The issues here are driving me to run for office and fight for Winona in St. Paul. Our political system has deteriorated into a 2-party shouting match with purity tests and loyalty oaths. As a Farmer and a Laborer, my values line up with the historic Farm Labor Party, now the Democratic Farm Labor party, but I promise  you that I am running first as a Winonan who wants to make Winona better for everyone. That means making sure I deliver on these promises and work with whoever will work with me to make that happen, regardless of the letter behind someone's name.

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.

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 for Winona Area Public Schools to open up a childcare center. This investment will open up  the waiting list for current childcare, and encourage more families to enroll in WAPS.

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. 

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.

As a Quaker, I believe that the decision about when to start a family is deeply personal, even sacred. Politicians should not try to interfere with these important decisions. Abortion has been politicized by both parties, when ought to be a deeply personal and nuanced decision. I support the effort to make abortion an amendment to the state constitution, to get it out of the hands of politicians and back to the voters.

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.

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. And I will start doing that in 2026 as a candidate for State House because I firmly believe that how you campaign is how you will govern.

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.