2024 MN State House 18A (Final)

MN House of Representatives: District 18A

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).

Candidate bios: https://greatermankato.com/candidates/132

Candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters: https://youtu.be/M-DaKqJsHKI

Candidates	Jeff Brand (DFL) (Incumbent) https://www.brandforhouse.org/	Erika Schwartz (R) https://ericaformn.org/
Background	Fifth generation Minnesotan Lives in St. Peter Grew up on a dairy farm near Howard Lake, MN Small business owner specializing in native landscaping, garden design and ecological services Past employment: worked for US Forest Service and Field Organizer for the MInnesota Environmental Partnership. Served 7 years on the St. Peter City Council Former Region 9 Renewable Energy Task Force Degree from Minnesota State University,Mankato	Diagnosed with a brain tumor during senior year of high school Lost her fiance in a car accident while pregnant with their daughter As a single mother, worked many jobs to provide for her daughter AA degree from South Central College Works for her fiance’s family business, the Nicollet Mart
Healthcare	Rebuild our "sick" healthcare system Lead on the Minnesota Health Plan that includes dental and prescription drug coverage Provide earned sick and safe time and paid family leave
Education	Smaller class sizes More resources or students and parents Better financial support teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff Partner with health professionals to increase funding and access to mental health services, counseling, and treatment for addiction, and deliver mental health resources to public schools	promote the importance of quality education Committed to policies that prioritize educational opportunities Wants local control over schools rather than big government regulations Disagrees with her party’s stance against school lunches
Reproductive Freedom	women should make their own health care decisions with their doctor, without government interference Reproductive health care is basic health care
Jobs/Economy/Housing	Support small businesses for a strong middle class Diversify the tax base and provide more services to the community Robust immigration reform to support work base Support building trades	Wants to promote economic fairness Wants to eliminate tax on social security benefits Best way to support economic growth is to get big government out of the way Eliminate redundant red tape Fight for lower taxes
Agriculture/ Environment	Stabilize agricultural land valuations incentivize shuttered commercial property conversions to support farm families support U of MN’s Forever Green program - development of sustainable fuels and crops that promote better soil health Endorsed by both the MN Farm Bureau and the MN Farmers Union	Eliminate redundant red tape and regulation by big government
Veterans	Treat veterans and provide families of veterans with an improved quality of life including free mental health screenings, Military Beneficiary Pay of Benefits protections, State Veteran Home remodeling and upgrades, and an end to veteran homelessness across Minnesota.
Public Safety	Committed to ensuring that we develop police and public safety departments that are properly trained, have adequate funding for recruitment and retention, and have the proper personnel in place to respond to mental health crises within our communities Dedicated to keeping our communities and schools safe from gun violence through common-sense measures such as safe storage, universal criminal background checks, and extreme risk protection orders	Provide local law enforcement with the essential tools and resources
Taxes/Inflation	Tax dollars need to be used wisely to invest in the future for all - safe roads, education for our kids	Alleviating tax and financial burdens

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.