Trina Swanson for MN08

Lots of events coming up!

Coffee in Aurora

When:

June 30, 4:30–6:30pm

Where:

The Hive
Aurora, MN

Make a donation. Minimum suggested donation $50. Checks can be made out to “Trina for Congress” and mailed to PO Box 1063, Duluth, MN 55810 or brought to the event.

Pizza Party in Cook

When:

July 24, 4:00–6:00pm

Where:

Cook Community Center
Cook, MN

America’s 250th Birthday!

Bring a Sign That Commemorates Our Rights & Freedoms

When:

July 3, 12:00–1:00pm

Location 1:

Sheridan & Central
Ely, MN

Location 2

Main Street at the Locomotive
Tower, MN

We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.

It's Parade Time!

Upcoming parades with St Louis County 03 DFL

There will be campaign signs, banners, and flags to carry at each parade. We will bring small American flags and candy for you to distribute to the kids. A limited number of campaign t-shirts will be available for you wear. Some campaigns ask that you return the shirts so that they can be laundered and used at the next parade.

July 4 in Tower

We'll meet at 10am in the Civic Center parking lot, 404 Pine St, Tower. Parade starts at 11am. If you plan on walking in the Ely parade too, park near the end of the parade route (Zups Market, 315 Main St) and walk to the parade line-up at the Civic Center. Allow plenty of time.

July 4 in Ely

Line up starts at 11:30am along 4th Avenue - Vehicles and floats, please come into the line up area on Boundary Street and 4th Avenue and the Parade Officials will direct you to your line-up spot. Parade starts at 1pm

When coming to the Ely parade route from Tower, take Central Ave to Boundary Street, then turn on 4th Avenue. There will be parade officials at Boundary and 4th directing traffic to the line-up area.

July 18, Hermantown Summer Fest Parade

We will line up at 10am Fichtner Field, 4118 Ugstad Rd. Additional overflow staging area may be held at the Hermantown Historical Society, 5255 Maple Grove. The parade starts at 11am and will run from Fichtner Field and continue along Ugstad Road to the YMCA.

July 25, Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival Parade

Line up at 11am along Kennedy memorial drive near the two churches (305-315 Kennedy Memorial Dr). Look for the SOAR float and the DFL signs. Parade starts at noon and is approximately 8 blocks long.

A People's Forum on the Hermantown Data Center

Duluth Indivisible Monthly Meeting

When:

July 9, 6:00–8:00pm

Where:

Grace Lutheran Church
5454 Miller Trunk Hwy
Duluth, MN

Come hear from experts, not people who expect or hope to gain financially or politically from the data center development. We've heard lots of promises; we've seen shifting sands, and we've witnessed NDA's and continued lack of transparency.

Indivisible for Peggy Flanagan

Indivisible U.S. Senate Phone Bank Series

When:

Jul 27–Aug 10, 5:30–7:30 CT

Where:

Anywhere

We’ll be telling voters all about this exciting candidate and why they should be voting to send Peggy to represent them in DC. Help make calls to voters in Minnesota, and let’s send a real fighter for families and a defender of democracy to the Senate!

A short phonebanking training will be included at the beginning of each phonebank, so both first-time dialers and phonebank pros are welcome to join. Be sure to have both a computer and a phone so that you can make calls to voters.

6th Annual Iron Range Pride Festival

Fantabulous Diverse TRANSformative

When:

August 8, 11:00–4:00pm

Where:

Iron Trail Motors Event Center
Virginia, MN

This year's festival will include vendors, food trucks and a full day of entertainment.

MN Primary Election

Voting open now!

When:

August 11

• Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August 11
• Vote by mail or in person June 26 through August 10.
• Register in advance by July 21 to save time on Election Day.

A primary election determines which candidates will be on the ballot in the November general election

Neighbor 2 Neighbor

Indivisible

We're going all in to help Peggy Flanagan win her Senate primary, and last week we launched our Neighbor2Neighbor canvassing tool statewide in Minnesota.

Neighbor2Neighbor (N2N) is our revolutionary voter contact program that makes getting out the vote quick and easy. There's no app to download. No need for fancy tech. Just complete the signup form and we'll connect you with 10 likely progressive neighbors who may need a reminder to vote.

Then, you can knock on doors whenever is most convenient for you.

People who hear from a trusted neighbor are up to two times more likely to vote than those who don't. The key to turnout-and the success of our Neighbor2Neighbor program-is connecting on a personal level with those we live closest to.

Prevent Minnesota 'High-Volume' Fracking and Gas Extraction

by July 2, 2026

The Court of Administrative Hearings (“CAH”) is now reviewing rules proposed by the Environmental Quality Board (“EQB”) that would allow “high-volume” fracking for gas in Minnesota and unlimited gas wells and pipelines without any EIS environmental review.

