Mayo Clinic physician and State Sen. Matt Klein (DFL-Mendota Heights) recently announced his campaign for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.

Klein joined the state Senate in 2016, representing areas of South St. Paul, Mendota Heights and Inver Grove Heights. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later attended the Mayo Medical School, graduating with a doctorate in medicine.

Before announcing her U.S. Senate campaign, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) previously held the district seat in 2019 after beating 20-year incumbent GOP Rep. Jason Lewis.

Klein said in a press release that, as a congressman, he will protect abortion access and fight for working-class families. In this legislative session, Klein established reproductive rights into law and eliminated Social Security taxes for people at lower income levels, the Star Tribune reported.

“Every day, I’m inspired by my neighbors—people who work hard, care for their families, and build stronger communities,” Klein said in the press release. “In Congress, I’ll bring those same Minnesota values to Washington and show them what real problem-solving looks like.”

Klein also championed legalizing online sports betting, which stalled this session, and legislation prohibiting legislators from lobbying for two years after leaving office. 

In the state Senate, Klein chairs the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee and is the vice chair of the Taxes Committee. He plans to seek DFL endorsement, the Star Tribune reported. Klein received a labor endorsement from the Minnesota Pipe Trades Association and Ironworkers Local 512, he said in the press release. 

Alongside uplifting workers, Klein promised a commitment to truth, science and governing respectfully in Washington in his press release. Klein was one of many DFL politicians who supported Gov. Tim Walz’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign against Republican Scott Jensen, who doubted the severity of COVID-19. 

“Truth and science aren’t optional—they’re essential,” Klein said in the press release. “With our fundamental rights under attack like never before, I’m fighting every day to protect democracy, uphold truth, ensure access to healthcare services, and restore civility. Enough with the chaos— it’s time to get things done.”

Former Lakeville Mayor and DFL Sen. Matt Little is also running for the 2nd District alongside Klein. Other potential Republican candidates for the competitive district include state Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), 2024 Senate hopeful and former marine Joe Teirab and 2020 and 2022 nominee for the seat Tyler Kistner, the Minnesota Reformer reported.

Health experts raise concerns about the rise in vaccine skepticism and hesitancy as a bill criminalizing certain vaccines circulates in the state Legislature.

A group of Minnesota House Republicans wrote a bill that would categorize certain vaccines, such as mRNA, as “weapons of mass destruction” and make possessing or using them a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison, the Minnesota Reformer reported.

Some mRNA vaccines make up COVID-19 treatments and have helped prevent millions of deaths during the pandemic, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The bill mirrors language by Floridian hypnotist Joseph Sansone, who believes COVID-19 treatments are “biological and technological weapons.” He also takes credit for creating the “Ban the Jab” movement to stop the use of all COVID-19 injections and mRNA vaccines.

Michael T. Osterholm, professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, said if a bill criminalizing mRNA vaccines passed in Minnesota, the impacts would be deadly. He added that without mRNA, it would take experts longer to create vaccines to combat illnesses such as influenza.

“Plus, what it does is going to hinder us from any future, because right now if we had an influenza pandemic, we would not have the capacity to make enough vaccines for the world for years after the pandemic first emerged, which would be way too late,” Osterholm said.

Osterholm is also the director of the University’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. The center recently launched the Vaccine Integrity Project, which aims to help engage professionals to gather feedback and inform governments on vaccine policy and utilization in the U.S.

A survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania reported that 28% of respondents mistakenly believed that COVID-19 vaccines had caused thousands of deaths as of July 2024. This is about a 22% increase since 2021.

Skepticism and hesitancy around vaccines have started for several reasons. One is that since vaccines prevent diseases, people will forget about the threats and dangers of these diseases, Osterholm said.

“They forget what it’s like to have thousands of deaths due to measles and all these other infectious diseases,” Osterholm said. “Our challenge is keeping people motivated.”

Alongside the general public, vaccine hesitancy has made its way to the current federal administration, Osterholm said.

Support for vaccines at the federal level is also declining, with Food and Drug Administration Chairman Marty Makary saying he supports natural immunity to diseases rather than vaccinated immunity and is largely against vaccine mandates. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized vaccinations for causing conditions such as autism, which is incorrect.

