Second DFL challenger to Kriesel announces candidacy

• Dan Lund

Dan Lund

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• Schwartz to seek DFL bid to challenge Rep. Kriesel

A Newport planning commissioner has announced he will seek the local DFL endorsement to challenge state Rep. John Kriesel in the newly-redrawn House District 54A this November.

Dan Lund announced his candidacy in a statement released Wednesday, saying Kriesel had “done a poor job representing the citizens in his district.”

The first-term Republican legislator’s votes have shown “a callous disregard for his constituents and have created real harm for people in Minnesota,” the statement read, citing Kriesel’s vote to support a budget deal last year that shifted funds from public schools and for budget proposals that cut aid to local governments across the state.

Those complaints echoed another local DFLer, St. Paul Park resident Katie Schwartz, who announced last week she would seek the party’s endorsement at the March 31 convention.

Kriesel, 30, of Cottage Grove, has said he intends to seek re-election in the fall.

Lund, 32, is the vice chair of the Newport Planning Commission and is a patent attorney at a Woodbury law firm. He grew up in Roseville and lives in Newport with his girlfriend, Mollie, and her 4-year-old son.

Check swcbulletin.com for more on this story.

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