Minnesota ranked #1 (Part 2): Four more candidates running to keep it that way
Key Takeaways
Minnesota currently ranks #1 overall in the 2026 State of the Nation Project report, a bipartisan measure of quality of life across health, education, economy, and civic participation
The DFL-endorsed challengers on the 2026 ballot are running to sustain and build on that standing
Their platforms address issues that impact Minnesotans’ quality of life, like childcare, housing, education, healthcare, and local government oversight
All four earned their endorsement through the DFL convention process; check your sample ballot at mnvotes.gov to see which races appear on yours for this August primary
The first part of this two-part series looked at the DFL-endorsed incumbents on the 2026 ballot and the records they've built; records that track closely with Minnesota's #1 overall ranking in the 2026 State of the Nation Project report.
Sustaining rankings like that depends on who holds office and what they choose to prioritize. This post introduces four more DFL-endorsed challengers running to carry that work forward. Here's who they are and what they're running on.
Abdi Daisane, running for Minnesota House District 14A
Born in Somalia, Abdi Daisane spent 18 years in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp before resettling in the United States in 2009 and moving to St. Cloud in 2013, where he earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and a master's in public administration from St. Cloud State University.
Daisane owns Blooming Kids Child Care Center in St. Cloud and has spent eight years working directly in early childhood education. He has also served on the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the Paramount Center for the Arts board, and a local community policing initiative.
What Daisane is running on
District 14A covers southwest St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Augusta, and part of St. Joseph. For a district where working families are the majority, the policies that determine childcare access, housing costs, and school quality are the policies that determine daily life.
The foundations that put Minnesota at the top of national quality-of-life rankings like strong schools, accessible healthcare, and stable housing don't hold up without sustained investment at the local level. Daisane's platform is built around exactly that:
Expanding eligibility for childcare assistance programs and supporting new childcare provider startups, drawing on his experience running a childcare business serving working families in Central Minnesota
Increasing the supply of affordable housing in District 14A
Fully funding K–12 public schools, including competitive pay for teachers and expanded mental health support in schools
Protecting healthcare access, including support for expanding MinnesotaCare
Zachary Dorholt, running for Minnesota House District 14B
Zachary Dorholt is a licensed professional clinical counselor working in coordinated care and integrated behavioral health at CentraCare in St. Cloud. He holds a bachelor's degree in community development and a master's in rehabilitation counseling from St. Cloud State University. He has served on the St. Cloud Area School District 742 Board since 2018 and was reelected in 2022. He previously represented House District 14B from 2013 to 2015, where he served on the Higher Education Committee.
What Dorholt is running on
District 14B covers the northeast portion of St. Cloud, along with Minden Township and parts of Haven Township. His professional background in behavioral health and his years on the school board give him a ground-level view of where families in the district are being stretched thin.
Dorholt's platform focuses on the conditions that allow Central Minnesota communities to stay strong:
Making everyday life more affordable, with policies that support economic security for working families
Expanding access to healthcare close to home, with particular emphasis on mental health services
Fully funding public schools and supporting the educators who work in them
Protecting clean air, water, and Minnesota's natural resources
Building public safety systems that are community-centered and address root causes
Doug Chapin, running for U.S. House, Congressional District 6
Most candidates for Congress come from political careers. This doesn’t apply to Doug Chapin. He spent more than 35 years working on the mechanics of democracy itself: as an attorney in Congress, as a litigator in private practice, as the leader of The Pew Charitable Trusts' elections program, and as the founder of the nation's first online certificate program in election administration at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He has seen how government is supposed to work from virtually every angle. That background shapes what he's running on.
What Chapin is running on
Congressional District 6 stretches across a wide swath of central Minnesota, from the St. Cloud area through the outer Twin Cities suburbs. In 2026, the district's voters are navigating the same challenges faced by much of the country — prices driven up by tariffs, healthcare costs rising as federal Medicaid and ACA protections erode, and small businesses trying to stay viable in an unstable economic environment. Those are federal policy questions, which means they turn on who represents the district in Congress.
His three priorities:
An economy that works for everyone — good jobs, livable pay, fair taxes, and open markets
Healthcare that puts patients first, including reducing the role of insurance companies in medical decisions
A Congress that is accountable to the people of CD6, not to party leadership or outside interests
Zack Filipovich is running for Minnesota State Auditor
Zack Filipovich is a Certified Management Accountant and finance manager at Northspan, a regional economic development nonprofit based in Duluth. He served eight years on the Duluth City Council, including time as Council President, and earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He received the DFL endorsement at the May State Convention in Rochester, and carries endorsements from the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the Minnesota Nurses Association, among others.
What Filipovich is running on
The State Auditor oversees the finances of local governments across Minnesota — cities, counties, school boards, townships, and soil and water conservation districts. It is the office most directly responsible for making sure public money at the local level is managed well and spent as intended.
Filipovich's platform is built around what that oversight actually requires in practice:
Preventing fraud in local government through rigorous, consistent financial review
Giving local governments (from the smallest townships to the largest cities) the data, tools, and training they need to make sound financial decisions
Restoring and strengthening public trust in how local tax dollars are managed
Filipovich has noted that he would be the first accountant to hold the State Auditor position in roughly 50 years, and has centered that professional background as the core of his case for the office.
Learn more and get involved
Minnesota's #1 ranking reflects decades of policy choices made at every level of government — from school boards to Congress. The four candidates in this post are running to make the next set of those choices. Learning who they are and what they stand for is a good place to start.
Find candidate information, upcoming events, and ways to get involved!
