Just how important is an endorsement from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association this election cycle?
Ask state Rep. Dan Wolgamott, a St. Cloud DFLer in a swing seat whose campaign brochures feature a picture of the organization’s badge — sized as large as his head. “It’s certainly the one (endorsement) that comes up the most,” Wolgamott said.
Wolgamott is not the only candidate who feels that way. The MPPOA’s stamp of approval has become a fixture across much of the state in 2022, adorning television ads, mailers and websites for a wide swath of Republicans — and a few Democrats — hoping to portray themselves as supporters of law enforcement as they seek offices at the state Capitol or in Congress.
That’s in part because crime is a top issue for voters. But it’s also evidence of the MPPOA’s notable and changing impact. The 10,400-member organization representing frontline officers and other first responders is an influential and unique political actor.
The MPPOA is now a mainstay in the Republican Party and is detested by many on the left after the murder of George Floyd, despite a long history of favoring the DFL. At the same time, Democrats in some of Minnesota’s most important elections seek, and sometimes win, the organization’s endorsement, making the MPPOA one of the few political groups across the state to back candidates from both of the two biggest parties.
The MPPOA once backed the DFL
Individual county sheriffs sometimes make political endorsements, as do a handful of police unions like the Ramsey County Deputies’ Federation. But the MPPOA is by far the largest and most prominent police group active in political campaigns, especially since the associations representing police chiefs and sheriffs don’t make endorsements.
And it wasn’t so long ago that the MPPOA threw its collective weight behind most Democrats. While not a union, executive director Brian Peters said collective bargaining and union rights have typically been main issues for the trade association. That led to a strong preference for the DFL.
In 2012, for instance, a campaign organization tied to the MPPOA ran ads against many Republicans, including one in a swing district opposing King Banaian, who was a GOP state representative in St. Cloud. A flier bashed Banaian as “putting public safety at risk,” in part for votes related to crime lab funding and domestic violence services.
In an email shortly before the 2012 election, Banaian speculated the MPPOA endorsed his opponent because it was “most likely unhappy about my pension work.” The Republican lost.
[image_credit]Supplied[/image_credit][image_caption]A flier bashed state Rep. King Banaian as “putting public safety at risk,” in part for votes related to crime lab funding and domestic violence services.[/image_caption]
Even as recently as 2018, the MPPOA backed more Democrats for state House than Republicans. The organization also endorsed U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum and Collin Peterson, along with three Republicans.
That shifted sharply in 2020. The MPPOA endorsed 43 Republicans for state Senate that year and 87 Republicans for state House. The organization endorsed just 12 Democrats across the two chambers.
This year, the MPPOA has endorsed 45 Republicans for state Senate and 85 Republicans in the state House — compared to just eight DFLers between the two chambers. And nearly all the group’s political fundraising has gone toward Republican candidates.
Relationship between DFL, MPPOA deteriorates
Peters said the political swing from the DFL to Republicans at the Legislature was sparked by the DFL’s police reform agenda after Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin in 2020.
In response to the killing, Democrats led by lawmakers of color sought wide-ranging changes to policing, like tougher laws governing when officers can use deadly force and the ability for cities to impose a residency requirement on officers. A House bill with many of the proposals was passed with wide support among the DFL majority.
Most Democrats saw the package of bills as part of a justified effort to reduce deaths at the hands of police and make systemic change to hold officers accountable. And many viewed the MPPOA — which has a legal defense fund for officers accused of crimes like Chauvin — as resisting change.
The Republican-led Senate, however, blocked many of the House DFL plans, siding with the MPPOA, which argued much of the DFL legislation would interfere with the work of officers or make their jobs more dangerous or difficult. The House and Senate did agree to a more limited set of police reform and accountability laws, including restricting chokeholds and warrior-style training.
Peters said the MPPOA was open to reform, pointing to his participation on a task force with Attorney General Keith Ellison before Floyd was murdered. The task force recommendations later helped inform what lawmakers did pass.
“At the end of the day we need legislators who will stand up for the profession and will stand against their party if appropriate,” Peters said. “The Republicans really came in, and at the time it was Paul Gazelka, the Senate Majority Leader, who stood his ground and didn’t allow a lot of the negative police reform stuff.”
