[UPDATE: Crabgrass located the Strib paywalled item carried by MSN, here, without paywalling. Analysis below was posted prior than that discovery. It is the most complete analysis Crabgrass found differentiating between the two primary campaigns. Readers are urged to take advantage of unpaywalled access]
Going into a local legislative DFL primary, two candidates have gained more than district-wide attention to be the general election opponent to whoever the Republican candidate is. The District has been largely a Dem voting one, over recent time..
Neither of the two could get the party supermajority required for endorsement but that did not stop the old school types playing favorites for their incumbent stiff, against the reform-oriented challenger. But it is how old school operates, making reform necessary.
Strib has paywalled coverage.
Hoodline, a local coverage provider links to the Strib item, and writes:
Endorsements, money and competing narratives
Latz has lined up backing from high-profile state Democrats, and the Senate DFL caucus is spending to hang on to his seat. Dumalag, meanwhile, has secured support from the district’s two House members and St. Louis Park’s mayor. Her campaign is pitching the race as a mandate for urgency, especially on housing and neighborhood engagement. "It’s about the people of this district, and for the first time in 20 years there is a choice," Dumalag said, as reported by the Star Tribune.
Latz's record and role in St. Paul
Latz chairs the Minnesota Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and argues that seniority and relationships translate into concrete wins for his constituents. [...]
Dumalag’s pitch for faster change
Dumalag, a commercial real-estate broker, spent five years on the St. Louis Park City Council and has centered her campaign on affordable-housing advocacy and deep neighborhood outreach. [...]
Convention drama and immigration politics
The March district convention ended in a stalemate, with no DFL endorsement and delegates split between the two candidates, which pushed the final decision to the August primary. Many Dumalag supporters say they were galvanized by this winter’s immigration enforcement operations and the neighborhood organizing that followed. The convention deadlock and the role of immigration enforcement in the race were detailed by the Star Tribune.
Why the result matters beyond the district
SD46 is widely expected to stay in DFL hands in November, but the primary looms large because Democrats control the Minnesota Senate by a single seat and every member helps decide committee chairs and what legislation can move. That razor-thin margin means the choice St. Louis Park Democrats make in August could ripple into what the DFL can realistically pass at the Capitol, according to Bring Me The News.
What to watch next
The primary is set for August 11, and both Latz and Dumalag appear on the state’s official candidate list and elections calendar. Voters can expect the volume to turn up as that date approaches, with more mail pieces and digital ads highlighting contrasts between the incumbent and the challenger, per the Minnesota Secretary of State and the Minnesota Secretary of State.
So, old school vs build-it-better. It's a shame Strib paywalls. But the fight of traditional local news outlets for survival is real. Mailer mischief, or was it innocent error, has become a clouding issue. When old ways and new aims collide, the choice can stand best on the issues and how the candidates see things.
Interesting coverage from during the last legislative session seems relevant, even if not directly related to the current primary contest:
Democrat Senators Ron Latz (SD46) and Susan Pha (SD38) were on separate sides of the issue on a piece of legislation and this led to personal attacks being launched each way! The bill, SF1750, altered regulations surrounding Home Owner Associations. While this bill would have normally resulted in a mundane floor debate, Latz and Pha implied that the other was a liar when considering whether to accept the House's amendments to the bill! This mostly took place following Pha's speech where she contended with Latz and Judy Seeberger's (SD41) opposition. See video HERE.
Latz was looking at the legislation with a careful microscope after decades of passing unconstitutional, multi-subject, thousand page omnibus bills! Where was Ron Latz in 2024 when Democrats combined multiple omnibus bills into the Omnibus-Prime legislation totally nearly 1,500 pages! It seems he only wants to be meticulous when it comes to protecting tyrannical Home Owner Associations!
One reason Latz and Pha may be willing to let their internal political disputes be seen in the public eye is that they have nothing to lose! They are both facing left-wing primary challenges and know their days in the Capitol may be numbered!
