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VOTE411 Voter Guide

Minnesota State House District 17A

The “lower chamber” of the Minnesota legislature has two representatives per senate district for a total of 134. Representatives are elected every two years.What your state legislature does affects many facets of your life—the taxes you pay, the highways on which you drive, public schools, the state-supported colleges and universities you or your children might attend, the state parks that provide recreation for you and your family, social programs, funding for the judicial system.

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  • Candidate picture

    Mali Anderson
    (DFL)

  • Candidate picture

    Dawn Gillman
    (Rep)

Biographical Information

If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (750 characters)

What will you do to support a vibrant economy across Minnesota and to address inflation? (500 characters)

What legislation, if any, would you support to address racial or ethnic disparities in Minnesota? (500 characters)

Do you support the adoption of a ballot issue to add the Equal Rights Amendment into the Minnesota State Constitution why or why not? (500 characters)

What legislation, if any, would you support to protect clean air and water in Minnesota? (500 characters)

What legislation, if any, would you support to meet the need for safe communities? (500 characters)

What changes to legislation would you support to reduce the influence of big money in elections? (500 characters)

Environment: Encourage sustainable farming practices, protect the BWCA, defend our watersheds, improve public transportation, restrict data centers, encourage pollinators and the hemp industry, and collaborate with the leaders of the Tribal Nations. Affordability: Free Universal Healthcare is a necessity. We need affordable housing, living wages, food security, and funding for daycare and Headstart. We need to fund education, defend unions, and protect reproductive care. Take care of our Veterans and the unhoused. Protect Social Security. Catch fraud. Public Safety: Dismantle, defund, and remove ICE. Expand firearm safety reforms. Protect our Constitutional and Human Rights, tax the Epstein Class, and end this Illegal War.
In order to have a vibrant economy in MN we need living wages and a lower cost of living. We need free universal healthcare. When the Epstein class pays their fair share of taxes, we can fund the programs everyone else is disproportionately burdened with paying. No one is asking for a mansion on a hill top. We just need to be able to afford housing, have access to nutritious food, be able to get to work, and not have to worry about medical bills and student loans destroying our lives.
I support the dismantling of ICE and the prosecution of agents. There are non-violent offenders who are still incarcerated for cannabis related offenses as part of the New Jim Crow policies and the War on Drugs era. We need to ensure the history of white supremacy, including mass incarceration, racial housing covenants, voter suppression, and other systemic inequities are taught. I support the Green New Deal and I am committed to protecting diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Yes. I do. Base human nature is about the survival of the fittest. Some humans lack empathy and insight and think they are superior and therefore must be entitled to more resources. They do not tolerate others who are different from themselves and do not believe them to be worthy of being treated equally. This dehumanizing attitude maintains some in a position of advantage while others are kept as an expendable resource. It is unjust and morally reprehensible.
I support legislation protecting our environment. This includes the BWCA from copper-nickel sulfide mining. Further, no data centers should be permitted to proceed in our State ahead of the guardrails that ensure our soil, water, and air will be protected from harm. With the rollbacks to the EPA, it is up to us to protect ourselves and our communities from the long term damage of greedy corporations and their investors who don't live downstream or give a fig about the people and ecosystem.
I believe in protecting the U.S. Constitution so we can keep ourselves safe. The President put lethal weapons in the hands of masked militants who executed innocent people. One solution is to impeach, remove, and convict Donald Trump and his Administration, for posing the biggest threat to our communities. Secondly, reinstate funding for mental health services and pass firearm safety reforms.
SuperPAC money distorts democracy. People want to know if their vote really counts or if it is a token gesture. How can we have faith in our democratic processes when corporations and special interests can simply outspend an opponent's campaign? Is it any wonder voters are disenchanted with civic engagement? If we want the public to trust the democratic process, than their vote has to have more value than the gold lining the deepest pockets.
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