John,

I wanted to reach out to introduce myself. My name is Heidi Kraus Kaplan, and I’m the new Executive Director of the Minnesota DFL.

I started my career in politics more than two decades ago as a grassroots organizer. I’ve since worked on five presidential campaigns, in the offices of then-Senator Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, and as Minnesota DFL Operations Director.

It’s an honor to return to the DFL in this new capacity as we navigate the unprecedented challenges and opportunities facing our Party, state, and entire country.

I’ll explain more in a moment, but I’ve asked our fundraising team to increase our budget targets this month. Will you pitch in today to help us get a head start? If we raise $15,000 by Friday, we should be in good shape.

Republicans at all levels of government are carrying out an unprecedented assault on voting rights because they know they can’t win on the merits of their ideas alone. 

We must recognize this for what it is: An existential threat to our democracy. My goal as Executive Director is to make sure we are doing everything we can to adapt to meet this moment head-on.

Right now, that means ramping up our organizing program earlier than ever before, investing in large-scale voter protection efforts, systematically countering misinformation online and in the right-wing media, and shoring up our emergency rapid response reserves.

It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. Thankfully, we are hundreds of thousands strong, and if even a fraction of our DFL family chipped in right now, we’d hit our goal in no time. Will you pitch in $10, $25, $50 (or whatever works for you) today?