The DFL party chair was elected at the state party convention, conducted in June of each election year. In 1980, the prevailing issue was how the DFL could recover from the devastating loss in 1978. There were six candidates for chair, all but one of whom had significant interest groups or officeholders supporting them. Hatch, the one candidate without significant support from an interest group, ran a geographically based campaign focused primarily on the support of county and congressional district chairs. The convention was tumultuous, with various interest groups opposed to each other over abortion, labor, and farm issues. Hatch, who had the least amount of political experience, campaigned as a centrist who focused on economic issues and promised to elect more Democrats in the 1980 election. He was elected chair on the third ballot.  