2024 MN State House 18B (Final)

MN State House Representatives: District 18B

2024 Candidate Comparison

State Legislature (State House, State Senate)

The Minnesota state legislature is organized similar to the U.S. Congress with two chambers, a Senate and a House of Representatives. The state of Minnesota is divided into 67 districts. One State Senator represents each district and serves in four year terms (once every ten years they serve a two year term instead because of changes resulting from population shifts). Each of the 67 Senate districts are divided into two House districts (A and B). Representatives are elected by residents within the House district and serve two year terms.

The purpose of the legislature is to pass laws and a state budget. Passage of laws and a budget requires majority agreement by both the Senate and the House. In addition to proposing, debating, and voting on legislation, the legislature also proposed amendments to the state constitution (which must then be voted on by the citizens). In the event that the Governor vetoes a piece of legislation, the legislature can override the Governor’s veto with a 2/3rds vote in both the House and Senate. The House also has the power to impeach members of the executive and judicial branches (convicting and removing these members requires a vote in the Senate

Candidates	Luke Frederick (DFL) (Incumbent) https://frederickforhouse.com/	Dar Vosberg (R) https://vosburg4house.com/about.html
Background	Grew up in Eagle Lake Served for a year in AmeriCorp Graduated from MNSU Works at the State Hospital. Member of AFSCME Local 404 union Elected to the House in 2020 Served for a year in AmeriCorp	Realtor since 1997, Broker/Owner since 2004 Greater Mankato Rotarian since 1998 Member of Greater Mankato Growth Member of the Board of Directors, Realtor Association of Southern Minnesota Former Member and Director of WEB (Women Executives in Business) Lived in the Mankato area from 1980 to 1988, then again since 1997 Founding member and President of River Valley Republican Women
Workers and Businesses	Supports protecting collective bargaining rights, and any attempts to restrict or worker rights All workers deserve to be able to take a day off if they’re sick, if a loved one is injured or sick
Healthcare	Believes mental health is health Supports expanded healthcare access Supports Gov. Walz’s Minnesota Care buy-in plan Aims to ensure affordable prescriptions Believes mental health is health Supports paid sick leave and safety leave and paid family leave for all Minnesotans	Protect individuals' rights to make their own healthcare decisions and maintain medical freedom Oppose mandates or regulations that infringe upon personal choice and bodily autonomy Never support mandatory masks and vaccines mandatory Limit power of Big Pharma
Taxes / Fiscal Responsibility	Supports sustainable infrastructure spending fiscal responsibility can be balanced with need to provide support for social services for people who need them	Advocate for lower taxes across the board, including income taxes, property taxes and business taxes Social security income should not be taxed for our seniors Will not agree to any gas tax increases, at least during 1st term
Law Enforcement	supports coordinating with law enforcement agencies and city for fair and just policies and practices to keep all members of the community safe	support law enforcement agencies and provide them with the resources they need to protect our communities advocate for tough sentencing for violent criminals Offering rehabilitation opportunities for non-violent offenders
Education	Believes public education is an important cornerstone of democracy Supports the expertise and skills of teachers and educational staff and providing them with the support they need to help students Supports schools’ efforts to be welcoming and inclusive	Supports school choice initiatives (as charter schools, voucher programs), Ensuring accountability in education spending Prioritize outcomes-based measures over bureaucratic mandates Critical Race Theory (CRT) or politics does not belong in our schools
Reproductive Freedom	Strongly believes that women should be able to make decisions about their bodies and their families	Life begins at conception Government should not be funding abortions Make adoption easier and less expensive
Second Amendment	Supports common sense gun safety measures widely supported by voters across the aisle	Supports the 2nd amendment and against gun control Targeted enforcement of existing laws, mental health initiatives, and community-based solutions
Election Integrity	believes in the integrity of the election system and evidence that elections are safe and secure	advocate for measures that safeguard the electoral process wants to go back to paper ballots, get rid of the ballot drop boxes, require voter IDs, and only use mail-in when absolutely necessary

Note: This information has been compiled from campaign websites by volunteers from Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato. These comparisons are not officially endorsed by any candidate. Where there is no information for a particular category, this does not mean that the candidate does not care about or has not spoken about the issue - it just may not appear on the website. Voters are encouraged to visit candidates’ websites and reach out to campaigns for more information.