MN-HD2A: State 2A House race pits sheriff's deputy (R) who was fired against Bemidji homeless shelter director (D)

BEMIDJI, MINN. – The GOP candidate running for an open state House of Representatives seat in northern Minnesota was recently fired as a sheriff’s deputy.

His DFL opponent questions whether that makes him unfit for elected office, especially given that his truthfulness as a deputy was called into question when a judge admonished him for lying on a search warrant, and he was reprimanded for turning off his body-worn camera.

Bidal Duran, 39, formerly with the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office and the Bemidji Police Department, seeks to maintain Republican control over House District 2A, which covers Lake of the Woods County, portions of Beltrami and Clearwater counties and the Red Lake Reservation.

Reed Olson, 48, a restaurant owner and homeless shelter director in Bemidji who served on the City Council and Beltrami County Board of Commissioners, is hoping to flip the seat blue for the first time in a decade....

But Olson and his supporters are concerned with Duran’s time as a Bemidji police officer. Duran fatally shot Vernon May, 34, of Red Lake, during a 2018 traffic stop. Duran was cleared of criminal charges as May was armed, but the killing provoked tensions and protests.



https://www.startribune.com/state-2a-house-race-pits-terminated-sheriff-deputy-against-bemidji-homeless-shelter-director/601151315