Union organizer to run for Rep. Stauber’s seat

A union organizer has entered the race for the Minnesota 8th Congressional District seat.

Chad McKenna, 43, of Duluth, announced last week he is seeking the seat, which covers much of north-central and Northeastern Minnesota, and has said he’ll seek the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nomination.

McKenna said the district’s current representative, U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican from Hermantown, “has stopped working for us — his constituents.”

McKenna works as a labor relations field manager for the Minnesota Nurses Association, a union representing health care workers.

Stauber’s campaign declined to comment on McKenna entering the race.

Although the November 2026 election is still a year and a half away, four DFL candidates have entered the 8th District race.

— Forum News Service

Man pleads not guilty in email threat case

The Pembina County man accused of threatening to harm the acting U.S. Attorney for North Dakota as well as several state officials pleaded not guilty during his first in-person appearance in a Fargo courtroom Friday.

Charles Dalzell, 46, was present with his attorney Rhiannon Gorham for the hearing, which was an arraignment for a grand jury indictment issued June 26.

Dalzell appeared to cry throughout the reading of the charges against him by Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal. The case stems from a criminal complaint brought against him on June 16, the day after he allegedly emailed threats to Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl, referencing the violent shootings, two fatal, of two legislators and their spouses on June 14 in Minnesota.

“Now I’m going to be honest with you I don’t want this situation to end up like Minnesota over the weekend, do you,” Dalzell’s email to Puhl read, in part, according to the complaint. “I’m trying to get all of you to actually follow the law, not ignore me, not lie to me ... that is what you all have done and this makes me wonder if these bad situations are really what you want or do you hope that I flip out and end up dead by a police officer?”

He was ordered to be detained pending his trial.

— From news services

Measles case reported after 42-day lull

North Dakota has reported its first case of measles in more than a month, just as the state hit a milestone that declared the outbreak in the state over.

The state Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to The Forum that the case was reported Thursday. An unvaccinated person from Williams County who recently traveled out of state contracted the virus, said HHS spokeswoman Mindy Michaels.

The case comes a day after North Dakota hit 42 days without any reports of measles. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers an outbreak to have ended if 42 days have passed without a new report of measles.

— Forum News Services