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Aaron Dean Farris is an American politician from the state of Minnesota. A Republican, he is the Deputy Chairman of the Minnesota First Congressional District Republican Party and a former member of the Albert Lea School Board. Farris's district as Deputy Chairman of the Minnesota First Congressional District Republican Party covers most of the southern third of the state and includes, Albert Lea, Austin, Mankato, Rochester, and Winona. Farris used to hold the record for being the youngest person ever elected in Minnesota history to a congressional district political party executive committee, having been elected at 17 years and 19 days old. This record was beaten by his successor as CD 1 Secretary, Cass Davis, who was elected when he was 16 years old.

Aaron Farris
Deputy Chairman of Minnesota's 1st Congressional District Republican Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 16, 2021
Preceded byGary Steuart (Acting)
Vice Chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 16, 2021
Preceded byRobert Hoffman
Secretary of Minnesota's 1st Congressional District Republican Party
In office
January 13, 2020 – March 16, 2021
Preceded bySpencer Krier
Succeeded byCass Davis
Secretary of the Freeborn County Republican Party
In office
February 16, 2019 – February 16, 2021
Preceded byCarol Nelson
Succeeded byCarla Gerke
Student Albert Lea School Board Member
In office
September 23, 2019 – May 21, 2021
Preceded byMaggie Moller
Succeeded byEsther Yoon
Personal details
Born
Aaron Dean Farris

(2002-12-25) December 25, 2002 (age 21)
Albert Lea, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceAlbert Lea, Minnesota

Early life and education

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Farris was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota in 2002, the son of Carol and Ron Farris.[1] He was raised near Hawthorne Elementary School in Albert Lea and graduated from Albert Lea High School in May of 2021. He is attending Rasmussen Business College to earn a degree in business. In 2020, he was named the Albert Lea Tribune junior citizen of the year.[2][3] In 2021, Farris was inducted into Albert Lea High School's Wall of Inspiration.

Farris was elected to the Albert Lea High School student council on December 5th, 2018, and was re-elected in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, Farris became a member of the Albert Lea School Board, representing the class of 2021. During his time on the School Board, he has had to console the loved ones of deceased students,[4] helped to manage the COVID-19 pandemic[5][6], and handled controversial issues such as tobacco 21 legislation and school choice all while managing a complicated relationship with the school district superintendent Mike Funk that dramatically soured in Farris's final days as a school board member. In his final days, Farris successfully fought for an increase from 4 guests/graduate at the senior commencement ceremony to 6 guests/graduate, for no masks at the commencement ceremony, and gave the senior commencement address.[7][8]

Early Activism

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Farris has stated that he first became interested in politics at the age of seven when Tom Emmer ran for Governor of Minnesota in 2010. Farris then began to become more involved in 2012 when Kurt Bills challenged Senator Amy Klobuchar for the US Senate. By 2014, Farris was getting to know Republican party officials through his involvement and support of Mike McFadden who challenged Senator Al Franken and Jeff Johnson who challenged Governor Mark Dayton. In 2016, Farris was initially a supporter of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in the 2016 Republican Presidential Primaries, but then became an immediate supporter of eventual nominee Donald Trump, who went on to win the election.

Political Involvement

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MNGOP

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After Donald Trump's 2016 victory, Farris's entry into politics really began. Farris began to intern for Jeff Johnson's second campaign for Minnesota Governor against eventual winner Tim Walz in December of 2017. In the summer of 2018, Farris began to work for the Republican Party of Minnesota campaigning for Jim Newberger who was challenging Senator Klobuchar, Karin Housley who was challenging Senator Tina Smith, Jim Hagedorn who was running for Walz's open seat, Jeff Johnson who was running for Minnesota Governor, John Howe who was challenging Secretary of State Steve Simon, Pam Myhra who was running for Minnesota Auditor, Doug Wardlow who was running for Minnesota Attorney General, and others.