Ron Latz was first elected to the legislature 24 years ago in 2002 and is the son of a politician who also was in the legislature. He now faces a competitive primary challenge from St. Louis city councilmember Lynette Dumalag after neither were able to claim the local party endorsement. Latz is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee and has been desperately pushing radical gun control to try to save his political career. Lynette Dumalag has a long list of endorsements, which even includes one of the Representatives in his district, [now both] radical leftist Larry Kraft (46A). Latz likely also suffers with Democrats due to his support for Israel. On the campaign finance front, Dumalag had roughly $24,883 cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2025 and Latz had roughly $107,604 cash on hand as of the same date.
Like Ron Latz’ situation, Susan Pha is also not endorsed by the local party after neither she or her Democratic opponent, leftist activist Nehemiah Garley, could reach the 60% endorsement threshold. Garley had roughly $862 cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2025 and Pha had roughly $838 cash on hand as of the same date. Garley appears to be supported by several legislators including one of the Representatives of the district, Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley (38A). Following the convention Momanyi-Hiltsley posted a misleading congratulations on Facebook for Garley, making many readers think he is endorsed when he isn’t! See below: [...]
A strategic conservative would utilize and exploit the Democrats’ lack of unity to its fullest extent. Democrats have ram-rodded their radical agenda through and there is finally a chink in their armor! They are divided, in conflict, and weak! Now is the time for conservatives to strike!
So, the other party's print advocate has a look and opinion. The upshot of the long quote is that the Dems are presently looking at a Dem leg super-entrenched fixture, vs new thoughts, while the GOP is having its own internal problems nationally, while locally intact in a MN House split down the middle.
While the GOP is not likely to pick up the seat if Latz looses the primary, they hope.
What is really at stake, old ways against new ideas. The ICE invasion of the state has had its impact, in that Ron Latz was absent and Lynette Dumalag was a part of the entire metro communities' awakened reaction against the heavyhandedness, hatefulness and overbearing stupidity of ICE aims and behavior.
Will the challenge carry the day? This MN local senate district contest has gained more attention than others, and may be a barometer of sorts.
And Crabgrass in headlining has disclosed a progressive bias that favors the challenger over the incumbent. Regular readers would already know about that.
_____________UPDATE_____________
While the Republican outlet's claiming Latz went over this particular bill with a microscope, after watching their linked proceedings video, it seems impossible to dispute that claim. He was quite long-winded. Tediously so, some might think. Smoothly so. What I did not hear from Latz, where words matter, any disclosure of any pecuniary personal interest at stake.
The MSN carry of the Strib locally authored item states:
He lists two rental condos in his district on his economic interest disclosure with the state Campaign Finance Board. Latz has said his wife rents out the units and he has little to do with them.
When Homowner Association restraints and regulations, procedural can and cannot do rules are under discussion, and you have a pecuniary interest in two rental units (presumably under separate oversight bodies each with its own covenants, conditions and restrictions) disclosure of that pecuniary stake at the start and in summary would be best practice, since both rental units are under Association jurisdictions, {unless extreme unusual practices not included in reporting exist). Law governing condominiums in Minnesota likely mandate it. But to take the unusual step of tedious time-consuming nitpicking of stuff and then voting for approval of the entire bill as passed to the MN Senate from the other chamber is - quaint. You object so much and look as if wanting to stall a passage, lose the postponement effort, and then take the safe Dem vote to approve a citizen protective thing is what Latz did.
Latz may have disclosed his pecuniary interest, and Crabgrass missed it. But the question, in an election is important. Are you voting for someone who both favors and practice.s transparency, or not? Latz is not a legislative novice. Twenty years on the hill in St Paul I believe. Disclosure of a pecuniary interest, even if indirect, is a generally known norm. It is not a novice being tripped up over some fine point; it is as it seems, Latz gave no disclosure. Knew or should have known disclosure was approprite for his colleagues to weigh his concerns. Twenty years.
Others, especially the Dumalag campaign should pin things down. Disclosure or not. Yes or no? Did he or did he not?