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My Point of View by Robert Hoffman

From downpours at the parade to picnics and the primaries, the summer of the 2024 elections is going to be exciting! Everyone’s summer has a million things going on; here’s a few more. These are events to look forward to and a few ways to get more involved with the Freeborn County Republicans.

A lot of us are still talking about it. The rain hit right when the parade in Alden started, and there was no turning back. Everyone got drenched! State Rep. Peggy Bennett and a float-load of us waved American flags and waved to hundreds of people who stuck it out despite the storm, and we all enjoyed the parade together. May our upcoming election turn out much the same. The Morin Lake Days Parade in Alden is just one of the events we take part in together. Here’s more.

Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden will have their first of possibly two debates soon, on the evening of Thursday, June 27. The Freeborn County Republicans often get together to watch the debates. We got together for each of the presidential primary debates, and we plan to host a debate watch party downtown the evening of the 27th also.

July will be a blast. The Third of July Parade in Albert Lea is the best kick-off to the Fourth of July holiday. The local Republicans, candidates and elected officials will all be participating in this year’s parade together again. You’ll see us, wave back at us while we’re waving our American Flags with everyone. This year the Fourth of July is on a Thursday also. So, the Albert Lea Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce fireworks, (being launched from their awesome new location between Fountain and Albert Lea lakes) will help us all start off the extra-long holiday weekend with a bang.

The monthly meeting for the Freeborn County Republicans will be on Monday, July 8, at the Edgewater Bay Pavilion. We start our social at 4:30 p.m., prayer and pledge at 5 p.m. sharp and adjourn by 6:30 p.m. . The meetings are informative, structured and a great place to talk. The entire Congressional District also comes to Albert Lea every other month in the summer and on July 8 is the 1st Congressional District Republican’s bi-monthly meeting at Wedgewood. CD-1 Chairman Aaron Farris hosts over 20 counties from southern Minnesota in Albert Lea and helps keep our dot on the map highlighted by doing so.

This July is also especially exciting for four of your Freeborn County Republicans. Four people from Freeborn County will be attending the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee in mid-July. Eighteen-year-old Jackson Cox and 21-year-old Aaron Farris were elected at the Congressional District Convention to attend the RNC. Thirty-nine-year-old Shannon Cox (Jackson’s uncle) and 47-year-old Robert Hoffman were elected at the recent Republicans of Minnesota State Convention in St Paul. President Trump visited the state convention for a dinner, and these four attended along with a handful of others from Freeborn County and a large room full of people excited to campaign now. President Trump may announce his pick for vice president at the RNC.

Nothing is more important than simply voting this election. Our Freeborn County Fair booth will help remind everyone to get out and vote in the Aug. 13 Minnesota primaries and especially the Nov. 5 general elections. During the Freeborn County Fair this July 30 through Aug. 4 the county Republicans will be at their famous fair booth under the Grandstand every day. Make sure to stop by to visit. We love seeing everyone at the fair. During the fair we will also be handing out invites to our annual summer picnic. We host our picnic after the fair and right before the primaries to remind everyone one last time to get out and vote in the August primaries.

I personally think that with President Trump’s popularity and the exact opposite of our current president that reminding people to vote in November will be easy. I do not think Joe Biden will be on the ballot this November. I am interested to see who is dumped at the last minute. (I think he drops out at their national convention in Chicago in late August.) Like I said, the summer of the 2024 elections is going to be exciting!

Participate in the excitement with us. Contact us anytime, donate any amount, walk in the parades with us, come to the monthly meetings, wish a few of us luck at the RNC, visit us at the fair, grab an invite to the picnic and vote in August and November. We’d love to hear from you and to participate in this election with you. It’s going to get exciting, let’s witness it shoulder to shoulder.

Robert Hoffman is chairman of the Freeborn County Republicans.