Rep. Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, has served on the Minnesota House of Representatives’ higher education committee for more than a decade. This spring, for the first time during her time in office, the state legislature was unable to elect new members to the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents.
As a consequence, the responsibility to fill four vacant seats on the U of M’s governing body —which oversees a $5 billion budget—fell out of the hands of the Minnesota Legislature and into the lap of Gov. Tim Walz.
That hasn’t sat well with Rarick, a longtime Republican legislator who serves as co-chair of the House higher education committee.
Last week, she alleged that her DFL colleagues conspired to hand the regent selection process to Walz instead of working with Republicans during the legislative session to hold a joint convention of the House and Senate to elect new regents.
Rarick slams DFL for stalling on regent election process
On Thursday, Rarick publicly disseminated what she described as a “secret letter” that her DFL counterparts—Sen. Omar Fateh and Rep. Dan Wolgamott—penned to Walz which suggested that the governor should unilaterally appoint the new regents.
“I’m deeply disappointed Democrats failed to fulfill their constitutional duty to select University of Minnesota Regents during the 2025 session,” Rarick said in a statement.
“Not only did they neglect a responsibility they were elected to carry out, but last May 21 — two days after the regular session ended but before the special session occurred — [Fateh and Wolgamott] sent a secret letter to the governor informing him of their preferred picks for regents,” Rarick wrote.
The GOP lawmaker indicated that she met with House staff and confirmed that the regent election process was ready to progress prior to the end of session.
“Instead, Democrats stalled,” Rarick said, “giving the governor the opportunity to reward political allies rather than appoint candidates chosen through a fair, transparent process. Not one Republican-backed finalist was appointed despite a tied House. This is a blatant example of Democrats using partisan politics to override what’s best for all Minnesotans.”
Alpha News reached out to both Wolgamott and Fateh asking them for comment regarding Rarick’s statements. Neither legislator has responded to media inquiries.
Two regent suggestions from the ‘secret letter’ were ultimately chosen
During the 2025 legislative session, a committee of the House and Senate held a hearing where they vetted candidates for the four regent seats and recommended finalists to the full legislature.
However, the full legislature did not elect any regents before the regular session adjourned on May 19.
Two days later, Fateh and Wolgamott sent their letter to Walz, urging him to “act now” to appoint the regents himself. At that time, state lawmakers were still working out the details of what would ultimately be passed during a special session.
Walz ultimately called a special session in June and lawmakers passed a two-year state budget. No action was taken on university regents.
In their letter to Walz, Wolgamott and Fateh asked Walz to appoint Kowsar Mohamed, Flora Yang, Dylan Young, and Ellen Luger. Mohamed and Luger were among the four individuals ultimately appointed by Walz earlier this month.
Luger, along with another new regent appointee, is a well-known donor to Walz’s campaign committee. Republican legislators were quick to criticize the unilateral appointments as well as the fact that two of the new regents are Walz donors.
Alpha News reached out to the governor’s office for comment but never received a reply.
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
