Editors note: Tyler Balbuena has been very active in DFL politics for ten years now, including being in leadership of the DFL. But he is now he is quitting because of questionable actions by DFL leadership and toxic processes that undermine democracy. He explains why.
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From: Tyler Balbuena
Date: Sat, Jan 4, 2025, 8:55 PM
Subject: Letter of Resignation
To whom it may concern,
I am writing today to announce my resignation from the role of Senate District 59 DFL Vice Chair.
This isn’t easy. I have been active in the party for what seems like a long time. I attended my first convention in Winona in 2014, where I was blown away by meeting a very charismatic Congressman in Tim Walz. After I moved to Chaska, I became involved in that Senate District as Communications Director. As it was a scrappy organization, and our candidates were not favored, nor were they given support from the state party, I also served as Press Secretary for one of our State House candidates. Despite, or perhaps because of this lack of DFL dominance, my work in Carver County had a clear purpose that I feel is sorely lacking in the central metro.
In 2018, I volunteered extensively for the Walz gubernatorial campaign. Again, here I felt a calling and sense of purpose. I was working directly for a candidate that I believed in, and we fought through the primary even without our party’s endorsement. I am proud of that work.
Upon moving to Minneapolis in November of 2018, I promptly became involved in SD59. I have served in multiple roles in this SD since then. I am very glad for the friends and connections that I’ve been blessed to make in that time, but honestly, the work during this period that I have found rewarding has been volunteering directly for candidates. Working for city council candidates like LaTrisha Vetaw, congressional candidates like Antone Melton-Meaux and Don Samuels, and County Attorney candidates like Martha Holton Dimick has been the political work that fills my cup so to speak. But you can see the problem here. Governor Walz lost the endorsement to Erin Murphy in 2018. LaTrisha Vetaw lost the endorsement to CM Phillipe Cunningham in 2021. Both Antone and Don lost their respective endorsement fights to Congresswoman Omar in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Martha Holton Dimick lost endorsement to Mary Moriarty in 2022.
Many of those endorsements were questionable. In both 2022 and 2024, Don Samuels had organized a sufficient number of DFL rank-and-file to attend the convention and block endorsement, but despite this, elected officials (super delegates) interceded to ensure an Omar endorsement. 2021 and 2022 were pandemic years, and in both cases the manner of selecting delegates, and the opaqueness of the process, called into question the legitimacy of those endorsements. Worse, in 2023 we had major crises across multiple ward conventions in Minneapolis.
Throughout I have been calling for reforms and for the party to act more responsibly. I was against holding endorsing conventions during the pandemic unless they could be done in the regular, in person way, and I have continued to advocate for reforms to modify the process in places, like Minneapolis, where the DFL is dominant to ensure we aren’t an oligarchic structure hindering real democracy.
Unfortunately, the events of this past year have shown the institutional party isn’t interested in change. Public sector unions blocked reform packages at both the state convention and within the Minneapolis DFL. MFT and the SEIU have made it abundantly clear they will oppose any effort that would reduce the odds of their preferred candidate being the sole person to advance from the process, and they have influence over enough party activists to maintain that block. Meanwhile, our unreformed process continues to hemorrhage participants. I can tell you, our caucuses were low turnout in 2024, and trying to convince people to run for delegate slots or party positions was like pulling teeth. We must change, but I no longer feel my holding of party roles advances reform. To the contrary, I worry being a custodian of this institution, helping to keep it going, may only be serving to lend legitimacy to a broken process.
Further, the level of toxicity within the DFL in CD5 has grown unabated. Several weeks ago, an SD Chair from a neighboring Senate District repeatedly called a friend of mine a “fucking bitch” while leaving the CD5 meeting. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s childish. I must say, however, that minus a few hiccups, SD59 is better on this front than our neighbors, and I thank you all for that. But I’m not interested in continuing in an organization that allows, and even rewards, this kind of behavior. It’s corrosive to the soul.
