Values & Issues
In my campaign I am making some hard commitments. Building more housing, creating more childcare. I am committing to doing these things because they are what Winona needs to thrive, and I am committing to doing them because they are hard to do. Winona deserves a Representative who will do the hard work to make Winona better. Not someone who just wants to vote the Party line.
More Housing
Winona has a housing crisis. We have some of the worst rent burden in the state, and are short 1400 housing units in the county. Study after study has shown that in order to fix this crisis, we need to build more housing of all types. As your representative, I will include in the 2027 bonding bill a provision that will build 100 units of affordable senior housing. Why start with senior housing? We want to make sure we house the most vulnerable in Winona, and we know that the “move over effect” will open up an additional 100 units of housing in Winona for new home buyers. In addition, I will commit to reducing red tape to make it easier for smaller local developers to build homes for their neighbors.
affordable childcare
Any young family in Winona will tell you how difficult it is to find good childcare options. Our family's experience was no different. Just like with housing, we have a shortage. In order to make it easier for young families, I will commit to dedicating funds to open up another childcare center in our public school system in Winona. I will also fight to create more funding for novel childcare and housing solutions like the Child Care House Model.
Fraud & Abuse
Any amount of fraud is unacceptable. Unfortunately, the issue has become a political football, with partisan insiders either minimizing or sensationalizing the problem instead of offering real solutions. These programs are designed to help families until they have the resources to get back on their feet, like my family. We need to make sure every dollar is accounted for, and also make sure that these programs are easy to use. We do this by overhauling Health and Human Services’ internal software system with an emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness.
We can bring balance to the rest of the state government by investing in stronger internal oversight and by making sure the people who rely on public services aren’t weighed down by unnecessary hurdles. That’s why I support creating an independent Inspector General, a practical reform that regrettably did not move forward in the Republican-controlled Minnesota House in 2025.
Affordable Insurance
With the passage of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” Minnesota is poised to lose $1 Billion dollars of Medicaid funding annually. This burden will fall primarily on county governments and will hit rural hospitals the hardest. I promise to fight to make sure that this cost does not get passed onto Winona County taxpayers. Minnesota can protect county tax payers while also expanding Minnesota’s public health insurance and making sure that it fully reimburses hospitals for care costs.
We can also reduce insurance expenses for all kinds of insurance (home, auto, dental etc.) by making it harder for insurance companies to hide their massive profits by expanding and merging into different corporations. When insurance companies are allowed to expand and buy up more and more competitors, we all pay more and get less.
Economic Fairness
The news is full of talk about polarization, with people taking sides and not budging. When I ran for State Senate in 2022, I talked with over 3,000 neighbors, and I found that we truly have more in common than we think. The vast majority of us agree that corporate monopolies make it harder for working families, and that corporate greed has gotten out of hand. From health care to manufacturing, these corporate monopolies drive down competition while increasing prices for consumers. As a farmer, I have experienced this personally. Farms today produce three times as much food, while earning 30% less, than my grandfather's farm did. For the past 60 years both parties have promoted corporate monopolies and the greed that comes with them, dragging down our economy and suffocating families. We need to level the playing field to make it easier for small businesses to thrive.
Very fundamentally, both Democrats and Republicans have both created an economic system that favors the rich and powerful at the expense of working families. We can start to dismantle this broken system by limiting the power of corporations: by getting corporate money out of politics, by limiting their ability to expand, and by giving working families more power and freedoms.
Personal Liberty
As a Quaker, I believe that the decision about when to start a family is deeply personal, even sacred. Quakers note that though this decision is complicated and personal, what is clear is that when the State tries to interfere maternal mortality increases. Politicians should not try to interfere with these important decisions.
Quakers also believe that whom someone chooses to love is an intensely private decision. More importantly, Quakers believe that our communities are more vibrant and welcoming when everyone is encouraged to live as the person God made them to be.
In short, I echo the classic Libertarian belief that the Government doesn’t have any place in making these decisions for you.
Complete Transparency
As your elected official, I promise to be available to you. I want to hear from you, especially if you disagree with me. In order for our politics to work, a disagreement must be the start of the conversation, not the end. To demonstrate this commitment, I will hold regular town halls across the district every month of the year if I am elected.
Follow the Facts
You may have noticed all of the citations in my platform statement–that's because facts matter. I promise to always follow the facts first, even if they contradict my deeply held beliefs. Some of my proposals may seem ambitious, but given the facts before us, anything less would be insufficient.
If you have made it this far, you have really done your research on me. THANK YOU! I truly appreciate you doing the work to look through my whole website. Just like you, I promise to do my research and always follow the facts first, even if they contradict my deeply held beliefs.
power to
the people
Our campaign is powered by real neighbors from all over Winona County, just like you.