Are Rochester’s nonpartisan elections becoming a battleground for party politics?

ROCHESTER - Standing in a huddle of a dozen volunteers, Patty Trnka took on the role of quarterback. The group in front of her had gathered outside of Folwell Elementary School for many of the same causes — school funding, housing affordability and environmental sustainability. Now Trnka needed to deliver a pep talk and draw up the routes.

Trnka, a former public health nurse, is the Ward 2 team leader for Faith in Minnesota, a political advocacy group that champions left-leaning causes. So far this election cycle, at least 100 volunteers like Trnka have signed up to go door-knocking with Faith in Minnesota in what has become an unprecedented level of coordination in city-level politics.

The group estimates volunteers, equipped with handouts in support of three progressive City Council candidates and a $20 million school referendum, have reached more than 3,800 people through canvassing.

“This level of energy in Rochester has been building for quite a while,” said Trnka, a 51-year resident of Rochester. “When it comes to local politics, I feel like we can have more control over the issues.”

For Trnka and other volunteers, Faith in Minnesota’s activity is what democracy should look like: neighbors talking to neighbors about the issues affecting them directly. They point to Rochester’s anticipated growth and a need to bring a “people-powered” perspective to issues like housing, child care and the climate effects of new development.

Critics, though, worry Faith in Minnesota’s activity in Rochester could be the start of a new trend that has the potential to upend the city’s historically nonpartisan elections. They note that while Faith in Minnesota describes itself as nonpartisan, the group has aligned itself with causes promoted by the DFL Party.

Sheila Kiscaden, a longtime legislator turned Olmsted County commissioner, said Faith in Minnesota’s activity also marks the first time she can recall that a group has hired a paid staffer to organize support for nonpartisan races.

“No other group had done this for local elections,” said Kiscaden, a political centrist who now serves in a nonpartisan position. “What worries me most is it invites other groups to come in and organize in Rochester and make us a battleground place for different political philosophies.”

Tension over Faith in Minnesota’s activity reached a boiling point in September in the race for City Council president when candidate Shaun Palmer described the volunteers supporting his opponent, Randy Schubring, as “socialists from the [Twin] Cities who have come down to Rochester to take over Rochester.”

The day after Palmer’s comments were published in a local paper, the two met for a forum hosted by an independent advocacy group. Schubring took issue with Palmer’s comments, calling them a “common dog whistle scare tactic,” prompting Palmer to get up and leave the event.

“I thought he was incorrectly characterizing a group that volunteers for my campaign that all live here in Rochester,” Schubring said in an interview. “There is a lot of fear that is being put out there about this group, and there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Palmer, who has been on the council as the Ward 5 representative since 2019, said he stands by the decision to walk out of the debate, adding that “name-calling has no place in the campaign.”

“Part of the problem with the City Council right now is that we don’t tell people, ‘That’s a line you don’t cross,’” Palmer said in an interview. “And I think ‘dog whistle’ is a term that is used to incite.”

Palmer said the comments about socialists coming to Rochester were in reference to the group’s involvement in last year’s Minneapolis City Council races, where Faith in Minnesota, the political arm of the progressive interfaith nonprofit Isaiah, put $40,000 into supporting a left-wing coalition of candidates.

Palmer said the Twin Cities-based group’s positions don’t align with the values in Rochester — echoing concerns that have emerged in recent years about the potential “Minneapolization” of Rochester. The city has shifted from supporting Republicans in the early 1990s to becoming a reliably blue area today.

“I think people are afraid that we will end up like Minneapolis and St. Paul where it’s one party,” said Palmer. “And I think there are very few people who want this to be partisan.”

Schubring, who is on leave from his job as Mayo Clinic’s community relations director while he campaigns, said Palmer’s concerns of partisanship are being overblown. While he acknowledges his values align more with the DFL than the Republican Party, he said that wouldn’t impair his ability to govern as a nonpartisan City Council president.

Schubring also pushed back against claims outsiders are trying to influence the election.

“They are doing like any citizen in Rochester can do and that’s talking to their neighbors and saying, ‘Hey, these are the issues I care about, and these candidates align with our priorities,’” Schubring said.

In addition to Schubring, Faith in Minnesota has endorsed two other candidates for Rochester City Council: Nick Miller, who is running in Ward 2 against Tripp Welch; and Dan Doering in Ward 6 against Mark Schleusner.

In all three races, Faith in Minnesota is deploying not only volunteers but also financial resources. The group purports to have raised $21,000 in local money to pay for an organizer and other expenses, though Olivia Bergen, its paid staffer, declined to say whether the group is using any additional outside funds to support its efforts in Rochester. Last year the group spent $330,000 lobbying, according to state records.

Joe Powers, a local businessman known for his political involvement, said his biggest concern is what kind of influence Faith in Minnesota will have over the candidates if they are elected. He said while it’s common for different interested groups to get behind candidates, he has never seen a bloc of city candidates lining up alongside an outside group with partisan ties.

“This hasn’t worked out good for either party,” Powers said. “I don’t care if you are a Democrat or Republican or whatever, are we happy with where we are at? Why would you want to bring that to your city?

To push back against Faith in Minnesota’s mobilization, Powers held a meeting last month to warn other hospitality industry leaders about the “potential formation of a council that is unfavorable to business interests.” About 50 people attended the meeting, he said. Concerns were raised about wage increases, unionization and other policy considerations which the Rochester City Council has typically taken a hands-off approach.

“They are anti-growth,” Powers said. “And if they win the election, all three will be owned by an outside group.”

Organizers with Faith in Minnesota dispute those claims, saying the group’s Rochester agenda was adopted locally after interviews with more than 500 residents — without any partisan involvement. They also note other groups have sought to influence local elections without the same level of scrutiny. In the primaries, for instance, the GOP-aligned Minnesota Private Business Council spent $10,000 supporting candidates challenging the Faith in the Minnesota bloc.

Bergen said instead of fighting back against Faith in Minnesota, other organizations and candidates should take a page from their playbook and work to get people involved in local issues.

“There are people in town who are trying to paint us as coming from somewhere else,” Bergen said. “I just question why they don’t think that the Rochester community would have folks committed and dedicated and imaginative enough to be involved in organizing in their community.”