Rust Eating at the Steel: An Update on the DFL

On September 10th, I made a complaint to the Code of Conduct Committee (CoCC) regarding the misgendering and mocking of pronouns I experienced in the Feminist Caucus meeting on September 9th. To date, I have not received any acknowledgement from the committee itself of my complaint, nor have I heard anything about processes for hearings. I know from speaking to friends that this is very common with the CoCC, and they frequently will delay a year or more. It's unclear if this is incompetence or malice - in my case, I'm leaning toward the latter.

I have heard about my case from Richard, the State Chair, who is not on the committee. This morning he responded to my fourth email asking for information with a case number. I have no instructions on what that looks like, what that means, or what will be happening now. The process is a black hole, which is NOT best practices, and generates distrust in the party as a whole, especially since Richard having to step in simply makes him look weak.

Additionally, last night, the State Executive Committee (SEC) voted to uphold the overturning of the Minneapolis DFL endorsement of Omar Fateh in the Mayor's race by the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules Committee (CBRC). Many of the same people on the SEC are on the CBRC and the CoCC. Leadership at the state level of the DFL appears to be composed of a small group of people who all sit on the same committees and protect their friend group first and foremost. Members of these committees are not required to recuse themselves when a conflict of interest occurs, allowing favoritism, biases, and anti-democratic ideals to fester.

This is deeply corrupt.

So, having heard all this, why be involved? I've dealt with corrupt institutions before and ultimately walked away because the challenge of undoing and remedying the corruption is nearly impossible - corruption is like rust: if you don't catch it and remedy it quickly, it will destroy your entire structure.

At this point, I do not believe the DFL is beyond saving, even after last night’s undemocratic and corrupt decision. I think people at the top have become complacent in their positions of power, and I believe it is possible to use the DFL processes to unseat them and create a new path forward.

I am going to give this process a year. The State Convention will be in 2026, and I aim to do everything within my power to organize for change within the DFL. I ask that if you are my neighbor, my friend, and in my community here in Minnesota that you trust me on this - I am working toward change and I need dedicated people to back this effort.

I'll do more post-November election, since a ton of us are stretched thin trying to get progressives elected. To be clear: there's no resting on our laurels here. This is going to be work. But I have faith.