ELECTION 2026
Son of former House Rep. Marty Seifert announces candidacy for Senate District 15
Could there be another Seifert at the State Capitol?
Marshall businessman Braxton Seifert announced last Thursday his candidacy for the Senate District 15 seat, which has been occupied by Sen. Gary Dahms for the last 15-plus years. Dahms last week said he will not run for re-election this year.
“The reason I’m running is for people just like me, who’ve lived in the district their whole life and want to be able to live here or move back here and have opportunity — grow their businesses, afford their lives and have quality education for their family,” said Seifert, who just turned 21. “The Democrats are pricing Minnesotans out of that; they’re taxing them and regulating them, so there’s no opportunity for our businesses and our children or grandchildren to have opportunities in Minnesota.”
SEIFERT
Seifert’s father, Marty, served in the House from 1997-2011 in the former District 21A and was Minority Leader of the House from 2007-2009. The junior Seifert said he has thought about the fact that he would be following in his father’s footsteps.
“I’ve got a lot of things in common with my dad on the political side,” he said. “I’m a small business owner and am still a licensed auctioneer in Minnesota … I’m out of my dad’s shadow, I guess, in that sense, but we carry a lot of similar values — individual liberties, individual rights, low taxation. The government is better off leaving you alone than trying to help.”
Seifert, who graduated from Marshall High School in 2023, is the sixth generation from his family to live in southwest Minnesota and brings deep family roots from across the district. He has served as Dahms’ campaign manager, has been a member of the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Auctioneer’s Association, and served on the Board of the Lyon County Corn & Soybean Association and Knights of Columbus. Seifert has also been a Junior Achievement teacher, is on the German Bohemian Society, Cultivating Entrepreneurial Opportunities Board and the Lyon County Republican Board and is active in Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. He is currently a loan officer at Minnwest Bank and owns Silver Dollar Property Company and Silver Dollar Auction Company.
When it comes to partisanship, Seifert knows that it’s not policies as usual at the Capitol. There was a time, he said, that Republicans and Democrats seemed to know how to work together better, no matter the issue.
“I have a bowling shirt that says, ‘Team Republican,’ and on his team was then-Governor (Tim) Pawlenty, and on the Democrats’ team it was the Speaker and Senate Democrat leader and they would go out all the time and go bowling, just hang out outside of politics — that’s what politics needs to get back to. We can agree to disagree on issues … so often, we’re butting heads so much.”
Domestic migration is a big problem in Minnesota, Seifert said, noting that some 50,000 residents have left the state for other career opportunities since 2019.
“We need a state that’s prosperous, that has opportunity, that’s looking to grow and expand for young people and has a good business climate, not just in the Twin Cities area, but out here in Greater Minnesota.”
Seifert will seek the Republican endorsement at the March Senate District 15 GOP Convention.
Senate District 15 encompasses all of Brown, Lac Qui Parle, Lyon, Redwood and Yellow Medicine Counties and portions of Chippewa and Blue Earth Counties. It stretches over 150 miles from the South Dakota border to near North Mankato.
