MN District 2A race: DFL candidate accuses opponent of 'race-baiting'
Reed Olson (left) and Bidal Duran (right) (Supplied)
BEMIDJI, Minn. (FOX 9) - The DFL candidate for a state House race in northern Minnesota has accused his opponent of "race-baiting" and misogyny following a recent debate, according to a report.
Reed Olson lodged the accusations against his Republican opponent Bidal Duran Jr. during a recent candidate forum in the Red Lake Nation.
Race background
Both men are running for the House seat representing District 2A, which covers Beltrami County, Lake of the Woods County, and parts of the Red Lake Nation and Clearwater County.
Olson describes himself as a cook and small business owner, along with a community nonprofit director. Duran is a former sheriff's deputy in Hubbard County and a veteran.
Olson ran for the same seat in 2022 but lost to Republican incumbent Matthew Grossell. Grossell announced he would retire last December. The announcement came on the heels of a video from his DWI arrest being publicly released.
How did it start?
Olson pointed to remarks made by Duran at the end of a recent debate hosted by Lakeland PBS, as the candidates made their final cases for why voters should support them.
Duran claimed Olson supports an "ultra-progressive caucus" along with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. It's not clear exactly which caucus Duran was referencing. Olson lists endorsements from the DFL Progressive Caucus and the Stonewall DFL caucus on his website — both of which have also endorsed Omar.
How are they responding?
At a community meeting, Olson blasted Duran for the attack, claiming it was steeped in "race-baiting," racism, and misogyny, MPR News reports.
"That was straight up race baiting, it was misogynistic, it was Islamophobic and it was racist," Olson said. "And he did that on purpose at the end of the debate, when I didn’t have a chance to be able to rebut."