2024 MN State House 22A (Final)

MN State House Representatives: District 22A

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. Senators are elected for 4-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	Marisa Ulmen (DFL)	Bjorn Olson (R) (Incumbent)
Background	Single mother for 12 years Married to Jim Son is 4th generation to graduate from Madelia High School 5th generation farmer in Watonwan County since 1868 Raise non-confinement Berkshire hogs, dairy goats, and broiler chickens Own a feed mill Former USPS rural carrier covering 12 routes from Lake Crystal to Ceylon	Mayor Farmer Major in the U.S. Army Reserve Teacher Father and husband
Education	Revive vocational programs and community colleges Fully fund education to reduce local tax burdens	parents know what is best for their children’s education
Agriculture	Fight consolidation in agriculture where unfair practices from multinational corporations Open Minnesota producers up to new markets and protect their bottom lines Protect farmers’ rights to repair their own farm equipment affordable to insure your livestock against diseases	Too much regulation in agriculture
Childcare	Invest in childcare opportunities
Veterans		Promote the welfare of all service members
Healthcare	Fully fund rural EMTs Prescription price controls expanding Medicare
Reproductive Freedom		Staunch advocate for all life, born and unborn
Transportation	Wants safe and reliable transportation system Transit development and services, road safety improvements, bridge replacements, freight and passenger rail projects, and active transportation modes
Small Businesses	Create a fair tax structure Return our investment dollars to our community
Unions	Protect unions mean higher wages, better benefits and improved work conditions
Law Enforcement	Make sure all law enforcement have the resources and support to do their jobs well
Guns		staunch advocate and defender of Constitutionally-guaranteed gun rights
Internet Access	Every Minnesota family and business should have internet access

Note: This information has been compiled by volunteers from Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankatofrom campaign websites, interviews, and candidate forums. 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.