Minnesota’s State Senate was brought into the national spotlight following the arrest and resignation of Senator Justin Eichorn (SD6). Eichorn now faces federal charges after he tried to meet up with and prostitute someone who he believed was a 17 year old girl. 

With a vacancy now in Senate District 6, a special election will be called by Tyrant Tim Walz and this deep red district will be required to elect someone to fill the remainder of the Senate term. Reportedly, Walz will do so on Tuesday March 25th and the seat will be filled mid to late April.

This GOP primary will be determinative of who will hold this Senate seat since the district is a Republican stronghold. It is to be seen if MN Democrats will deceive their voters and legislators into thinking they have a chance to flip it like RINOs did in the deep blue 40B State House special election. 

This district covers areas in Cass, Crow Wing, and Itasca counties. Despite Eichorn’s resignation only taking place Thursday last week, many candidates have emerged for the SD6 special election and the stage has been set for a large and competitive GOP primary.

As of this article’s publishing, there are seven Republican candidates who have announced and one Democrat. This includes Jennifer Carnahan, Steve Cotariu, Keri Heintzeman, John Howe, Josh Gazelka, Doug Kern, Angel Zierden, and Democrat Emily LeClaire. Rumors are also floating around that former RINO Senator Carrie Ruud may run.

Action 4 Liberty intends to ask each of the GOP candidates to sign the Never Again Pledge, ensuring that they will fight for medical freedom and the removal of unilateral authority by a Governor to shut down our state.  

Below you will see more information on each candidate.

Jennifer Carnahan

Jennifer Carnahan is the former nightmare Chair of the MNGOP who resigned in disgrace due to her own unprofessional conduct and her deep ties to Anton Lazzaro (who was convicted of sex trafficking). The gross irony to draw between Eichorn and Carnahan has already been pounced on by the Democrat Party.

Carnahan once led an effort to purge A4L supporters from the party… Sound familiar? The divisive and down-right disgusting actions of Carnahan do not end there. In a leaked phone call, Carnahan laughed and joked while saying her then husband (late Congressman Jim Hagedorn) was “going to die from cancer in two years” which was followed up with a “so be it”. She also was sued by Hagedorn’s family for his cancer expenses which she refused to pay despite reportedly receiving $348K in death benefit/life insurance. If SD6 thought it was morally bankrupt before, just wait and see what Carnahan could have in store. She is currently the Mayor of Nisswa.

Steve Cotariu

Steve Cotariu is an Army veteran, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business, Chair of board of advisers for Alakai Defense Systems, and owns his own business. With seemingly no previous political experience aside from a recent school board run, Cotariu may be trying to pull Republican support out of a hat. Cotariu is a Merrifield resident and says his campaign is about bringing real leadership and common-sense solutions to the office.

Keri Heintzeman

Keri Heintzeman is the wife of RINO Rep. Josh Heintzeman and was one of the MNGOP Exec. Board members that reportedly voted to “condemn” A4L with baseless smears and lies. The pathetic attacks against our organization and supporters largely leave us unfazed as we’ve seen their script before. The Heintzemans reportedly have a few children who are still under 18, which begs the question; Why do they both want to play politics over 100 miles away in St. Paul while they’ve got kids at home? Keri will never fight the corruption and RINO actions of her husband like trying to seek revenge on a Police Chief and using HRCC money as Chair for unendorsed RINO incumbents.  

Dr. John Howe

Dr. John Howe is a businessman and retired veterinarian from Grand Rapids. Howe is seemingly the only candidate running from Itasca County and is the husband of former Itasca GOP Chair, Diane Howe. John has previously run for the State House and did not continue his campaign after losing the endorsement to Ben Davis.

Josh Gazelka

Josh Gazelka is the son of RINO Paul Gazelka, who has seemingly already pulled Establishment strings for Josh to be endorsed by the corrupt, gun control supporting MPPOA (which also endorses drunk driving Democrats). A source tell A4L that Josh has told others that he would never run for office after all politics has put his family through, yet here we stand today. Josh claims that he feels “compelled to use his gifts of bringing calm and stability”. Maybe his definition of “calm and stability” is uniparty omnibus bills and more growth of government.

Doug Kern

Doug Kern is a conservative grassroots activist who has previously challenged RINO Josh Heintzeman for the State House. Doug is a businessman and resident of Brainerd. Kern states that he is 100% pro-life, wants election integrity, believes schools should teach American exceptionalism & not CRT/DEI, wants fiscal responsibility, supports law enforcement, and supports stand your ground laws. Kern has been a fighter against RINOs like David Hann at various Republican conventions by making and supporting strong resolutions.

Angel Zierden

Angel Zierden is the former Mayor of Breezy Point and did not seek re-election in 2024. Zierden says she drafted her first bill at age 27 and remains committed to bipartisan collaboration in St. Paul. She currently serves on the Government Affairs Committee for the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce and is pregnant, due to have her fifth child in May. She has additionally endorsed Democrat Jen Schultz instead of Republican Pete Stauber last year.

Emily LeClaire (Democrat)

Democrat Emily LeClaire is a radical left, big government candidate who was the Dem nominee against Josh Heintzeman in the last election. Like other Dems in red districts, they mask their real agenda with empty talking points and false appeals to conservative issues. There is no real concern that LeClaire or any other potential Democrat could win the general election so the GOP primary will be paramount.

While the GOP no longer has a criminal on their side of the aisle, Democrats still have Nicole Mitchell and have refused to hold her to account after Mitchell broke into her widowed step-mother’s house and seemingly tried to burglarize it. Senate Dems say the court proceedings must happen first but the court proceedings have been delayed due to her holding office! Considering Mitchell was in her step-mother’s bedroom and a lot of information is still to be known, the GOP must have a fighter.

Moral clarity is needed in this moment and the residents of SD6 have a major opportunity to correct course and move past the Justin Eichorn situation. A4L will keep Patriots informed on which candidates sign and do not sign the Never Again Pledge to prove if they will fight for freedom of their district’s citizens.