A Northfield farmer hopes to add a rare rural voice to the Minnesota Senate’s DFL caucus

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Mark Legvold believes he can help the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party rediscover its agricultural roots.

Or, in the Senate District 58 candidate’s words, put the “F back in DFL.” He said this at his family farm in rural Northfield, in between greasing and changing oil on a John Deere combine.

Harvest prep comes around this time each year. The difference this season is he hopes for strong yields in his fields and at ballot boxes.

His campaign strategy is centered around connecting with district residents who’ve felt unheard by his party, like fellow farmers. Legvold has “gravel road Wednesdays” on his weekly schedule.

“I think they’re looking for people that listen to them,” he said. “And for a while, the Democratic Party didn’t seem to be listening to them. That’s why building relationships is a whole lot more important to me than a party.”

Related: Amid anger at Trump, a moderate Republican in the suburbs tries to hold on

The farmer and his opponent, Republican incumbent Sen. Bill Lieske, agree that District 58 is purple. Lieske won his first race with 53% of the votes in 2022.

But the two label themselves quite differently, Legvold attempting to chart a moderate Democratic course and Lieske a “very conservative” one.

“The people that I talk to have very strong beliefs in less government, which is why I think I hold a pretty solid position,” said Lieske, a chiropractor from Lonsdale. “The people that do want more help realize that when they ask for help, I’m willing to give it.”

He also finds like-minded company in the right wing of his party. He’s a leader in the Minnesota Freedom Caucus, for instance, and called the Jan. 6 riot a hoax on a podcast last year.

November’s election will not only test which approach wins over district voters; it could tilt control of the Minnesota Senate.

An everything district

District 58 looks like a misshapen Tetris block bending around Lakeville. It comprises Dakota County suburbs in Rosemount and Farmington, a quintessential college town in Northfield, small towns like Lonsdale and Randolph, and farmland in between.

It has a little bit of everything, said Lieske, who likens it to a cross-section of Minnesota as a whole. And like Minnesota, District 58 is polarized based on location. 

Republican Drew Roach, who co-hosted a podcast with Lieske on which the two expanded on the Jan. 6 hoax theory, represents 58B in the House out of his Farmington base. The podcast, recorded out of a studio in Lieske’s chiropractic office, featured a regular segment called “liberal tears.” Kristi Pursell, a Democrat, holds down 58A, home to Northfield’s Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges.

Altogether, district voters backed Donald Trump in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections. Nevertheless, Democrats see it as winnable.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a national organization focused on electing Democrats in state-level races, considers District 58 one of the “most competitive and consequential contests in the nation.” For Legvold, who had a cash on hand advantage over Lieske as of June, the national spotlight should steer more resources his way.

“The stakes could not be higher, and the DLCC is all hands on deck to support these strong candidates with the resources they need to win this November,” said DLCC president Heather Williams, in a statement about Legvold and other DFL candidates in competitive districts. 

Lieske’s rise from the grassroots

Sitting for an interview at his family chiropractic practice in downtown Lonsdale, Lieske said he feels good about where he’s at and where his district is at on issues.

Voters care about property taxes, fraud and general affordability, he said. On those and other issues, he suspects they agree with him on more government not being the solution.

Frustration at local and then state government propelled Lieske into politics, starting with a grassroots origin story. He ran a write-in campaign for Lonsdale mayor in 2021 on pledges to limit government.

The nine-term incumbent beat him by about 100 votes — no shame considering Lieske’s short campaign.

As this foray played out, Lieske was increasingly critical of the state government’s handling of COVID-19. Social distancing requirements, business restrictions and other responses seemed arbitrary to him. 

So he ran for the Senate. This time his name was on the ballot, and he won.

In office, Lieske said he’s been considered one of most conservative state lawmakers. Here’s how he applies his convictions to legislation: 

Test No. 1: Is it going to impact somebody’s personal freedoms?

“If the answer is yes, I’m a hard no,” he said. 

Test No. 2: Is this going to drastically grow the government? 

“If the answer is yes, I’m probably a hard no,” he said.

If his bars seem high, he says that’s the point.

“If it falls into these two, you’re going to get a lot more nos,” he said. “But after that, let’s have a discussion.” 

He maintains that his firm principles don’t prevent him from working with Democrats when the situation calls for it. A 2024 report placed him among the most bipartisan lawmakers. 

Related: Bipartisanship report recommends Minnesota Legislature reduce floor debates, improve balance on committees

Bipartisanship was a prerequisite to get his legislation over the line, like a bill helping small food producers ship products across the state and securing bonding bill funds for Lonsdale’s water tower project.

Lonsdale Mayor Tom Berg watched Lieske’s rise to the Senate and said the “hometown hero” has been a steady advocate for his district in the Legislature. “From the beginning to the end, Bill was very instrumental in that,” he said of the bonding bill funding. 

And despite liberals being fair game for ridicule on his podcast, Lieske said he’s not one to attack opponents in elections.

Legvold the ‘lifelong learner’ 

Legvold entered politics with a lifetime in family farming, experience as an educator, and 33 years in the U.S. Air National Guard. He served as a firefighter and then as police officer during his military career.

“I’m kind of a lifelong learner,” he said. “I learned how to be a cop at 45. I’m learning how to be a politician at age 55.”

He’s enthusiastic about which committees he could contribute to at the Capitol, seeing himself as a candidate with deep yet varied professional experience. On an agriculture committee, he’d bring perspective as a farmer weathering turbulent federal policies. On veterans affairs, he’d bring military experience. On education, he’d come in as a former administrator and educator in St. Paul Public Schools. 

On the campaign trail, Lieske hears constituents bring up affordability, housing and health care. The district is also home to data centers being built in Rosemount and proposed in Farmington, an energizing topic for residents.

The proximity of the Farmington project to homes is a concern, Legvold said. Lieske, for his part, said he proposed legislation regulating where data centers could be located.

While Legvold talked about potential committee assignments and pressing issues in the district, he was whittling down his to-do list on the farm. He needed to finish before heading to Randolph to door knock and attend the city’s annual chicken feed fire department fundraiser — Lieske and the Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate, Eric Pratt, were also at the event.

Ted Suss, who served in the Legislature in the 1970s, knocked on doors with Legvold in Randolph. He prefers the challenger’s moderateness to “hardliner” Lieske.

“Nothing is ever going to get done unless the parties work together,” he said. “Parties want ultra partisanship; I want someone who can work across the aisle.”

Legvold seems confident his eschewal of extremes and ability to forge relationships will be difference makers in the election. If he’s right, he’d be a rare, rural voice in the DFL Senate caucus.

“I approach a lot of things with the idea of how can we compromise and meet in the middle, and that means I’ve got to compromise with folks on the left side of my party and the right side of their party, and somehow come together because this is really a purple district,” Legvold said.

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