Similar cycles played out after two Black men, Daunte Wright and Amir Locke, were killed by police in 2021 and 2022. For instance, House DFLers wanted to sharply limit no-knock search warrants both years, but the Senate agreed only to some regulations on them.
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Walker Orenstein[/image_credit][image_caption]Andre Locke and Karen Wells, parents of Amir Locke, and attorney Ben Crump speaking at a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol.[/image_caption]
Outside of the Minnesota Capitol, other issues have caused the relationship between the MPPOA and the DFL to deteriorate. One example was the burning of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd precinct, and the majority of the Minneapolis council vowing to dismantle the department amid cries from some activists to defund or abolish MPD. The U.S. House passed a bill that would have stripped “qualified immunity” legal protections from officers, which the MPPOA opposed.
The organization was frustrated by what they felt was a muted response to Rep. John Thompson beating effigies of former Minneapolis police union president Bob Kroll and his wife Liz Collins at a protest outside their house. And then there was a contentious debate over the public safety charter amendment to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a department of public safety.
Rep. Athena Hollins, a Democrat from St. Paul who proposed stronger no-knock warrant restrictions, said an MPPOA endorsement would likely not be viewed as a positive in the Twin Cities core even though she didn’t criticize other DFLers around the state who asked for MPPOA support. That negative outlook on the MPPOA came after the killing of Floyd and Philando Castile, she said.
“I’m trying to think of how to say this diplomatically,” Hollins said. “There was sort of a divide, I would say, between the community and law enforcement, and there was definitely a sense within the community that the law enforcement was there and MPPOA was there to protect its officers and not to look out for the good of community members.”
At the State Capitol, she said the MPPOA has been “steadfast in support of the status quo” and less open to change than other police groups like the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.
Hollins said she felt the MPPOA wouldn’t engage with DFL lawmakers advocating for wider reform. Peters said he felt the DFL ignored many of their earnest suggestions on policy.
When the MPPOA endorsed Republican Scott Jensen for governor, the group held a press conference outside of the 3rd precinct building. “Over my shoulder used to be a police department,” Peters said. “It’s no longer there. Gov. (Tim) Walz has been missing in action during his term.”
MPPOA as Republican fixture
Asked why the MPPOA endorsed just eight DFL legislative candidates, Peters said the group’s board of directors was disappointed in many Democrats they used to support and wanted to give Republicans an opportunity to “deliver on what they’re campaigning on, which is tough on crime.” The GOP has pushed for tougher sentencing and more money for police to help with recruitment and retention problems that are a top concern for the MPPOA.
Many in the DFL, including Walz, also pushed for more money at the Legislature earlier this year to help police with recruitment and retention issues, but a contingent in the party were hesitant to approve that cash without money for other public safety initiatives. The Legislature this year failed to reach a deal on public safety spending using its large surplus.
The MPPOA has backed many Republicans in swing seats thought to be crucial to the balance of power in the Legislature, such as GOP Rep. John Heinrich of Anoka or Republican Heidi Gunderson, who is the mayor of Vadnais Heights.
Gunderson said voters view most endorsements as “just a logo on a lit piece.” But this year, public safety is a top issue for voters, so she crafted a mailer entirely on public safety featuring the MPPOA endorsement and other law enforcement support.
Gunderson’s opponent, DFLer Brion Curran of Vadnais Heights, has prominently highlighted her own experience as a former police officer and promises to invest money to boost public safety. But Gunderson said if the two candidates are debating who truly supports cops — only she is endorsed by the MPPOA, along with the Ramsey County Deputies Federation and Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.
[image_credit]Supplied[/image_credit][image_caption]Republican Heidi Gunderson crafted a mailer entirely on public safety featuring the MPPOA endorsement and other law enforcement support.[/image_caption]
In fact, the MPPOA has become so ingrained in Republican politics, the organization took what Peters said was a new step by intervening in primary races and endorsement contests. In the governor’s race, the MPPOA endorsed Gazelka, viewing him as a key ally from the police reform debate at the Legislature.
The organization also endorsed, or spent money on behalf of, several more centrist Republican candidates in primary races that featured harder-right foes, some with ties to the far-right Action 4 Liberty group.
For instance, the MPPOA donated $1,000 this year to state Rep. Tony Jurgens of Cottage Grove in a senate primary against Republican Tom Dippel, who had aligned with a New House Republican Caucus that often fights with GOP leaders and accuses them of being not conservative enough.