Tell the CAH to disapprove these weak rules and tell EQB to withdraw its rules and start over to protect Minnesota groundwater, surface water, climate and communities from gas extraction and production.

Oppose USPS Rule Change Threatening Mail Voting

by July 2, 2026

On June 2, 2026, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) published a proposed rule to allow the federal government to control who can cast a mail-in or absentee ballot. The rule, a response to an executive order that Donald Trump signed in March, would require states to send USPS a list of every voter slated to receive a ballot by mail. USPS could then refuse to deliver ballots to any voters whose names are not on states’ pre-approved lists.

The rule threatens to disenfranchise the thousands of voters who rely on mailed ballots to participate in elections, including American citizens living abroad, people with disabilities, rural residents, and other communities that have long faced obstacles at the polls. Under this rule, a data or administrative error could block voters from receiving ballots through no fault of their own. Further, election administrators across the country say there is neither time nor funding to comply with the new rule before November 2026 midterms.

Urge Governor Walz to do all they can to stop this rule from taking effect and protect state control over elections and mail-in voting.

Then, submit a public comment to USPS opposing this unlawful rule change. USPS is accepting written comments via email until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 2, 2026.

Hands Off Our Vote 2026

Indivisible Campaign

Hands Off Our Vote is Indivisible’s national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted. We’ll help you be ready to respond to any attacks, and we’ll shine a light on the bad actors threatening our basic constitutional rights.

By signing up you’ll get notified of key voting deadlines in your state, get updates on any threats to your voting rights and learn how to counter them, and be ready to mobilize in defense of your vote. You’ll also play an important role in rapid response moments whenever and wherever they try to pull those dirty tricks. We have tremendous power to protect our elections in 2026. Sign up here to get started and join the Hands Off Our Vote movement.

Defending Our Vote

The ACLU’s election safeguarding program

President Trump and state lawmakers are trying to interfere in the 2026 midterm elections. The ACLU has a plan to keep power where it belongs — in the hands of the voters.

Across the country, we’re already organizing and mobilizing with our neighbors as part of our largest ever election safeguarding initiative, investing more than $24.5 million to protect our right to vote and empower voters across the country to participate fully in our democracy.

ICE wants to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN

What happens next depends on us. We keep us safe.

ICE wants to reopen the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, MN as a 1,600 capacity immigration detention center, run by private prison giant CoreCivic. If approved, it would become one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the US, ~60% larger than Delaney Hall.

They're betting this can happen quietly in a small town far from the headlines. Don't let it.

Call your elected officials and demand an end to for-profit detention. Organize locally. Talk to your neighbors. Learn from the protests and hunger strikes happening at detention facilities across the country.

Write Postcards to Swing States

Progressive Turnout Project

Sign up for our Get Out the Vote postcards. We'll send you the postcards for free, along with voter lists and instructions with proven message options. You will need to provide the Postcard Stamps (currently $0.61). All the mailing dates for these postcards are in October.

5calls

Pick an action & make a call

Call for Writing

Activate your voice — storytellers, poets & independent journalists wanted

Panatrope wants you for the launch their new journal!

They are accepting written work of any genre: Poetry: up to 5 pages
Short Fiction or nonfiction: between 400-5000 words.

Call for Storytellers

New show planned to launch in July

"Humans evolved opposable thumbs to be able to hold on. We evolved Story to know what to hold on to."

What’s your story? We’re celebrating the art of oral storytelling — the every day way we all communicate with each other. For our new podcast, 'North Star Lane', we’re collecting personal stories about connections — to place, to the past, to each other. Stories should be 3–10 minutes in length, and can range in tone from funny incident to elegy and everything in between. Michael Goldberg is collecting the stories. Send audio to him — or a note to arrange a phone call or zoom — at goldberg.actionmedia@gmail.com. He is also looking for storytellers for a live storytelling show in Grand Rapids,Labor Day weekend, themed On the Job. Let him know if you’d like more information about that.

North Star Lane is produced by Michael Goldberg, who lives in the woods of northern Minnesota and collects stories from his friends and neighbors. They tell stories about their connections – to place, to the past, to each other – and about things that are important to them. We think a lot of the same things are important to us all.

Talons Off Our Wild Rice!

How Talon Mine Threatens MN Clean Water, Manoomin, & Communities

When:

June 30, 6:00–7:30pm

Where:

Online

What threats face clean water and wild rice in Minnesota? How can you help prevent a mining sacrifice zone and protect manoomin/psíŋ for future generations?

