Speech to DFL Central Committee

01/23/2006

Dear Fellow Minnesotans,

Below is the complete text of a speech given by Reggie Edwards to the DFL State Central Committee meeting this past Saturday, January 21, 2006:

Good Morning, Fellow Democrats, Farmers, and Laborers.

My name is Reggie Edwards, I’m from Mankato, and I want to be your State Auditor. For the last four years I have been Executive Director of the Region Nine Development Commission. I have worked with every jurisdiction across 9 counties in southern Minnesota towards the common vision of strengthening the region as a whole. Prior to that, I was the City Administrator for the city of Chisago and a senior policy analyst for Ramsey County.

While I can talk about my qualifications, my experience, my degrees, and all of my hard work, that does not change the one central fact of my life: I did not get here alone.

I had good people looking out for me. I had my mother, who would keep working as long as there was an hour left in the day so that her kids would have a better life.

I had the Good Lord’s hand on my head, steering me away from danger.

I had leaders like Martin, Malcolm, Jack, and Bobby who had the courage to stand up even if it meant giving their lives.

And I had the Democratic Party, that believed I was more than the circumstances I was born into, that made sure I was going to have a chance to go to a good school and get a good job, that looked at me and said that I had a future.

I stand before you in great humility and gratitude for the belief that this party placed in me, and to share the fierce belief that our work is not done. Just as the people have counted on us in the past to right great wrongs and build a great future, they count on us now to continue that legacy.

How will we treat that legacy? How will we measure our success? Do we measure it in elections won? Do we measure it by the opponents we defeat?

Or do we seek a larger triumph?

I say that this is our time. I say the people need Democrats again. I say that we must measure success not by elections won or lost but by the ideas we champion, the results we bring, and the difference we make in people’s lives.