“We want to support people that are a little bit more moderate,” Peters said. “Not saying that far left and far right won’t work together, but there’s just such strong differences” on issues like police reform.
The MPPOA endorsement may be highly sought after by candidates, but it did not always convince Republican primary voters and activists. While some of the organization’s favored candidates won, Dippel crushed Jurgens, and the MPPOA-endorsed Tina Riehle also lost to Action 4 Liberty-backed Mark Bishofsky. (The MPPOA has since endorsed Dippel but not Bishofsky.)
Gazelka also lost his bid for the GOP governor’s endorsement. After Gazelka quit the race while trailing in several rounds of endorsement balloting, the MPPOA threw its support behind businessman Kendall Qualls. When Qualls spoke to the crowd, the big screen on stage at the Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center displayed proof of that endorsement rather than the usual video of Qualls himself.
Qualls gains MPPOA endorsement. (Originally they endorsed Gazelka.) pic.twitter.com/Tioa8SNMo8
— Dave Orrick (@DaveOrrick) May 14, 2022
But Jensen won the Republican endorsement. And the MPPOA followed suit, backing Jensen roughly five months later.
Some DFLers win MPPOA backing
Even as the MPPOA has embraced the GOP, Peters said more candidates than ever seek their endorsement, including some Democrats.
The organization does interviews and has a questionnaire for candidates, which asks how politicians will promote and protect legislation that impacts public safety services, whether they will support pension, benefits and collective bargaining rights for officers and what proposals they don’t support in the public safety discussion. Ultimately, the board of directors led by David Titus makes the endorsement decision.
[cms_ad:x104]Some DFLers were rejected by the MPPOA, much to the frustration of former Austin mayor and police officer Tom Stiehm running for state House. But the MPPOA has backed a few DFLers, and several of them are in crucial swing seats that could help Democrats keep control of the state House and U.S. House.
[image_credit]Twitter[/image_credit][image_caption]State Rep. Dan Wolgamott’s campaign brochures feature a picture of the MPPOA’s badge.[/image_caption]
The MPPOA also backed DFL state Reps. Rob Ecklund of International Falls and Dave Lislegard of Aurora in what are expected to be close races.
Leslie Rosedahl, a spokeswoman for the MPPOA, said Ecklund and Lislegard are champions on labor issues. MPPOA staff highlighted several bills they supported tied to pensions, labor agreements, increased local government subsidies and frontline worker pay.
For Congress, the MPPOA backed U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat from the 2nd Congressional District in one of the most important swing races in the country. In 2020, the MPPOA backed Kistner. (The organization this year also endorsed U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, from the 3rd District.)
Several of Craig’s television ads tout her opposition to the Minneapolis charter amendment, and support from the MPPOA and Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.
[image_credit]Screen shot[/image_credit][image_caption]Several of Rep. Angie Craig’s television ads tout her opposition to the Minneapolis charter amendment, and support from the MPPOA and Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.[/image_caption]
“She said: ‘Knowing what I know now I would vote different if that came to my desk,’” according to Peters. In endorsing Craig, an MPPOA news release cited Craig’s advocacy for increased funding for local and federal police, measures that sometimes angered members of the Congressional Black Caucus and progressives who wanted new accountability standards.
The MPPOA also cited legislation Craig championed to provide death and disability benefits to police and their families if officers have PTSD or die by suicide. That bill became law.
The MPPOA is one of a handful of high-profile political organizations to back Republican and Democratic candidates, making it something of a rarity in Minnesota. Some trades unions endorse in both parties, such as the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 and the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce mostly backs Republicans but sometimes supports Democrats.
Peters said the MPPOA is “not going to shy away from supporting people that have supported us.” There’s also, perhaps, a benefit to not closing the door entirely on the DFL, especially in a state where Democrats often control some levers of power in the government.
“If you only work with one side that may be good for you now but that may hurt you down the line,” Peters said. “I think people now are kind of coming back to ‘we need to work together on these issues,’ because look at recruiting and retention, look at crime. One party is not going to be able to solve that on their own.”
