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 Senate District 46

The chief function of a legislator is to enact laws. Each legislator represents a certain area as well as a number of individuals, referred to as constituents, who live in that area. In Minnesota, a state senator represents roughly 78,000 people, while a representative or house member represents approximately 39,000 people. There are 67 members in the Senate and 134 in the House. Senators’ terms are four years (two years in the first election following redistricting) while House members terms are two years.Learn more at the MN Senate website.Watch a candidate forum for this race recorded on September 23, 2026.

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  • Candidate picture

    Ron Latz
    (DFL)

  • Candidate picture

    Kayla Wright
    (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 character)

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)

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Campaign Website http://ronlatz.org
telephone 6122034979
Facebook (Full URL) http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585567020055
Campaign Email ron@ronlatz.org
My top three priorities are fighting Trump’s ICE, gun violence prevention, and universal healthcare. No Minnesota family should have to choose between quality healthcare and their economic well-being. It’s time that every Minnesotan be covered. I will finish the job on gun violence prevention: I authored Minnesota's red flag law and universal background checks, and will keep pushing the assault weapons ban I helped pass through the Senate. And after federal agents swept through our communities during Operation Metro Surge, I authored the Senate's ICE accountability package protecting schools, hospitals, and courthouses. I will get it signed into law.
Lowering costs means tackling root causes. Housing is the biggest: Minnesota is short over 100,000 homes, so I will keep expanding supply through Housing Infrastructure Bonds and workforce housing investments statewide. I helped deliver universal school meals, a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, and earned sick time so workers share in the prosperity they create. And I will keep cutting the costs families actually feel, from child care and prescription drugs to tuition-free public college.
I have authored much of Minnesota's civil rights progress: the CROWN Act protecting Black Minnesotans from hair discrimination, our bias crime penalty law, and the 2023 expansion of hate crimes protections. I authored Ban the Box and drug sentencing reforms reducing racial disparities in incarceration. I helped pass the Preventing Pay Discrimination Act and secured funding for the Offices for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and Black Women and Girls. I will build on this record.
Yes, without hesitation. I have championed the Equal Rights Amendment for years and support putting it before Minnesota voters. Rights that exist only in statute can be repealed by the next legislature or eroded by courts. Equality belongs in our constitution, where no politician can take it away. With fundamental freedoms under attack nationally, Minnesota should guarantee no one faces discrimination based on race, national origin, ancestry, disability, or sex, including pregnancy and gender.
I voted for Minnesota's 100% carbon-free electricity standard and will fight any rollback. I support permanent protection of the Boundary Waters from sulfide mining and stronger safeguards against PFAS contamination in our drinking water. I backed environmental oversight and guardrails for data centers so large corporations pay their fair share and do not burden our water, grid, or ratepayers. I also authored the Freedom to Breathe Act protecting Minnesotans from secondhand smoke.
I authored Minnesota's red flag law and universal background checks, and helped pass the largest gun violence prevention package in state history, including safe storage and an assault weapons ban through the Senate. I support effective, accountable policing, including the Philando Castile training fund and violence prevention investments. I strengthened protections for domestic violence survivors, secured $12 million for crime victim services, and passed DWI reforms after the Park Tavern crash.
Citizens United opened the floodgates, and states must push back. I supported banning election spending by foreign-influenced corporations and strengthening disclosure requirements in Minnesota. I would close loopholes that let dark money groups hide their donors, require faster disclosure of large independent expenditures, and strengthen the Campaign Finance Board's enforcement tools. I also practice what I preach: I abide by Minnesota's voluntary campaign spending limits in my own race.
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Powered by League of Women Voters Education Fund

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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