Freeborn County Secretary

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After the 2018 Elections, many approached Farris to run for Secretary of the Freeborn County Republican party to replace retiring Secretary Carol Nelson. He was unanimously elected without facing any significant opposition on February 16, 2019 and served until February 16, 2021 when he was elevated to Vice Chairman of the Freeborn County GOP. As Secretary, he quadrupled the community influence of the party, tripled the party's annual fundraising numbers, and helped lead the party to the largest successes it's seen in Freeborn County in 70 years during the 2020 elections.[9]

In May of 2019 Farris wrote an editorial column detailing his experiences of liberal indoctrination in his high school.[10][11] Many consider this editorial to be the start and reason for Farris's rapid ascension through the ranks of the Republican party.

After former President Donald Trump's acquittal in his first impeachment trial, Farris spoke with the Albert Lea Tribune and said "This purely partisan impeachment, which began on the day Donald Trump won the 2016 election, has prevented Congress from working on the real issues affecting everyday Americans, wasted $32 million, put politics above the needs of the country and greatly increased the political division of American families."[12]

Congressional District Secretary

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In December of 2019, Spencer Krier announced his resignation as Secretary of the Minnesota First Congressional District Republican party to take a job as operations manager of the Republican party of Minnesota. Shortly after, a "draft Farris" campaign began, and soon after that Farris announced his candidacy. Farris was unanimously elected in a special election without facing any major opposition becoming the youngest person in US history to be elected to a Congressional District political party executive committee position. During Farris's tenure, Republicans in the first district re-elected Congressman Jim Hagedorn[13], flipped Senate District 27 by electing Gene Dornink[14]; retaining control of the Minnesota Senate, and filliped two Minnesota House seats by electing Patricia Mueller[15] and Susan Akland[16]. Farris served as Secretary from January 13, 2020 to March 16, 2021.

After the 2020 elections, Farris spoke with KIMT News for an election recap, where Farris was quotted as being "ecstatic" about the results in southern Minnesota, and said "we won a lot of races we didn't think we would win".[17]

Freeborn County Vice Chairman

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Farris was unanimously elected Vice Chairman of the Freeborn County Republican Party on February 16, 2021. Farris stated while campaigning that his goal as the Vice Chairman would be to grow the party's influence on social media and in the community, and make Freeborn County's municipal office holders overwhelmingly Republican. Farris stated that his method of accomplishing these goals would be to continue upon his successes from his tenure as Secretary.

Farris was renewed for a second term as Chairman of the Special Events Committee, and appointed to a first term as Chairman of the Candidate Search Committee by Chairman Robert Hoffman.

Congressional District Deputy Chairman

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On January 13, 2021, Farris announced his candidacy for Deputy Chair of the Minnesota First Congressional District Republican Party. At the time, the position was held by Gary Steuart, who was appointed by Chairman Jerod Spilman after the resignation of Deputy Chairman Jason Reiland, and who was serving consecutively as the State Executive Representative. Immediately upon his appointment, Acting Deputy Chairman Steuart announced that he would not seek election to the position at the 2021 Convention.

Farris campaigned on bringing more young people into the GOP, putting more focus into municipal elections, and improving upon the Republican victories in the district. Farris traveled to campaign at the virtual and in-person conventions[18] of 17 out of the district's 21 counties, missing Cottonwood, Nobles, Olmsted, and Winona counties. Farris was elected in a 96-4 vote along with the other executive committee officer candidates.

As Deputy Chairman, Farris was given voting privileges at the 2021 MNGOP Spring State Central Meeting, meaning he would be able to vote for the next Chair, Deputy Chair, and Secretary of the Republican Party of Minnesota. Farris announced his endorsements of Incumbent Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan for re-election to a third term and Incumbent Deputy Chairman Carleton Crawford for re-election to a full term.