Next month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will open a critical public comment period on the proposed Talon Metals/Rio Tinto sulfide-ore nickel mine in Aitkin County. Your comment is needed to protect the heart of Minnesota’s wild rice abundance, the Mississippi River, and St. Croix River watersheds.

During this FREE webinar and discussion, Paula Maccabee will bring you up-to-date on the history of Talon Metals/Rio Tinto's mine proposal and how you can take action to prevent a mining sacrifice zone. Leanna Goose will share what is at stake for wild rice, fish, community and culture. Bring your questions; all are welcome!

Presenters

Paula Maccabee, WaterLegacy’s Director and Counsel for the past 17 years, has successfully litigated the PolyMet mine cases and defended Minnesota’s wild rice sulfate standard. She has 45 years of experience as a public interest lawyer.

Leanna Goose is a Leech Lake Band Member and an organizer and co-facilitator of the Rise and Repair Alliance. She is working to protect manoomin at the state level and to reestablish wild rice beds impaired due to invasive species.

Attacks on Science

Understanding the threats & taking action

When:

July 1, 3:00–4:00pm CT

Where:

Online

When scientific evidence is suppressed, federal experts are sidelined, or political interference shapes public policy, communities lose access to the information and protections they rely on to stay healthy and safe.

We will introduce our new Attacks on Science Database and demonstrate how it tracks scientific integrity violations across federal agencies.

Protecting Personal Online Data

Practical Guidance for Journalists from the Intercept

When:

July 2, 11:00am CT

Where:

Online

In this one-hour session, digital security specialist Ela Stapley will guide journalists through practical steps for protecting their personal data and online accounts. Participants will learn how to find and remove personal information, strengthen their digital security, and respond effectively before, during, and after an online attack.

Leaving MAGA and Connecting Across the Divide

A Conversation with Rich Logis & the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative

When:

July 8, 3:00 CT

Where:

Online

Join RUBI and Rich Logis, CEO & founder of Leaving MAGA, for a conversation about how we talk across the lines that divide independents, Democrats, and MAGA. Rich knows those lines from the inside. He spent years as a true-believing Trump supporter before leaving in 2022, and he started Leaving MAGA to help others who are rethinking where they stand. His focus now is on what it takes to reach people without writing them off — and how to keep the door open for folks who are ready to find their way out.

How to Plan an Effective Economic Pressure Campaign

Stopping Corporate Enablers of Authoritarianism

When:

July 9, 6:00 CT

Where:

Online

Join us for a 2 hour virtual training on a key aspect of civil resistance: economic noncooperation. We will focus on how economic pressure works, steps to planning an action, and specific campaigns you can join/lead in your community. Examples include campaigns to stop data centers, close detention centers, and pressure FedEx to stop funding and oppose Jim Crow maps in Tennessee. Participants will leave with concrete steps for taking action in their communities.

Dismantling Detention — Close the Camps

Join the Immigrant Justice Summer training series from Indivisible

When:

July 9, 23, & August 6 (& more), 7:00 CT

Where:

Online

The Trump administration is buying up warehouses across the country to expand its detention and deportation regime while planning for more militarized surges in major US cities. The threat is escalating. This resource breaks down what we're demanding, how communities are fighting back, and how you can get trained to respond when ICE comes to your community.

ACLU People Power

Organize during August recess

When:

July 14, 7:00pm CT

Where:

Online

For months, members of Congress have been making decisions in Washington that affect our rights, our communities, and our futures. Now they're coming home. During August Recess, lawmakers return to their districts to meet with constituents, attend community events, and hear directly from the people they represent. Join ACLU People Power on 7/14 at 8 PM ET to learn how to engage your elected officials, hold them accountable, and advocate for the civil liberties and democratic values our communities deserve.

Breaking Down This Week's 4 Major SCOTUS Rulings

Four assaults on human rights. One clear message: corporations and the powerful win, everyone else loses

"This week, the Supreme Court handed down four significant rulings that will have wide-reaching impacts on your rights, your safety, and the lives of millions of people across this country. Corporate media covered each of them in isolation, buried in legal jargon, stripped of the context that makes them comprehensible and the stakes that make them urgent."

1. The Trump Administration Can Expel 700,000 Haitians and Syrians—And No Court Can Stop It
2. Cancer Victims Lose. Monsanto Wins. Again.
3. Hawaii Tried to Protect Its People from Gun Violence. The Supreme Court Said No.
4. If You Haven’t Crossed the Border Yet, You Have No Right to Asylum. The Court Just Ended Asylum in America.

