Minnesota Farmfest Announces Candidate Slate for August 4 and 5 Forums

IDEAg Group LLC., producer of Minnesota Farmfest, announces the candidates confirmed to participate in this year’s Farmfest Forums, Tuesday August 4 and Wednesday, August 5. 

In every even numbered year since 1990, Farmfest has featured candidate forums. The purpose of these forums is to provide the electorate with a nonpartisan, educational opportunity to compare the positions and qualifications of leading candidates for public office in a fair, orderly, and informative setting. These pre-primary Forums are focused on current agriculture and rural issues within Minnesota.

The Forum lineup includes:

Tuesday, August 4 

10:30 a.m. U.S. Congressional Candidate Forum - MN 1st and 2nd Districts

Candidates – Rep. Brad Finstad, Jake Johnson, Rep. Kaela Berg, Sen. Matt Klein, Matt Little, Sen. Eric Pratt

1:15 p.m. U.S. Congressional Candidate Forum – MN 6th, 7th and 8th Districts

Candidates – Rep. Tom Emmer, Doug Chapin, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, Eric Osberg, Rep. Pete Stauber, Trina Swanson

Wednesday, August 5

10:30 a.m. Minnesota Governor Forum

Candidates – Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Lisa Demuth, Mike Lindell, Kendall Qualls

1:15 p.m. U.S. Senate Forum

Candidates – Rep. Angie Craig, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Michele Tafoya, Royce White 

To preserve the educational value of the forums and ensure they remain an orderly, substantive, and meaningful discussion of the issues, Farmfest and the Forum sponsor have adopted the following pre-established, objective, and viewpoint-neutral eligibility criteria. These criteria are intended to identify candidates who have demonstrated legal eligibility, meaningful ballot access, and a measurable level of public support. These criteria are evenly applied to all candidates. Further, the forum shall be structured and conducted in a manner that is neutral among participating candidates.

Pursuant to FEC requirements, Farmfest established objective non-partisan  criteria to participate in the Farmfest candidate forums. Candidates must meet the following:

1. Meet legal criteria set by applicable federal, state, or local law to hold the office sought;
2. Has either (1) obtained ballot access for the relevant general election as the candidate of a major or minor political party that is recognized by the state of Minnesota; or (2) if the primaries for that general election have not yet occurred, has obtained ballot access for the preceding primary election to be the nominee of a major or minor political party that is recognized by the state of Minnesota; and
3. Has a level of support of at least 15% of the relevant electorate, as determined by taking the average of the three most recent publicly-reported polls performed in the race by reputable, news outlets or polling organizations that can be identified by the sponsor. Polls commissioned by a candidate, party, or political committee, and polls taken more than 120 days prior to the day of the debate or forum will not be considered. If three polls by reputable sources taken within the 120-day window are not identified by the sponsor, the sponsor may, at its sole discretion, use fewer than three polls or forego the polling requirement to avoid giving any one poll inordinate weight over polling participation. For 2026, Farmfest used the KSTP/Survey USA Poll from June 17, 2026, to establish the qualified candidates. The poll questions and data can be found here.

Minnesota Farmfest and the Farmfest Forum sponsor do not endorse, support, oppose, promote, or advance any candidate or political party in its staging of this event. 

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