MNGOP Carnahan-Lazzaro Scandal

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On August 12th, 2021, Anton "Tony" Lazzaro, a close friend of then-MNGOP Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan was indicted on several counts related to sex trafficking of minors.[19] In the fallout, it was alleged that Carnahan had knowledge of the sex trafficking, that Farris' predecessor as CD 1 Secretary, Spencer Krier, had engaged in unwanted sexual advances with numerous women, that Carnahan presided over a toxic work environment, and that MNGOP insiders such as Farris knew about Lazzaro's activities well before they became public. Carnahan was condemned by numerous County Republican parties (however none in Farris' CD), the Minnesota College Republicans, the Minnesota Young Republicans, as well as numerous Minnesota legislators such as Representatives Cal Bahr, Steve Drazkowski, Tim Miller, Jeremy Munson, Senators Michelle Benson, Roger Chamberlain, Julia Coleman, and former Senator and candidate for Governor Scott Jensen.[20][21] Despite intense pressure for Farris to call for Carnahan's resignation, he made little to no comment on the scandal. On August 20th, Carnahan was forced to step down as Chair.[22]

After Carnahan's ouster, the State Central Committee met in Hopkins on October 2nd to elect a new Chair. The two primary candidates for the election were businessman Jerry Dettinger and former Minnesota Senate Minority Leader David Hann. Farris disclosed right before the meeting that he would be supporting Hann, and was "hopeful that the party can leave Hopkins more unified than when we entered". After three rounds of balloting, Hann was declared the winner and appointed 2018 GOP nominee for Minnesota Lieutenant Governor, Donna Bergstrom, to be the new MNGOP Deputy Chair.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Saturday, Submitted Email the author Published 9:08 am; August 21; 2010 (2010-08-21). "Albert Lea Public Library Summer Readers of the Week". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Sunday, Tyler Julson Email the author Published 9:00 am; March 8; 2020 (2020-03-08). "Albert Lea High School student named Tribune's first Junior Citizen of the Year". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Thursday, Tyler Julson Email the author Published 9:12 pm; March 12; 2020 (2020-03-13). "Junior Citizen of the Year awarded plaque". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Wednesday, Sarah Stultz Email the author Published 12:43 pm; February 19; 2020 (2020-02-19). "Community rallies behind crash victim's family". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Friday, Submitted Email the author Published 7:35 pm; April 17; 2020 (2020-04-18). "Letter: Student school board member a great leader". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Monday, Tyler Julson Email the author Published 7:30 pm; March 1; 2021 (2021-03-02). "Albert Lea school board approves move to four-day in-person learning". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Friday, Sarah Stultz Email the author Published 9:31 pm; May 21; 2021 (2021-05-22). "'Make a difference'". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-05-26. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Graduating during a pandemic". ABC 6 NEWS. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  9. ^ Monday, Submitted Email the author Published 8:07 pm; November 9; 2020 (2020-11-10). "My Point of View: County's Republicans made great strides". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Monday, Submitted Email the author Published 4:43 pm; May 27; 2019 (2019-05-27). "My Point of View: Witnessing liberal bias in public schools". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ kipmaxadmin (2019-06-14). "Episode 59 – "To be Young and Republican" – School Shame with Aaron Farris". Kip & Max Save the World. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  12. ^ Friday, Sarah Stultz Email the author Published 6:51 pm; February 7; 2020 (2020-02-08). "A country divided". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-27. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn wins re-election in Minnesota's First District". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  14. ^ Thursday, Sarah Stultz Email the author Published 3:44 pm; November 5; 2020 (2020-11-05). "Dornink wins District 27 Senate seat". Albert Lea Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help); |last3= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Minnesota Election Results". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  16. ^ Rinehart, Jake. "Akland wins House District 19A following recount". https://www.keyc.com. Retrieved 2021-03-02. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  17. ^ "Local parties weigh in on Presidential election". KIMT News. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  18. ^ "Houston County Republican Party holds convention". hometownsource.com. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  19. ^ "Potential fallout amid sex trafficking investigation involving GOP donor, arrest of college student". kare11.com. 10:13 PM CDT August 14, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Tribune, Patrick Condon Star. "Jennifer Carnahan fights to stay atop Minnesota GOP". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  21. ^ "Minnesota GOP chair faces growing calls to step down". MPR News. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  22. ^ "Embattled Minnesota Republican Party leader resigns". AP NEWS. 2021-08-20. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  23. ^ "Videos". FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
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Freeborn County GOP official website

Minnesota First Congressional District Republican Party official website

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