Osterholm said the issue with Kennedy Jr.’s comments on vaccinations is that he instills a sense of doubt in people without clearly stating whether people should or should not be vaccinated.

“HHS Secretary Kennedy’s nonsensical claims about the effectiveness of a single antigen vaccine,” Osterholm said in his podcast. “Once again, I want to make it clear that single-antigen vaccines have been and will continue to be effective against respiratory viruses, and the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is no exception.”

Another reason for the distrust in vaccines is the larger distrust in several public institutions, not just in medical sciences or public health, but in higher education and more, Osterholm said. This distrust may be because of growing misinformation and disinformation around vaccines and other medical treatments online, he added.

“If I’m a parent of a young child, I want to do the right thing,” Osterholm said. “I’m getting these mixed messages, and I don’t want to harm my child. If nothing else, I may come to the neutral position and say, ‘Well, I’m not against vaccines. I’m just going to wait and see if more information comes out.’ And they don’t get vaccinated, and then they become a case.”

It is important to get vaccinated because without those antibodies from the vaccines or from overcoming the disease yourself, people will lack lifelong protection, Osterholm said. He added that without that protection, antibodies cannot be passed down from mother to child, meaning infants and young children are put at a higher risk.

Osterholm said to get any questions or concerns about vaccines answered by a medical professional and not the internet. He said the internet can usually cater to misinformation and disinformation, while doctors have the knowledge and experience to answer questions.

“Please get the facts from your own physician or your own healthcare system,” Osterholm said. “They’re there to take care of you. They’re not there to hurt you. They’re not there to sell you something you don’t need. They’ll be honest with you.”

As the 2025 legislative session wraps up, University of Minnesota officials are expecting less state funding, which could lead to education cuts or tuition increases.

The University expects to receive about $10 million less in overall funding compared to the last session. Without additional funding, the University expects to reduce spending in areas like research or increase tuition, University spokesperson Amy Tolson said in a statement.

The expected funding for the University falls well below the around $200 million increase in funding that University officials had asked for before the session began. Combined with the decrease in federal funding and inflation, the University’s finances will be taking a hit.

“We understand the state of Minnesota is facing difficult budget circumstances, and we are grateful to legislators for their work to minimize cuts to the University,” Tolson said in a statement. “Maintaining our operations and maintenance funding will benefit the University community as a whole, across all five campuses, and the entire state. However, with inflation, this would still amount to a 3% reduction.”

Most of the decrease in state funding comes down to the Legislature approving less one-time funding as state lawmakers hope to get ahead of an expected $6 billion deficit for the 2028-29 budget cycle.

Earlier this week, the Minnesota House passed its around $4 billion higher education budget, which includes increasing the University’s operations and maintenance funding by about $26 million. The Senate passed its version Thursday. There will be a conference committee to hammer out the differences between the two versions before the governor can sign it.

The University also asked for around $200 million in their Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement at the start of the session to fund infrastructure repairs.

“If a bonding bill were to pass this session, we would be grateful for any HEAPR funding we may receive. However, $200 million is the minimum amount required to keep our $6 billion backlog in needed repairs from growing,” University Vice President Alice Roberts-Davis said in a statement. “With reduced funding, we will be unable to address the more than 100 projects we had identified as priorities in this year’s legislative request.”

The University’s funding woes with the Legislature are not new. The University asked for about $500 million for HEAPR as part of a bill that ultimately did not pass. They also asked for about $90 million more in funding but got about half that.

University research at stake

The University’s Cannabis Research Center could be another victim of less higher education funding this session.

Traci Toomey, director of the Cannabis Research Center, said the research center researches and collects data about cannabis use and its effects to help inform state agencies and lawmakers. The center was created in October 2023 after cannabis was legalized that summer.

“What are local public health agencies being asked to do around cannabis legalization? What are the issues that they’re running into? So that the state also knows how to prioritize how to help local public health,” Toomey said. “We’re doing work like that.”