Tech Companies Behind ICE

from Mijente, the National Immigration Project, and the Immigrant Defense Project

"Tech is transforming immigration enforcement. As advocates have known for some time, the immigration and criminal justice systems have powerful allies in Silicon Valley and Congress, with technology companies playing an increasingly central role in facilitating the expansion and acceleration of arrests, detentions, and deportations. What is less known outside of Silicon Valley is the long history of the technology industry’s “revolving door” relationship with federal agencies, how the technology industry and its products and services are now actually circumventing city- and state-level protections"

"Yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned two key rulings delaying the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians and Haitian migrants. In just 31 days, hundreds of thousands will lose the protections that allow them to work, care for their families, and live without fear of detention and deportation. 

"To resist militarized policing and the surveillance state, we need to understand these tools, how they’re used against us, and how we can fight back."

Webinar about the report

When:

June 29, 6:00 CT

Where:

Online

72 Forms of Voter Suppression

from the Transformative Justice Coalition

Vote early

Hotline numbers on the day

• DFL Voter Protection Hotline: 1-833-335-8683 (1-833-DFL-VOTE)
• Minnesota Secretary of State's Office Helpline: 1-877-600-VOTE (8683)

Building Trust with Community Works

from RUBI

When:

July 22, 5:30 CT

Where:

Online

Find out how to get involved in RUBI’s on-the-ground work to build trust, address concrete local needs, and increase collaboration across the ideological divide in rural and working class communities.

Organizing to Protect Democracy

Recorded training from the ACLU

In a moment when our right to vote is facing relentless attacks, understanding how elections work has never been more important. Now, we have the electoral knowledge and skills to be active in protecting our democracy.

WARR Endorses Trina Swanson for CD 8!

Get out & vote in the primary!

Local Grassroots organization, We Are Rising And Resisting (WARR) is dedicated to preserving and strengthening democracy. After hearing from many CD8 candidates, WARR members voted unanimously to endorse Trina Swanson for Congress. Swanson is the most qualified candidate going into the primary, August 11 and the general, November 3.

Trina Swanson has extensive knowledge of policy, diplomacy and government. For 25 years, Swanson worked within the federal government. She began her service in Duluth working in bankruptcy court. Trina rose to Director of International Services for USCIS, and spent years working in Citizen & Immigration Services. Her work took her abroad where she experienced first hand how US policy/diplomacy works and effects populations here at home and all around the world. She also got her law degree and was director of many offices, both in the field and in Bloomington, MN. She received two DHS Secretary's Service Awards for exceptional services to the country. Trina also knows her way around Washington DC. She has extensive insight into government, which is an asset she can put to great use for the citizens of CD8 immediately.

Swanson has also been endorsed by numerous organizations including the DFL, Senior Caucus, Veterans and Families Caucus, MAPE, Save the Boundary Waters, Women Winning, and many more, because she will be ready on day 1 to take her seat in the House of Representatives to stand with and fight for the citizens of Minnesota's 8th Congressional District.

WARR is proud and excited to endorse our next Congressional Representative! Make sure you are registered, tell your friends and neighbors and get the word out about this incredible candidate, Trina Swanson. Please be ready to vote for Trina Swanson in the primary election on August 11 and the general election November 3.

Climate.us launches independent website for trusted climate information

This new website was just launched by the scientists at climate.gov (who were fired by Trump administration) in order to keep climate data available to those who rely on it.

"Climate.us today launched the full version of its new independent, nonprofit climate information website, creating a public-backed home for trusted climate science at a time when access to federal climate resources has become increasingly vulnerable to disruption.

The launch reflects strong public demand for reliable climate information. One-third of the funding to support the launch of Climate.us came from more than 2,500 small donations (approximately $250,000) from people who contributed to help preserve access to science-reviewed climate information. More than 80 scientists have volunteered to serve as subject matter expert reviewers.

Built by former members of the team behind the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's popular Climate.gov website, Climate.us will keep climate information accurate, accessible, scientifically rigorous, and useful for the people who rely on it, including educators, students, journalists, scientists, community leaders, local and state decision-makers, and members of the public."

Crowds Pack 2026 Twin Cities Pride Festival in Minneapolis for ‘queer joy’

"More than 500,000 people were expected at Twin Cities Pride events this weekend, according to programming director Kelsey Alto.

"New this year was the world’s largest rubber duck: the 61-foot tall Mama Duck. She and her son, Timmy, made their Twin Cities debut at the Pride festival.

"Alto said organizers brought the ducks to make attendees smile after the surge in federal immigration enforcement over the winter and legislation nationwide targeting LGBTQ+ people.

"'We really wanted to just do something that is queer joy because queer joy is an act of resistance, and I think we all could use a little bit of joy right now,' Alto said."