2nd District Democrats to hold forums
DFL leaders in Minnesota’s 2
nd
Congressional District have announced a series of candidate forums leading up to the state’s precinct caucuses on March 1.
Candidates Angie Craig, Mary Lawrence and Roger Kittelson
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are scheduled
were invited to participate in five events. The first forum will be Saturday in Prior Lake. The other DFL forums are Jan. 10 in Hastings, Jan. 24 in Burnsville, Jan. 31 in West St. Paul and Feb. 21 in Northfield.
The wide-open 2nd District contest has been getting a lot of attention since incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John Kline announced he won’t run for re-election. The GOP candidates are David Gerson, John Howe, Jason Lewis, Pam Myhra and David Benson-Staebler.
CD2 DFL Chair Susan Moravec said the series of forums took several months to organize. She said the candidates will make opening and closing statements, answer audience questions, but they will not directly debate each other.
Moravec said the party has three strong candidates and interest in the race is high.
“We’re not king or queen makers,” Moravec said. “We really want to help the process, where potential delegates are able to see the candidates, talk with them, meet them, ask questions and decide for themselves who they want to support.”
Second District Democrats will endorse a congressional candidate April 30. Moravec said Craig and Kittelson have agreed to abide by the endorsement.
The University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs is hosting two 2nd District events in the coming weeks. The DFL candidates are scheduled for a discussion on Jan. 19. The Republican candidates are scheduled for Jan. 21.
UPDATE
Mark Warren, campaign manager for Mary Lawrence, said they have not yet confirmed her participation in the Jan. 9 or Jan. 10 DFL forums. He said the campaign is still trying to work out scheduling conflicts for those dates.