A Republican stronghold in north-central Minnesota is set to hold its Senate District 6 primary on Tuesday.
And while the eight candidates on that ballot are seeking to be the Republican nominee for the now-vacant seat in the April 29 general election—one of those candidates, Angel Zierden, has taken some heat recently for supporting a Democratic candidate last November.
And she hasn’t shied away from criticism when asked about it.
Last fall, Zierden, then the mayor of Breezy Point, publicly endorsed Jen Schultz, the DFL candidate for Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Zierden posted a photo of herself with Schultz during the final days of the election cycle, and she articulated her rationale for why she was supporting the DFLer over Republican incumbent Pete Stauber. Schultz, a former DFL legislator, has twice lost to Stauber in the MN-CD8 election.
Zierden has been criticized online for supporting Schultz after having previously served as a Republican Party delegate and even making a speech supporting Stauber at a convention.
“Aren’t you a Republican delegate?” Joyce Heffron asked Zierden in November. “Didn’t you do a speech for Pete Stauber at a convention?”
“Yes to all of the above,” Zierden answered, “but I believe in voting people over party, and it’s not easy to be moderate publicly.”
Zierden then explained that she didn’t believe her elected leaders were “getting the job done” in Congress on a number of issues.
Criticisms of Zierden’s past support of Schultz were raised again in recent weeks after Zierden became one of eight candidates to launch a campaign for the GOP nomination for the open Senate seat.
“My husband will tell you, he would never marry a democrat, but thank you for the shout out!” she wrote in response to some of those criticisms.
Others running in the Republican primary on Tuesday include: Keri Heintzeman, Josh Gazelka, Jennifer Carnahan, Doug Kern, Dr. John Howe, Matthew Zinda and Steve Cotariu.
Alpha News contacted Zierden and her campaign last week and asked her about her public endorsement of Schultz last fall. She didn’t reply to those requests for comment.
GOP primary candidate forum last week
During a Senate District 6 Republican primary voter forum held in Baxter last week, Zierden was among six other candidates who were asked a variety of questions related to the job they’re seeking in the legislature.
The forum was co-sponsored by the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters and the Brainerd Dispatch. Jennifer Carnahan, who resigned in 2021 as the chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, was absent due to illness, forum organizers said.
During the forum, candidates were asked to address how, if they were elected to serve the district at the Capitol, they would work with Senate colleagues in their own caucus and those across the political aisle.
Zierden mentioned a handful of times that it will be important to work with both parties to tackle pressing issues.
“I think that a lot of times in politics we look at bipartisanship as a compromise, as a bad thing,” Zierden said. “But I think Republicans need to be realistic about the state and the climate of Minnesota. We have not had a majority. We have not, you know, every election cycle we continue to vote the same people in, we’re getting the same results.”
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary will move on to the April 29 general election where they will face DFLer Denise Slipy of Breezy Point. Slipy won the DFL district endorsement for the seat last month over three other candidates.
Senate District 6 spans a portion of north-central Minnesota from Grand Rapids to Brainerd to the northwest shore of Lake Mille Lacs. In 2022, then-Sen. Justin Eichorn defeated his DFL opponent by 27 percentage points. Eichorn resigned last month after he was federally charged with soliciting a minor. With the vacancy, the Senate is currently represented by 32 Republicans and 34 Democrats.
After the April 29 election, the winner is expected to be seated in the legislature within one week. The legislative session ends on May 19.
For more information on the candidates, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce has posted a recording of the GOP primary forum here.
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.