Toomey said the center faces a challenge trying to gain state funding because, although the center provides data and research to the entire state, it receives money through the Legislature’s Higher Education Committee because it is housed at the University of Minnesota. Without the funding, the center would have to narrow the widespread research it currently conducts.

As a professor, Toomey said she hopes funding for higher education can be supported as much as possible, but as the Cannabis Center director, she is worried about its future. Since the cannabis center is not covered by the University’s guaranteed core operations and maintenance funding, it will likely lose funding in the end.

“I hope the state figures out how to fund the Cannabis Research Center because we’re providing a critical service to the state,” Toomey said.

The funding the Bell Museum receives directly from the Legislature may also get cut if the bill passes this session, said Holly Menninger, Bell Museum executive director.

“I’ve been to the Capitol several times this week and several times last week, just to make sure that we’re helping legislators understand what, in our case, a pretty modest investment by the state, what that means and what that return on investment looks like,” Menninger said.

In a letter to Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), Menninger asked lawmakers to reconsider eliminating all funding to the Bell Museum. Without the funding, they expect reduced staffing, delays in information to state agencies and decreased public access to their research, Henninger said in the letter.

“Continued state support for the Bell’s collections is even more important now given massive cuts at the federal level targeting museums and collections,” Henninger said in the letter. 

The Bell Museum has received annual funding from the Legislature since the 1970s, Menninger said. This funding helps the museum continue to research and create collections to educate state agencies, like the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the public to better understand the state’s biodiversity. 

“The takeaway here is that we put our collections to work for the benefit of the state, not just those state agencies, but for students, other researchers, and universities,” Menninger said. “That investment is really important to us.”

Some students are frustrated with the Minneapolis DFL Party over a lack of communication and an effort to move the Ward 2 convention to the summer.

The Minneapolis DFL Party changed location three times due to unfavorable timing and concerns with the venue locations, party officials said. Student groups and the local city council member said moving the convention to the summer would effectively shut out students from the process.

During election years, the Minneapolis DFL hosts conventions in each ward to select two party officers and endorse city council candidates in the coming days. 

Concerns this year arose when the Minneapolis DFL proposed moving the Ward 2, home to the University of Minnesota, convention to June 7 from its original date of May 3 due to the Pratt Elementary School and Van Cleve Recreation Center being too small to accommodate an estimated 400 delegates expected to participate in the convention. After realizing that June 7 is a Muslim holiday, the Minneapolis DFL changed the date to June 1. 

Council Member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2) said her campaign learned about possible venue changes via conversations with the Minneapolis DFL throughout the week before Easter Sunday but only learned about changing the date on April 20. 

“We had a handful of DFL leaders just say, ‘No, we’re going to pick a date, pick a location that excludes a large majority of our delegate base, including students and just working-class people, from fairly participating in that process,’” Wonsley, who is running for reelection, said. “My campaign said immediately that’s unacceptable.”

While the Minneapolis DFL reversed course and moved the convention date back to May 3, some students remain dissatisfied about the lack of communication to or consideration of students.

First-year student Maya Bueso, a member of the University’s College Democrats, said she first heard of the possible date changes of the Ward 2 convention through social media, not by the Minneapolis DFL. After reading the news, Bueso said she felt the date change would exclude students who live in Ward 2 during the academic year. 

“It’s really frustrating, especially because a lot of students, again, live in Ward 2,” Bueso said. “Obviously, there are other residents as well, but that is excluding such a large portion of students.” 

First-year student Noah Yehalashet, the treasurer of the University’s College Democrats, said the board discovered the possible date change on April 20 through an internal email from the Minneapolis DFL shared with them. He said by the next morning they had a petition created and shared to X and Instagram. 

“I was very stressed when I found out because it was like everybody was left out of that decision,” Yehalashet said. 

Within the next two days, the petition gained about 200 signatures, Yehalashet said.

“That was kind of a nice thing to kind of capture some energy around this thing,” Yehalashet said. “It’s like a pressure because I think if we stay silent, period, this would have been on June 7.” 

Bueso said that both the June 1 and 7 dates would have excluded students because they are off campus for the summer, which seems contradictory to many organizations’ goals of trying to draw in younger voices into politics. 

