name," he said.
I came away with impression Marty gave his son a lot of good fatherly advice. Among all the marketing options available today, Marty said mailers still work.
"I say there’s one thing that’s guaranteed is that every day or every other day you’re gonna walk down the end of your driveway and pick your mail up. They may not have the radio on. They may not, no offense, they may not read the newspaper. They may not be scrolling through Facebook. But they’re gonna go down and they’re gonna check their mail," Marty said.
I know firsthand Braxton was very aggressive with his marketing. He ran ads in the Independent print and on its website. I noticed his Facebook ads and his dad pointed out he did a lot more than that. But he pointed out hitting the concrete to meet the people where they lived was key.
"And then touching them in person at parades and community events and door-to-door door knocking. We were door knocking in the north side of Marshall and a Somali gal said, ‘nobody has asked for my vote this year. You got my vote because you guys actually care enough to come to my door.’ that’s a big deal."
Braxton said he understood that "people want to know that they're at least being heard and understood.”
"Because at the end of the day, we’re going to wake up tomorrow. We cast our partisan ballot today, but tomorrow we’re all Minnesotans. We’re looking to the future of our state and the direction it’s going to be taken, and we want to know that we’re in good hands. And by touching the voters and understanding them, it helps to know that there’s comfort. Because my job isn’t to represent, should I be elected, the Republicans, or isn’t supposed to be to represent the people that voted for me. It’s to represent everyone in Senate District 15. And that’s what I’m really focused on. That’s why I’ve you know been at events like this and been around the district because I want to know you know what people are feeling whether Republican or Democrat,” Braxton said.
I found all what they said interesting. We all know what happened on Tuesday -- Republicans overall did poorly. Some of the losses were blamed on the quality of the candidates. From all the news accounts I took in, it seemed the winning candidates talked about affordability.
However, both Braxton and Marty believe fraud was an important issue as they talked with voters in the district.
"You always have people that have their one-off issues. I’m a farmer. I care about farming. I’m a teacher. I care about education. I’m a nurse. I care about health care. You have your parochial issues too. But, fraud definitely. Cost of living definitely. All all important things," Marty said.
Neither felt President Donald Trump played significantly in the campaign. He said voters were willing support candidates who take the time to listen. As media person, my perspective is that many politicians lose support from their constituents because they stopped to take the time to listen. Or answer questions directed to them from the media and hold town halls.
"The UPS man dropped a package off and he said, 'You and Michele Tafoya are the only Republicans I’m voting for. You knocked on my door, and Michele Tafoya is a normal person.' And they’re voting Democrat for everyone else," Braxton said.
I asked Braxton what was his biggest surprise after campaigning for months.
"It’s hard to say if there’s one thing that surprises me the most. But the biggest takeaway that I have is the importance of the individual. Every single person in the district has their own story, has their own upbringing, and it makes them look at issues at a different perspective. So whether I’m talking about gas tax or fraud or affordability, sometimes you have to give the message differently based on the individual person, and that everybody’s different. But really understanding people and the way they think and the way they make decisions has been very helpful along the ride. But you know, by and large, I would just say you know the biggest thing that surprised me is the love of this state and how people find it unrecognizable. That’s been kind of the biggest surprise to me is how much people have seen the state shift just in the last 10, 15 years,” he said.
Marty interjected and said fraud wasn't a thing 30 years ago.
"People have been taken advantage of," he said.
Marty was 24 years old when he was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. His son is 21 years old and off and running in his own political career. Marty pointed out that his son might be the youngest representative in the U.S.
Now that the parades and door knocking is over, what's next?
"I'm looking forward to being able to get stuff done even if in the minority," Braxton said.
And maybe get some rest?
"I open the bank Wednesday," he said. "Three people short at the bank, customers still need help."
At the beginning of my interview, Marty said he was proud of his son's work ethic. Of course. He's a southwest Minnesotan. We're known for our work ethic.
That's an ingredient that may result in a long, successful political career.
We'll be watching.