Guest Editorial: Ryan Winkler - Bringing the Fire: Klobuchar at the DFL State Convention
BNB Note:
While politics is often analyzed from the outside, BNB’s Guest Editorial Series aims to flip that perspective by highlighting the firsthand experiences of those working inside the political and policy arena. This includes lawmakers crafting legislation, candidates navigating the campaign trail, career civil servants implementing public programs, and political operatives shaping strategy behind the scenes.
The goal is not to litigate every claim or endorse every position, but rather to provide readers with a direct insight into how decisions are made, institutions function, and power operates in practice.
Below, is a guest editorial from former DFL House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler. Winkler served as the DFL House Majority leader from 2019 to 2023 helping to usher through signature legislative accomplishments of the Democratic trifecta in power during that time.
The twelve hundred delegates gathered at the DFL state convention in Rochester this weekend were of a mind to burn it down. “It” included the Trump administration, of course, but special fury was aimed at the national Democratic establishment, DFL party leadership in Minnesota, and any DFL elected official who was not felt to be an effective battler against the Trump administration.
In fact, the single loudest applause line I heard all weekend was from Peggy Flanagan: “We have to be real about what got us here. We got here in part because too many Democrats have been weak.” The applause was loud, and so sustained, that Flanagan twice tried to move on in her speech and was overcome by the crowd’s passion.
The mood of the delegates was clear from opening gavel. One of the first motions brought from the floor on Friday aimed to seat a delegate from Minneapolis, Kaytie Kamphoff, who had been disciplined by the state party for threatening behavior aimed at other DFLers. Kamphoff is an aggressive leftist, and this was a test vote intended to show party leaders that the delegates were in charge. The DFL party leaders could not even state their case because of their confidentiality obligations to Kamphoff, and they were accorded no deference whatever on their process or findings. They were booed. The motion prevailed. Burn it down.
It was obvious from that moment that Amy Klobuchar was going to have a fight on her hands for the endorsement. Her challenger, Kobey Layne, deserves credit for her courage. Until four years ago, Layne was a legislative assistant for Republican state Senator Jim Abeler, and she subsequently became an active organizer in the trans community. Layne ran on her experience as a struggling young professional short on money, and she used her lack of work experience to boost her creditability with delegates. She channeled her vulnerability as an indictment of capitalism, the two-party system, and good deal more. A lot of delegates loved the message.
What message does it send, though, when the only person with the courage to challenge Senator Klobuchar had nothing to lose? I saw elected officials, elected party officers, and well-established activists pushing for Kobey, but they were hiding behind her, too. My guess is that they didn’t want to take the risk themselves. You burn it down. I’m right behind you.
When Kobey was nominated, Senator Klobuchar was put in the position of making a pitch to the delegates, bringing out the signs and swag, and debating Kobey in a twenty-minute question-and-answer period. To her credit, Klobuchar gave a strong speech and used the Q&A to hammer home her own message about delivering results, standing up for Minnesotans, and her lifelong commitment to Democratic values.
A lesser politician might have felt above going on the floor of the DFL state convention and fighting it out, but not Amy Klobuchar. In fact, this challenge from Kobey Layne, and all the leftists hiding behind her, brought out Amy’s best. She was fired up, throwing down, and taking no prisoners. She showed that a career in Washington and on the Presidential campaign trail had honed her political talents and placed her in a category of her own in Minnesota politics. They brought the torches, but they could not burn her down.
That’s why I am fired up about Amy Klobuchar running for Governor. She expects results, and she will do what it takes to get them. She brings a power to the office that we have probably never seen in Minnesota’s history. Her national profile is, in some ways, bigger than the job she is running for, but she fights for it all the same. We need that.
Fraud scandals involving public programs have damaged confidence in state government. Housing costs have risen sharply in many communities. Population growth has slowed. State assessments continue to show severe educational achievement gaps. Many Minnesotans still believe deeply in the values behind Minnesota’s economic and social model, but they are growing unsure if it can continue to deliver. We have been slowly burning some of Minnesota’s best traditions, and most people don’t like it very much.
The burn-it-down mindset of Democrats is understandable, and even somewhat desirable. We do need to remember how we got here. We need to address the systemic failure of our economy and our government to create opportunity for our people to live decent lives through their work and community involvement. We face a lot of corrupt and entrenched power that does not serve the people. That power needs to be broken, but we can only break it by building something better.
Amy Klobuchar was the only candidate for Governor in Minnesota in 2026 who could survive the burn-it-down mindset and keep her focus on addressing the problems facing our state. We need constructive leaders able to improve the lives of Minnesotans. Doing so requires experience, knowledge, long-term commitment and dedication to something more than just a partisan ideology. Not many DFL candidates have been rewarded in 2026 for bringing those qualities to their endorsing conventions.
Why were delegates frustrated with Amy Klobuchar? I think it was because they knew she was right, and it doesn’t always feel good to acknowledge the truth: it’s not good enough to just burn it down; we actually need elected officials who bring the ability and dedication to help us build a state worth keeping. We need activists, delegates and voters willing to think and build, not just vent.
We are fortunate that Amy Klobuchar had the determination to fight for something better in Rochester. That’s the quality Minnesota need in our next Governor.