“If you are part of the DFL, you should encourage more people to be involved,” Bueso said. “More people should be involved in politics regardless of belief. It’s so important to have that voice.”

Not only could the date change exclude students, but Wonsley said the initial change to June 7 is also a Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, meaning many Muslim constituents would be excluded.

“This is indicative of a handful of DFL leaders at the local level who seem to be out of touch or disconnected with, again, this piece of how do you run a democratic process that is actually inclusive,” Wonsley said. 

Wonsley highlighted that Ward 6, which covers parts of Cedar-Riverside, also had some date changes due to venue concerns over the holiday weekend. 

Alongside the convention, Wonsley said her team has been trying to sort out why around 30 student registration delegate forms are unaccounted for. She said she hopes to get this issue reconciled soon to ensure students are not disenfranchised. 

Besides the convention date confusion, Bueso said she felt left out of the Ward 2 committee meetings within the Minneapolis DFL due to miscommunication. After being elected by her student neighbors in Middlebrook Hall to represent them, she said she was never contacted by any leadership within the Minneapolis DFL to confirm her spot and was replaced by other members to participate in the meetings. 

“To me, that was just kind of odd and weird. They were actively excluding me even though I was advocating to be on those committees,” Bueso said. 

Getting involved in local politics can often leave students feeling frustrated and discouraged because of how confusing the process is, Yehalashet said. He added that these problems are often exacerbated due to a lack of communication and support from larger organizations, like the Minneapolis DFL. 

“I just want to make sure I’m not doing this alone because I went to caucus last year and I was the only young person in the room, and at the convention, I was the only young person in the room,” Yehalashet said. “It was very frustrating and sad, and I didn’t feel respected by the people in there.”

Conflict of interest complaints against senators are shedding light on the lack of codes of ethics in the state legislature, law professors and government transparency advocates say. 

A complaint against Sen. Bobby Joe Champion’s (DFL-Minneapolis) possible conflict of interest arose after he brought forward two pieces of legislation allocating funds to local organizations which he provided pro bono legal work in his private job as an attorney in 2022. 

Other ethical concerns were raised against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) after she cast the tie-breaking vote on a motion that would have removed her from the Senate in January. 

While a committee of legislators investigating the matter concluded no wrongdoing, ethical concerns around it remain as the committee encouraged Champion not to repeat the issue. 

“The subcommittee recommends that in the future Senator Champion disclose any appearance of a potential conflict of interest to the committees of interest when the chief author of bills,” the press release said. 

University law professor and former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter said although many lawmakers have conflicts of interest — mainly due to their part-time jobs out of session — the primary issue with Champion’s situation is that he did not disclose this possible conflict between the group he was seeking funding for and his past pro bono work. 

“This doesn’t violate the specific provisions, I think, in Minnesota that I can find, but it’s just a basic concept of disclosure and avoiding a lot of egregious conflicts of interest for a state legislator,” Painter said. “I think the lines crossed here. That’s my main concern.”

Conflicts of interest are more likely due to many legislators having private part-time work, Painter said. He added that Champion’s situation does not go against any ethical provisions in the Senate or House, but such conflicts should be disclosed to avoid any possible problems in the future.  

Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, executive director of the government transparency organization Common Cause, said because there is no centralized, independent review of ethical conduct to assess situations with state legislators, there is no process to help guide the Legislature during conflicts of interest or other ethical concerns. 

“I don’t think it’s an issue of people waking up and wanting to do something wrong. I think that what these situations are really speaking to is not the elected officials’ ill will or ill intent, but rather the lack of guidance, the lack of resources to that elected official,” Belladonna-Carrera said. “It is because of those reasons that we’re really focusing on, really moving with reforms that address those areas of deficiencies.”

Painter said recent examples of fraud, such as Feeding Our Future, show the need for greater scrutiny of money being allocated to organizations directly from politicians.

“I think more generally we need to examine far more aggressively the relationship between charities and the government,” Painter said. “I’m saying, money to charities and nonprofit organizations to do their work as opposed to government and county programs and city programs.” 

