Record number of members participate in state political conventions

More than 70 MAPE members were in Rochester this past weekend to volunteer and participate in the DFL State Convention. Fifty-seven MAPE members were elected to be delegates and alternates at the nominating convention, one of the largest showings the union has ever had. One member also attended the Republican State Convention in Duluth.    

For the first time in many years, the Political Council launched a campaign to encourage members to attend their political caucuses in February, and nearly 500 members answered the call. “We’re continuing our caucus mission here to take a pro-labor message to statewide candidates,” said Lindsey Franklin, a member of the Political Council and Vice Chair of Team MAPE PAC. Franklin was a volunteer at the DFL convention this year.  

“Caucuses and conventions are where decisions get made that impact our lives – who gets endorsed will set our agency budgets, determine our health care system and make other decisions. We should have a say about who these candidates are and help shape their priorities,” Delegate Andrew Ulasich, former chair of MAPE’s Union Power Project, said.    

“We had 57 delegates and alternatives at the convention. To do that, we needed hundreds of members going to the Senate District Convention to support them. This was a great first execution of this strategy to show up powerfully at conventions,” he added. 

With nearly 60 MAPE members as delegates and alternates at the DFL endorsement convention, “We’re punching above our weight in the number of delegates and alternates at the state convention,” Franklin said.  

“We were the only union to table at the convention, and it went really well. Elected officials came over to our table as did other labor and non-labor organizations including No Data Centers and environmental groups, so we also met some new partners,” she added. 

Ulasich said MAPE brought its labor agenda to the convention, “Along with We Make Minnesota, we brought ‘Tax the Rich’ signs to the convention – a lot of people wanted them. MAPE was able to help shape the narrative: what people want is to invest in the public good and public sector workers, and one way to do this is to make the wealthy pay their fair share.” 

Both Ulasich and Franklin said they hope members who participated in this year’s convention will bring more of their colleagues to the next convention to show the impact MAPE could have. “We represent close to 19,000 state workers. My other hope for two years from now is to get other unions to join us to really bring labor to the center of the process,” Ulasich said. 

“People had a really good experience learning the process and are very excited to see what we’re going to do in the next few years. Now that they know the process they’ll take it back to their locals and explain the process and can help new people – it’s really not scary once you’ve gone through it,” Franklin added. 

The primary election is set for Aug. 11 and the general election will take place Nov. 3. The Team MAPE PAC endorsements are listed here. 

2026 CONVENTION ENDORSEMENTS 

DFL State Convention 

Governor and Lt. Gov: Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Fergus Falls Mayor Ben Schierer 
Attorney General: Keith Ellison, current AG 
Secretary of State: Steve Simon, current Secretary of State 
Auditor: Zack Filipovich, former member of Duluth City Council 
U.S. Senator: Peggy Flanagan, current Lt. Gov.  

Republican State Convention 

Governor: Kendall Qualls, former Army veteran and health care executive 
Attorney General: Ron Schutz, Army veteran, former trial lawyer and chair of the Center for the American Experiment 
Secretary of State: Tad Jude, former state representative and state senator 
Auditor: Nate George, current Braham Mayor  
U.S. Senator: Adam Schwarze, former Navy Seal