More and more this just doesn’t feel like my party. I don’t see us attacking the actual challenges that face Minnesota. I pointed this out at our last SD meeting. Minnesota’s public school rankings continue to fall, but any effort at change that doesn’t involve a blank check is met with hostility by the organized forces that influence our party. At the moment where we need people to adopt electric appliances and vehicles to combat climate change, our electricity rates continue to climb, in part thanks to a misguided law passed during the trifecta, influenced by extreme “degrowth” climate groups that have a lot of power within the party. Despite voters making it abundantly clear how important public safety is, we still have DFL legislators pushing bills, again influenced by radical outside groups, to do things like make possession of a firearm by a prohibited individual a misdemeanor rather than a felony. Meanwhile, we increasingly endorse candidates who have membership in a quasi-party that advocates for everything from police and prison abolition to withdrawal from NATO and the lifting of sanctions and detente with our foreign adversaries like Russia. I could go on, but you get the point. I am still a DFLer because the alternative is terrible, but I can’t motivate myself to work for an organization that I don’t believe in, and that’s not fair to any of you.
On a final note, I am expecting the next four years to be difficult and stress-filled. I am doing my best to face the future in the spirit of Pope John Paul II, who admonished us to “Be Not Afraid.” For me, I believe it will be easier to maintain that posture without the added drama of DFL infighting and what increasingly seems like empty procedure. I do want to apologize for running for this seat. I had hoped this wasn’t where we would be going into 2025, but here we are. I hope by offering this detailed explanation I am helping to further needed conversations, rather than contributing to the intra-party drama.
With respect and in solidarity,
Tyler Balbuena
Tyler, it sounds like you and I are kindred spirits.
I have been involved in Mpls DFL politics since moving here from the East Metro in ’91. I too served as the Vice Chair of a Senate District here on the South side two redistrictings ago, and in many other SD DFL positions. I have also been heavily involved in individual campaigns, both in Mpls and in numerous suburban State Legislative districts, especially when those were “swing” districts. (Not so long ago! That part of my campaigns “career” was 2004-2016…). One of the things I have learned along the way is – Before committing to a campaign, always insist that the candidate has an intention and a plan to continue to run even if an opponent wins the DFL endorsement. Depending on the office, either in Primary, or in an RCV General. The stories I could tell you about “shenanigans” and outright corruption in DLF conventions (even in East Metro suburbs and exurbs!) would curl your toes. It’s not a city problem. It’s a DFL problem.
Unfortunately, the DFL has made it “against the rules” to serve in a party role while materially supporting a candidate running against an endorsee. It makes it so that, yes, I can serve in some position or another, but only during a few months of any given year. Our odd number year city elections and even number year state and federal elections make it an almost-every-year thing to have to take “leave” from a party position. There is, of course, the option of trying to hide one’s campaign involvement, and I know many who do this. I’ve decided not to. I think it’s the better path to simply step aside and let those who think this is the right way to run a party step forward and do the thankless volunteer work of party organization.
I applaud your decision to do the same – at least as far as no longer serving as your SD Vice Chair. I urge you to continue serving worthy individual candidates. This is how one can really make a difference in today’s DFL.
Thank you Tyler, for your many, many years of service to an ungrateful and and frankly (with apologies to those honestly afflicted) schizophrenic dfl party.
And I want to help piles of thanks for your extremely well reasoned resignation letter. You are entirely spot on about what ails our once mighty party.
Why on earth the dfl ALLOWED a “quasi-party” to join, take up residence and take over? I do not know. But, as has been pointed out – the damage is real and it has been swift!.
If WE can see it so clearly ~ why is it our illustrious leaders cannot?
Until they do so. Until the dfl admits it made a HUGE mistake and they force the DSA OUT, requiring them form their own party, as should have been done from the get go… The dfl will continue to flounder and the city of Mpls will pay the price.
And the price tag is far higher than we can afford!
How many more GOOD people can the dfl afford to lose?
What must we do to WAKE UP leadership and reclaim our party?
It is far past time for it to happen.
Whatever it takes…let’s get it started!
Thank you for this piece. For some of the same reasons listed, and specifically after watching what has been happening with these dual endorsements, which should not be happening, where a DSA candidate also receives a DFL endorsement, I, after decades, started to refer to myself as an Independent.
After watching what these DSA MPLS Council Members have done, which may have caused lasting harm to the City, I found it impossible to attach myself to the DFL party in the MPLS area. The quandary, as you stated, ” I
am still a DFLer because the alternative is terrible,” is real and profound.
Your statement below refers to the tandem DSA and DFL
endorsed candidates here in MPLS, who are all of the Anti Police variety. Their impact here in MPLS on public safety has been devastating.
*We increasingly endorse candidates who have membership
in a quasi-party that advocates for everything from police
and prison abolition…
I am sorry to read this. Not too terribly Surprised but it feels bad that good leadership is not appreciated.
Good luck with your other future endeavors!