Press Release

Today, DFL Chairman Ken Martin slammed Republican Congressional Candidate Tyler Kistner for his inflammatory attacks on Minnesota’s elections and for encouraging “patriots” to “fight back to protect America.” Kistner, who lost his bid to unseat U.S. Representative Angie Craig by thousands of votes last November, filed numerous legal challenges seeking to throw out the results of a legitimate election and repeatedly called into question the validity of November’s results.

Even after conceding to Representative Craig and congratulating her on a hard-fought race, Kistner’s continued to engage in dangerous and destabilizing rhetoric that has undermined Minnesotans’ faith in our nation’s elections and contributed to the toxic political climate that led to an attack on the United States Capitol last week – which resulted in the death of five Americans, including a Capitol Police officer. And in December, Kistner was listed as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by members of the Minnesota GOP to stop Minnesota’s election certification – arguing that Secretary of State Steve Simon illegally altered the state’s election laws, and therefore the results should be nullified.

In campaign fundraising emails sent since the November election, Kistner has:

• Claimed that, “in addition to the many abnormalities that have come to light in the 2020 presidential election, Tyler Kistner’s House race here in Minnesota was also affected by manipulation from partisan officials.”
• Attacked a “liberal judge” and misled his fighters into believing that she “took the law into her own hands and went along with the scheme to invalidate our election laws.”
• Argued that “what’s becoming clear is that the integrity of our elections is increasingly coming under threat in America and we need YOUR HELP to fight to preserve our sacred right to vote before it’s too late. Will you join the fight for Election Integrity?”
• Told his followers that, “if we allow threats to our democracy to be tolerated now, they will only get worse in the future.”
• Alleged that, “actions like this are just a sampling of what we can expect with Democrat elected officials in charge. We need to fight back to protect America!”
• Urged his followers “don’t let their twisted vision of our country become a reality.”

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, released the following statement:

“Candidates and elected officials like Tyler Kistner who prioritize their own self-interest over the good of our nation, have contributed to a dangerous political environment that has undermined our democracy and led to the death of five Americans, including a Capitol Police officer.

Words have consequences. Tyler must immediately apologize for his role in fomenting this toxic political climate, tell the truth to Minnesotans and take responsibility for his actions.”