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Gene Dornink of Hayfield was unanimously endorsed by Republicans of Senate District 27 in a virtual convention to challenge incumbent Dan Sparks.

Dornink is a small business owner, family man and union carpenter for over 20 years. He said he is excited and ready to work hard to earn the votes and trust of the people in the district.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be our candidate for state Senate to represent Mower, Freeborn, Dodge and Faribault counties in St. Paul,” Dornink said in a press release. “As a member of this community and someone who truly cares about my neighbors, I think we all deserve a senator who will answer our calls and emails and shows up for all of us.”

Dornink has lived in southern Minnesota all of his life and grew up on a dairy farm.

He said he believes in using common sense and logic to solve problems. He gets that belief from working alongside union laborers for 22 years as a union carpenter.

From owning his own business to growing up on a dairy farm, he said he knows what it is like to have a lot going on and being able to prioritize to get things done efficiently

He said he also thinks in order to have a strong economy, the state must prepare a workforce for the jobs in demand and need to do more to get young people into the labor trades.

“I look forward to meeting many of the voters over the next several months, if I haven’t had that privilege already,” he said.

He noted his campaign plans to continue to monitor and respect social distancing guidelines to keep people safe.

This is the second time for Dornink to face off against Sparks. In 2016, he lost 45.17% to 54.76%.