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Dahlberg touts union backing

Chris Dahlberg
St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg speaks to delegates at the Minnesota Republican Party Convention. Dahlberg is seeking the party's endorsement to run for U.S. Senate.

In Rochester, St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg used some left-leaning credentials to make the case to Republican delegates that he’s the best candidate to challenge Sen. Al Franken this fall.

In a speech at the state party convention, Dahlberg said his union endorsements from prior campaigns for St. Louis County commissioner show he’s able to win over Democrats, too.

He said that’s a critical skill for the general election.

“You can be true to your conservative values and you can still have a broad appeal to people," Dahlberg said.

Dahlberg is an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and he runs a law firm in Duluth.

If elected, Dahlberg said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act and improve treatment of soldiers coming home from combat.

Like most of the other Senate candidates, Dahlberg says he will abide by the party’s endorsement.

“Only when we get behind an endorsed candidate do we win,” he said.