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 33

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.Senate - “Upper chamber” with 67 districts (redistricting takes place every 10 years following the census). Senators typically serve 4 year terms.Watch a candidate forum for this race recorded on September 26, 2026.

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  • Candidate picture

    Karin Housley
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Nat Smith
    (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)

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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My priorities will be what we’ve been hearing from voters across District 33: concerns about the rising cost of everyday life, fraud, and accessible healthcare. They want good-paying jobs, strong schools, safe communities where they can raise their families, and clean water free from PFAS. Though not yet in office, I’ve already introduced a bill to help combat fraud. We can work to deliver more affordable childcare, stand against price gouging of Minnesotans, and lower taxes for small businesses and working families. While people may not agree on every issue, they consistently tell us they want leaders who listen, show up, work hard, and put results ahead of politics. An independent voice for common sense solutions.
I will focus on lowering costs for working families, including childcare costs, increasing housing supply so families can afford to live where jobs are, and supporting small business growth by investing in education and a recruitment of a strong workforce. The legislature can play a role to ensure economic stability so that businesses can plan for the future. We can invest in economic growth and infrastructure, including emerging technologies, while also ensuring accountability and transparency.
Reducing disparities starts in the earliest stages of life, so I would focus on ensuring strong investment in early childhood education, as well as expanding access to quality and affordable childcare. We need to set our kids up to succeed, and can do more to support student mental and emotional health, invest in educators and recruit and retain teachers of all backgrounds. I would also explore career training programs to help connect people with high demand jobs.
I support putting the Equal Rights Amendment to voters as a ballot question because Minnesotans deserve constitutional guarantees against discrimination and protection of their personal liberty. Every Minnesotan should have equal access to opportunity, healthcare, and fundamental rights regardless of who they are.
I support fully funding clean-water infrastructure, strengthening PFAS and pollution controls, and holding corporate contaminators accountable. Minnesota’s lakes and drinking water are vital to our health, environment, and economy. We must enforce strict clean water standards, clean up toxic "forever chemicals," and ensure every community, no matter the zip code, has safe, reliable drinking water for generations to come.
I support a balanced approach to public safety that backs our first responders while strengthening our communities. That means ensuring police, fire, and emergency medical personnel have the full funding, training, and equipment they need to respond quickly and keep us safe. At the same time, we must invest in community services to prevent crime before it happens. Supporting law enforcement and holding offenders accountable goes hand in hand with building safer, healthier neighborhoods.
I support campaign finance reform to get dark money out of our elections and ensure voters know who is paying to influence their vote. We must enforce robust disclosure rules for independent expenditures, shine a light on political spending, and restrict outside groups from drowning out the voices of everyday Minnesotans. Our democracy belongs to the voters of Senate District 33, not deep-pocketed special interests.
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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.

VOTE411 is brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund and League of Women Voters of Minnesota Education Fund. The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any political party or candidate for office.