Painter said while legislators are bound by codes of ethics, the current codes are overly vague and leave room for situations like what happened with Champion and Mitchell to recur.

Currently, Minnesota has three different entities that oversee political ethical misconduct like conflicts of interest — the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, the Minnesota Management and Budget’s state ethics officer and ethical provisions in the state House and Senate. 

Belladonna-Carrera said the issue with these three entities is that they only provide guidance to politicians for financial ethical concerns, not personal relationships and other potential biases. 

Some additional reforms Common Cause would like to see, besides an independent commission, are requiring lawmakers to make more detailed disclosures about any potential personal or financial conflicts of interest and requiring ethics training for lawmakers to ensure all guidelines are understood, Belladonna-Carrera said in an email to the Minnesota Daily. 

With nationwide uncertainty toward the federal government, Belladonna-Carrera said it is more important than ever to ensure public trust in elected officials and enhance government transparency to alleviate those concerns. 

“The moment that the broader Minnesota base starts to doubt the integrity of the members that are in those spaces of power. You’re going to see a rippling-down effect,” Belladonna-Carrera said. “If I no longer believe in the institution of our state capital and the state legislature because elected officials are there to either self-serve and line their pockets or to help their pals line their pockets. What do you think are the chances of me wanting to create that personal relationship with my elected official?”

Former Minnesota State Sen. Melisa López Franzen said she is running U.S. Senate in March to support students and working-class Minnesotans by making education and healthcare access more affordable.

Lòpez Franzen previously worked in the state Senate for over a decade and served as the DFL minority leader in the Senate from 2021 to 2023, representing the southwest Twin Cities area. After leaving the Senate, she served as the government and community relations executive director at the University of Minnesota in 2023. 

Lòpez Franzen announced her campaign after Sen. Tina Smith (DFL-Minn.) announced she would not run for reelection. She will be running against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the DFL primary.

Minnesota Daily: Why are you running for the U.S. Senate?

López Franzen: “I served in public service in elected office for 10 years prior to coming to the University of Minnesota. I’ve always had that spirit and the urge to represent voices that are underrepresented in government, and I served my community for 10 years. I left because I was redistricted, and then I ended up being tapped to take the role at the University of Minnesota in government relations. It was an area that I was really comfortable in. After I was redistricted, I still wanted to be involved in shaping policy. So that seemed to be a really natural fit for me to help the University tell its story and be able to be supportive of the institution, but also the research of students and the faculty that work there. It’s been a year and a half in that role and when the current federal administration started to make some changes and the cuts that were coming down the pike, they were directly impacting the mission of the university. I saw firsthand how important it is to continue that public service.” 

Daily: How will your experiences at the UMN and in the state Senate influence your campaign? 

López Franzen: “In the state Senate, I was also the Senate leader, so I was able to help be the voice of every district of the state. I’m pretty well-connected and well-versed in the changes of different parts of the state and what their struggles are. Obviously in this moment, they’re different and being at the university gave me a front-row seat to learning what public institutions like the U and higher ed do to really navigate lives, because a lot of my job was to really translate the importance of public institutions like the university to the state and research in developing the next generation of leaders.

I’ve also worked in the private sector. I’ve also had my own small business before coming to the U. I’ve been in different settings that have given me a really well-rounded and robust experience that I can take to the national level and represent everyday Minnesotans.”

Daily: How will you prioritize college students when in the U.S. Senate? 

López Franzen: “I think students right now are in a very tenuous situation because the world is different than it was even a few months ago. It’s harder to overcome the changes, drastic changes. People go to school, and then they want to have a good job, and then they want to buy their car and be able to buy it for their first home and get married and have a family. Whether that’s the traditional route or something else, it’s getting harder and less affordable to do all of that. I recognize that very intimately because I know what it costs for tuition, and I know people are going to think twice if they can’t get the Pell Grant because the Department of Education is being dismantled. I know what it takes if their Fulbright Scholarship is being taken away from them.

We need to mobilize and really showcase that we are the future, but you have to invest in the future. That’s a huge role of our federal government that we are right now questioning whether they’re going to be a good partner to invest in our future.”

Daily: How would you support working families if elected? 

