Minnesota and North Dakota Voter's Guide

Forum Communications Co., in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and of North Dakota, is providing this voter guide to help keep you informed ahead of the 2024 election.

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Voter Guide

Minnesota State House District 11B

The lower chamber of the Minnesota legislature has two representatives per senate district for a total of 134.Representatives are elected every two years.They write and vote on legislation to create, repeal, or change state laws affecting many issues, like health care, the environment, and the economy. They also vote on state taxes and the state spending. 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, and funding for the judicial system.

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  • Candidate picture

    Nathan Nelson
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Eric Olson
    (DFL)

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 character)

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

What legislation, if any, would you support to address climate change and its effects in Minnesota? (500 characters)

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Campaign Website http://olsonmnhouse.com/
Contact Phone 320-279-1859
Facebook (Full URL) http://www.facebook.com/EricOlsonMNHouse/
Campaign Twitter Handle @@EricOlsonDFL
Campaign Email eric.olson.dfl@gmail.com
My top priority is driving investment into my district. More than 4.5% of state spending was once directed to local governments. That has fallen steadily to about 1.25%. This centralization has led to decaying local infrastructure and made it difficult for smaller places to invest in vital projects like housing and water management. Further, it increases regressive property taxes that disproportionately affect rural areas. Perhaps most importantly, it disconnects people from government, feeding the urban-rural divide and the anger that is prevalent in our politics. Spending priorities should be shifted to restore the balance. My second priority is education. See the next question. Third, Climate Change must be addressed. See that question.
Our economy is changing rapidly. Technology means that people need to change careers more often. This makes education more vital than ever. At the primary and secondary levels, we can restore the property tax adjustment to school funding to ensure equal education statewide and stable funding that will help retain younger teachers. We need to move away from our too heavy reliance on standardized testing and continue to modernize curricula.
I strongly value diversity and believe that it must be encouraged in all forms to better our society and our government. However, I have proposed no specific legislation directly targeted at this.
Climate change is a critical threat to our region as it is to the planet as a whole. We need to reduce emissions as much and as soon as possible. I am supportive of virtually all legislation that furthers this. In particular, we need local action. I advocate for the establishment of Energy Districts akin to the existing Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in order to help drive funding to local areas and encourage this.
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The League of Women Voters of Minnesota and North Dakota crafted the questions sent to the candidates in the Spring of 2024. They reached out to candidates based on contact information in their public candidate filings. Candidates with email addresses were invited and reminded with emails. Candidates with only mailing addresses were sent a letter. Candidates with phone numbers received a phone call as well.

Candidate responses are published as they responded and have not been edited, except when responses were longer than the given character limit. In those cases, the responses are truncated.

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