You can defend DFL crime policies all day in an article here at Minnpost, bottom line is they did not work. Leftie crime policies have led to a crime wave and they have absolutely zero answers to a not that complex of a problem. Lock up violent criminals and anyone who uses a gun in any form of crime. Very hard to carjack your second car by gun point when you are in jail for the first one…..
The police unions are living the results of poor DFL policies, of course they will endorse GOP candidates. When Walz said during the “mostly peaceful riots” that caused 100’s of million dollars of damage and killed people “there are more of them and they have a plan”, I knew he was overwhelmed and not up to the job. Public safety is job ONE for politicians and the DFL is failing miserably.
Ask any expert in crime and they will tell you there are no simple solutions. Yes, some need to have long sentences, but they get out and when in prison people are not forced to engage in therapy, etc.. and prison is expensive, very–we then have to pay for their medical care. And then you have state laws which limit what judges can do. There are lots of red cities/states with similar problems. I agree Dems have messed some things up and rush to put out rather simplistic well meaning laws that leave those on the ground, rather confused. And then there is DHS, why or why can’t both parties and DHS figure out how to fund placements for those who are incompetent and yet can’t be committed. Unions almost always defend their employees, that is pretty much part of their job. And not all cops agree with their union. It seems like most politicians spend more time figuring out endorsements than their policies.
“… mostly peaceful riots…”
No, Joe. Walz never said this. And shame on the mods for allowing it. But the, conservatives have been working the refs for decades now, and it’s been working.
Poor police morale and greatly reduced strength of the department is not the fault of democrats or republicans it’s the result of years of very poor hiring practices. We must address the elephant in the room and that is cowardice on the part of the police. Why did so many need to file for disability retirement? What disabled them was fear. Some would like you to believe that it was a fear of being prosecuted and convicted. I think it is more likely a fear of the firepower opposing them out on the street. You and I are not going to see the psychologist notes on these guys and maybe none were even brave enough to discuss their fears. This does not eliminate the obvious. When you see officers break into an apartment and shoot a man as he is waking up startled you might ask why not knock and wait for him to answer? Fear and the idea that you need to ‘get the jump on him’ makes some still want no knock warrants. I see the spray painted slogan that it’s better to be tried by twelve than carried by six. Some cops are ’thumpers’ who believe that it’s their right to ’administer some street justice’ ala Derek Chauvin, but many more are like the law enforcement response in Uvalde Texas huddled in the hallway hearing kids being shot on the other side of the door. Frozen like deer in the headlights they are questioning their occupational choices. I believe that if one of them had a child in that room there would have been no waiting and some children’s lives may have been saved. Now how many of those suddenly disabled Minneapolis cops had a child in the room, which in this case is Minneapolis? Do you know a recently retired Minneapolis cop ask them about their fears. Nothing in this statement should be taken as claiming or implying that Minneapolis police officers do not demonstrate bravery in the performance of their duties, but as for those who looked for the door as soon as Chauvin was charged for the most part good riddance.
Bullies of a feather flock together.
One reason I suspect these peace officer associations and their somewhat related police unions have often remained faithful to the Democratic-Farm-Labor (or Democratic) Party is because of long standing commitment to the “Labor” part. Police unions are public unions too. What the anti-union right has done is concoct a diabolical divide and conquer strategy that translates to “right-to-work” for all public unions except police unions or other public safety related unions. Right-to-work in this context means right to get ripped off, i.e. no right to collective bargaining, living wages, seniority or the fringe benefits created by collective bargaining.
The peace officer association and police union leaders are too young to remember, as I do, when police strikes were not uncommon and “blue flu” became part of the lexicon of the daily news. They may find common cause for the time being with the right while they are useful for beating up on the DFL for standing up to police brutality, bullying and racism. If this country remains a democracy after this election, they may want to rethink this alliance. Otherwise, they may come to regret their betrayal when the right, entrenched and strengthened by divide and conquer politics, decides to return to old ways and “defund the police” in their own inimitable way.
In the aftermath of George Floyd, I don’t think it is even possible to be taken seriously on crime and safety without addressing issues of racism and police violence. What politicians are saying when they say they will fight crime without saying they will deal with police violence is that they will allow more aggressive policing which as we have seen leads to disastrous result and a decreased ability to enforce the law. Politicians who tell police that they will always have their back do police officers no favors at all.