López Franzen: “Let’s take a step back. We voted for change. The United States voted for change. Whether it’s this change that was voted for is still to be determined, but there’s an opportunity to build back a public sector that really is reflective of the community, but also responsive to the needs of today. Things like health care are one of the things that I really have cut my teeth in in my prior experience at the legislature, serving in nine of my ten years in the health and human services sector, and they are really things that I want to focus on. Education, from childcare all the way to higher education and trades, are areas that are very much basic needs in my mind. Of course, housing is really important, but when I say basic needs are the functions of, if we have a well-educated workforce and a well-educated citizenry, we have healthy communities, right? If we have healthy communities, that means they’re healthy inside and out, whether they have housing that they can afford or the health care that allows them to thrive.”

Daily: Besides advocating for the working class, what are your other goals?

López Franzen: “I came to Minnesota from Puerto Rico, which is where I grew up, on a scholarship, on a DEI scholarship, that now you don’t have the ability to offer scholarships that open doors for people like me. I’m still paying for my student loans. There is a disconnect there. It was a struggle when I was coming into this, to Minnesota to uplift my own life, and it’s only getting more complex for people and students.

Students are having more challenges, whether they can afford their rents or whether they can afford a lawyer, for instance, if they have an issue with their landlord, which we’ve had experience with at the U. Whether it’s food insecurity or mental health supports, all those things are things that I was working on on behalf of students to make sure that legislators would know that we need to support our students and we need to support their ability to have a good future. I want to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to thrive with the conditions that can help them get there. It’s not a handout. It’s what the government is supposed to provide.”

Daily: How do you plan to contend with the Trump administration? 

López Franzen: “In my background, I’ve flipped a district from one party to the other, from red to blue. I’ve always been a consensus builder, and I’ve worked in divided government as well as trifectas. I’ve played well working with people on any angle. I’m a lawyer by trade, so they train you to argue the other side but be empathetic and certainly open to to getting your mind changed by real facts. We’re questioning what those are right now, but at the end of the day, we build progress by building coalitions, and we have to find certain compromises, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to compromise your core values. We need real change in Minnesota, and we need to make sure that we move forward, but we also need to make sure we’re working together to make those coalitions stronger.” 

This story has been edited for grammar, clarity and length.

The three DFL candidates running for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s three open at-large positions target improving accessibility to parks, creating more youth programs and addressing funding struggles in their campaign pitches. 

Park board elections will be Nov. 4 alongside elections for Minneapolis mayor, City Council and others. Minneapolis uses ranked choice voting in all municipal elections, meaning residents can rank three candidates for one position from most to least preferred choice. 

There are three at-large positions open for this upcoming election. Two of the at-large commissioners are seeking re-elections, while Commissioner Charles Rucker is not campaigning. 

Tom Olsen, an 11-year resident of Minneapolis and current commissioner, said he was motivated to run for the Park Board after he served on the city’s community environmental advisory commission and got more involved with city politics. 

“I’d always been interested in local politics and making sure that we have sound environmental policy,” Olsen said. “The Minneapolis Park Board absolutely does do that. I wanted to make sure we kept it again.”

Besides environmental advocacy, Olsen said his campaign goals focus on improving safety on high-traffic roadways and creating more youth programs like youth positions and sports. 

“We obviously do a lot of really strong environmental things, which I am all for,” Olsen said. “But I think it’s a little easier to backslide on some of the youth stuff. When we backslide on the youth stuff, that leads to negative consequences down the road that are kind of harder to pinpoint.”

The Park Board proposed a 10% tax levy over the summer to support its services and programs, a situation which Olsen said he would like to prevent. He added improving the relationship between the Board and state Legislature could hopefully lessen the tax burden on Minneapolis residents. 

Michael Wilson, who formerly worked with the Park Board’s aquatics services, said as a former Minneapolis parks employee, he found the at-large commissioner elections were the perfect opportunity to be more involved with the community. 

“I’m interested in having our Park Board really be tuned in proactively with the community and being available to the community to make sure our parks work for all the people who are constituents here in Minneapolis,” Wilson said. 

