Update from Wadena, MN
The work is the reward
Thanks to Alexandria Area Indivisible for inviting me to a meet-the-candidate forum this past week!
The work is the reward
If you are opening this email on Monday, March 9th, we have been campaigning for 363 days. I believe it is fair to say we haven’t had very many days off since. That is what it is going to take to flip Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District: HARD WORK.
When we started this quest, there were over 600 days till Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, 2026. Now, the 2026 midterms are only 239 days away. I believe we’ve made the most of our opportunities and put ourselves right where we want to be. The DFL Endorsement is within sight. We’ve spent the past few weeks focusing much of our effort on the County Conventions with an “all hands on deck” approach, and we believe that hard work is paying off. 16 of the 36 County/Senate District conventions are in the books. 61 of the 143 local unit delegates for the CD7 & state conventions have been selected. Resolutions are advancing, and local leadership has been elected for the next couple years.
As a Team we are focused, organized & energized. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but we have lots of mottos on this Team. “The work is the reward” is one I’ve been using a lot lately. It is about having an “I get to” mentality rather than an “I have to” one. Below is a look back at some of the work we GOT TO do over the past week, as well as a look forward. Forever grateful for all the support. Keep up the good work!
March 7 DFL Conventions
Started another busy day of conventions last Saturday in Litchfield at the Meeker County convention. There were 33 delegates on hand. I was able to address the convention and share this campaign’s vision for flipping CD7 in November. A cornerstone of this campaign is “with liberty and justice for all,” so of course I had to get a photo with Lady Liberty (aka delegate Cheyenne Tolzmann). HUGE thanks to Alissa & Andy Evenson for all the hard work they’ve put into this campaign & representing us at their home convention.
Scenes from March 7 Conventions in Meeker & Cottonwood Counties.
Team member Dan Peterson represented the campaign at the Cottonwood County convention with a crew of volunteers. Huge thanks to team members Dan Skogen & Chris Radel for holding down the fort for us at the Chippewa County convention. It’s humbling to see others putting in the work on our behalf.
Team Erik at Cottonwood Co., Stearn SD12, and Chippewa Co. conventions.
From Litchfield, I boogied up to Sauk Centre for the Stearns County Convention. Once again, Team Osberg was in solid form. Huge thanks to Ellen, Neil, Jim, Evan & Jena for representing the campaign.
Scenes from Cottonwood Co., Stearns SD12, & Meeker Co. Conventions.
Kudos to leadership, delegates & guests on another very well-organized & executed convention weekend. It was a big weekend for this campaign in our quest to earn the DFL endorsement at the CD7 convention in April. We pledge to keep our foot on the gas pedal as we look ahead to the 7 conventions coming up between now and next Saturday, March 14th, and then another 6 on March 21st – see the schedule below for more details. Huge thanks to our team who keep showing up and showing out all across the district without complaint. As I said above, the work is the reward, but it’s also rewarding to see almost a year of work coming together at the right time.
CD7 DFL Convention schedule through March 21st.
Serve the people, not corporations
Our promise to you: this campaign believes we need to end Citizens United and we will not accept corporate PAC money. We are proud to say that 100% of our fundraising has come from individual donors. Our aim is to serve the PEOPLE, not corporations. Click here to view the full statement, taken from remarks at the Lincoln County convention.
Click here to watch the full statement on ending Citizens United.
One Year Celebration & Delegate Meet-up in Crookston
We’re celebrating all the hard work being done across CD7 & in this campaign – join us!
We’re havin’ a PIZZA PARTY in POLK COUNTY to celebrate 365 days of campaigning. Join us Wednesday, March 11th, at the Crookston Eagles Club from 6:00-8:00pm.
Hard work is being done across Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge all we’ve accomplished together. Pizza will be served starting at 6:00pm, and we might even have a special guest or 2.
All are welcome! If you’re a county delegate/alternate for Polk/Red Lake, Marshall/Pennington & beyond, we’ll also talk more about what to expect at the county conventions.
Alexandria Area Indivisible Meet-the-Candidate Forum
Had a great time last Thursday at the meet-the-candidate forum hosted by Alexandria Area Indivisible. Laid out the case for our campaign and answered questions for pert near 2 hours – in fact, we got through so many questions, people had to start writing more! Huge thanks to AAI co-chairs Cynthia Fuller & Jean Carlson for organizing and Jon Carlson for facilitating.
Thanks to AAI for organizing a meet-the-candidate forum last week.
WE > ME #11 – Evan Mattson
This week, we’re introducing our Volunteer Lead, Evan Mattson. Evan’s top 5 strengths from the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment are: Context, Includer, Belief, Achiever, and Input.
Evan’s hometown is Aurora (St. Louis County), and he currently lives in St. Joseph (Stearns County). He is one of the youngest members of the team and is a recent graduate of Saint John’s University, where he majored in political science. While at Saint John’s, he got to know several other members of our team: Jim Read, who was one of his professors, as well as Pia Lopez and Todd Prieb, who he worked with on a MN State Senate campaign in 2022 as a DFL Fellow. When Jim, Pia, and Todd joined the team this past November, they connected Evan with the campaign, too.
A fun fact about Evan is that he lived at a monastery and prayed with monks in Rwanda for nearly a year. Prior to joining the campaign full-time, Evan worked as a Faculty Resident at St. John’s Preparatory. When he’s not working on the campaign, he enjoys reading, listening to music, playing badminton and pickleball, and watching his favorite television show, The Mandalorian.
One of the reasons Evan is so excited about working on this campaign is that it gives him the opportunity to organize new DFL voters in the rural areas of Minnesota – and he’s done a LOT of that over the past 3.5 months all throughout CD7. He’s taken over managing the campaign Mobilize page, helping send out event emails, assisting with caucus & convention preparation, and organizing volunteers to help with events. Evan has quickly made himself an invaluable member of the team, and we are so grateful for his efforts since joining the campaign.
Team Erik’s Volunteer Lead, Evan Mattson.
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