I agree with Hiram’s points here. Of his last sentence, I recall working an evening job more than 30 years ago at a business in Minneapolis where we had off-duty cops hired as security. In talking with them on breaks, more than once an officer lamented about “thumpers”, fellow rouge cops who took satisfaction in beating suspects, and how these thumpers affected police-community relationships making the job all that much harder for good police. It was not a DFL or Rep problem. It was long term baked in.
Is there any occupation, other than law enforcement, that immediately circles the wagons around the worst of that same profession?
It’s hard to feel badly for people like that. And worse than that, they reflexively defend the worst; they will harshly ostracize any who break ranks and stand up to the worst.
If cops can clean up their own house, the adults will do it for them.
Police have used unions to get great salary, benefits and workplace protections. They have never been great for supporting other unions.
The big sign brings up defunding the police, but frankly that is dishonest. Show me any place in Minnesota where police budgets are being cut. Minneapolis Council talked about it, but voters and most most Democratic politicians rejected it. In fact, the only reason less is being spent on police is police resignations. Many decided to retire. Certainly a few because they were bad cops and did not want to be held responsible, but far more because the job has become far more dangerous.
Why? First, Republicans want as many people to have guns with as few restrictions as possible. Second, combined with that conservatives think violent resistance to government is OK. Add that to the dangers of street crime, and it is tough. Third, police misconduct is going to be prosecuted. Fourth, the ability of unions to block consequences for violent, racist police in in decline. These things make it ugly for police.
I would like to understand why police are endorsing a party responsible for an attack on the Capitol where 140 police were injured and several died in the aftermath. Do police care about the safety of other police around the country? If so, they should be supporting Democrats.
Frankly, this may all about undermining police reform – not requiring body cameras, not charging police when individual officers injury or kill suspects in custody and not making an issue when they choose to racially profile for less serious offenses and let the wealthy be above the law. No one is saying all police are resisting reform, but the most vocal ones are.
They are free to support and vote for anyone they want, but if their complaints are about defunding the police, one has to think they are not dealing with the real issues. Americans are getting more crazy, angry and violent. Police take their lives in their hands every day on their jobs. Let’s deal with that head on and not deal about bogus complaints. Eliminate most of the overreactions about of justified fear of violent men and bad policing examples will shrink.
Partisan Democrat though I am, I am a police supporting guy. In political terms, however, the problems is that as much as I love the police, people view me and my ilk with hatred and contempt. They think we are naive and that we don’t have their back. All of this is fine really, and kind of sweet in a way, but what it means in practical terms, when they get in trouble, they have a hard time calling on people like me for support, and what’s worse for them, the politicians that they do support run for cover. To put it bluntly, Donald Trump came to town and got cop support because he told them they could bust up citizens more, but when that actually happened he was nowhere to be found. Cops had burned their bridges to people like me, and they found that the folks they supported had burned their bridges to them.
Yeah, the de-funders are more or less a bunch of idiots, and every time a cop gets shot at or killed, the boys in blue can look at their “R” endorsed, the more guns in the more hands, legal or illegal the better, endorsed candidate. Not sure which is the dumber.
The defund the police folks got what they wanted immediately after their anti police protests started “pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon”. Any police officer close to retirement, took retirement. Any cop who had an injury took disability, immediately. The police force lost hundreds of officers, basically defunding themselves. The police saw the lack of support from City Council, DA’s, saw their police station burned to the ground and decided to leave the force before things got worse.
The ensuing crime wave came right after the force was depleted and the Lefties got what they wanted, a small police presence. How is that working?
Sure. After the incident, no cop wanted to engage over trivial matters, and that was perfectly understandable. It’s how I would have advised them. No cop wants to or should go to prison for life over a catalytic converter.
I want cops to enforce the law. But the fact that four Minneapolis police officers murdered a man in the street in broad daylight in a way that brought attention from the whole world simply cannot be ignored. And what I perceive to be the fact that what happened that day is largely being ignored in this election is an act of denial which, I fear, can lead to even more tragic consequences. In the summer of 2020, we were a nation on the edge, and I see nothing stopping us from going there again.
I never could quite figure out how the murder of a man on a Minneapolis street got turned into an argument about police funding. In any event, coveted though it may be, police endorsements don’t seem to be insuperable barriers in statewide Minnesota elections.