Press Release

DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin issued the following statement in response to Kim Crockett’s announced run for Secretary of State:

“Kim Crockett wants to make it harder for you to vote. She is running to restrict your freedom to vote by attacking common-sense things like early voting and vote by mail. Crockett’s lack of respect for the rights of her fellow Minnesotans is no surprise since she was recently suspended from her job and forced to apologize for making comments so racist they made headlines in the New York Times.”

“Minnesota’s elections are free and fair, and we are proud to have the highest voter turnout in the nation. Voters are clearly confident in our election system and the tremendous work Secretary of State Simon has done to ensure we have a thriving democratic process. The last thing Minnesotans want is a far-right bigot like Kim Crockett attacking our freedom to vote.”

Background on Kim Crockett:

• Kim Crockett is a far-right attorney who has spent years working to bias Minnesota election law towards Republicans and make it harder to vote.
  • Crockett has complained that Republicans don’t focus enough on gaining control of election rules for partisan advantage, and bragged about doing exactly that.
  • Crockett wants to restrict early voting, restrict same-day voter registration, and reject ballots postmarked on election day.
• Crockett currently serves as a legal policy advisor for the Minnesota Voters Alliance, a far-right group that works to restrict Minnesotans’ freedom to vote.
  • The Minnesota Voters Alliance has sued to block mask mandates in polling places and force the release of private voter data and has called the 2020 elections stolen without any evidence.
• In 2019, Crockett was suspended from her job at a far-right think tank and forced to publicly apologize for making racist comments about Somali refugees to right-wing activists that were documented in the New York Times.
  • Crockett is also Vice President and General Counsel of the Charlemagne Institute, which recently had to fire a high-level staffer for praising Adolf Hitler, organizing meetings to promote racism called “hateups”, and asking fellow racists for suggested reading material to help radicalize Charlemagne Institute interns.