Wilson said he would like the Board to also focus on increasing traffic calming efforts and creating more youth programs in hopes their affordable services would help busy families, such as expanding swimming lessons. 

The Park Board’s lack of support for the striking Minneapolis park workers over the summer frustrated Wilson, who said it shows the need to fight for park workers. Due to the strike and his frontline work background, Wilson plans to improve union and labor rights for the Park Board.

“The city, the county, the state and people around here are pro-union and pro-frontline worker,” Wilson said. “That’s something that I have a history in, and that is an important piece for me because I really think that frontline worker stability is community stability.” 

Although Wilson has never run for any local elections before, he said his experience as a frontline park worker has given him the teamwork experience to create and manage a successful park board alongside the community. 

Meg Forney, a current at-large commissioner for the Park Board, said she is running for reelection because she wants to continue to work on her long-time goals, such as making the parks and trails more accessible for residents and improving the city’s tree canopy, especially in lower-income areas. 

“I’ve been very involved with the riverfront, what we call above the falls. So that’s probably been, you know, the biggest stretch that I’ve been involved in,” Forney said. “But there are a lot of other things along Bassett Creek, the Midtown Greenway and the Missing Link. There are a lot of areas that still need to have our focus so that all people can enjoy this wonderful asset.”

Finding ways to grow the Park Board’s revenue sources besides property taxes while lessening cost burdens on residents is also a priority, Forney said. She said the Park Board currently receives around 9% of its funding from the state Legislature, however, they hope to receive around 40% every session. 

Olsen said he plans to address these funding issues by bettering relations with the state government by advocating and showing legislators how impactful the Park Board services are to Minneapolis residents. Wilson and Forney echoed similar plans. 

“Many of the things that they love the most about their city, it’s our park system. It’s number one in the nation for a reason. It’s fantastic. It’s one of the greatest draws that we have,” Olsen said. “It’s just kind of continuing to make that argument that it’s smart for the environment. It’s smart for your community. It’s smart for the quality of life of your constituents.”

A state agency advocating for the queer community is surveying alongside local LGBTQ+ organizations to better understand queer people across the state. 

Created in 2023, the 16-member Council on LGBTQIA2S+ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual or two-spirit — Minnesotans advises the state government and legislature on issues of the queer community within the state. 

Emma Watts, executive director of the council, said the survey — or community needs assessment — aims to identify the needs of underrepresented groups within the queer community, such as people of color, people with disabilities and people experiencing homelessness.

“We prioritize research at the state and within this Council because we know that there are huge cuts to LGBTQ(+) research happening across the country,” Watts said. “This information and this work are essential to getting people that care and services they need.”

The council is partnering with local organizations such as OutFront Minnesota, Trans Northland and Gender Justice to spread the survey and learn how these organizations currently support queer Minnesotans. 

Gathering data to learn more about the needs of the state’s queer community has been discussed before, so working with the Council was a natural partnership, said Andi Otto, executive director of Twin Cities Pride. 

“I felt it important that we get this out to as many folks as we possibly can,” Otto said. “We know that Twin Cities Pride has a giant reach. I wanted to make sure that we were good partners and pushed forward the initiative.”

Watts said this data will also help guide Council recommendations to legislators about what to do on a government level to support the community. With this data,  leaders could better understand the overlap the queer community has with other Minnesota communities to make life better for everyone. 

“It’s more than data,” Watts said. “It’s about building power for LGBTQ(+) people and advancing equity and really honoring the diversity of our communities.”

The survey asks questions about the services people use, how they were treated while getting these services and reasons why they cannot access certain services they need. Watts said the survey can help measure the impact of national legislation attacking the queer community alongside the funding cuts to research and federal programs. 

“This will tell a new story, one that many people in the community know to be true, but without that data, we can’t effectively advocate for policy change and to build the kind of wide buy-in and make the changes necessary to actually address these challenges,” Watts said. 

With national politics creating uncertainty in the queer community, Otto said Twin Cities Pride has seen an increase in people seeking their resources, such as Rainbow Wardrobe, which provides gender-affirming clothes and essentials such as toothpaste, shampoo and more. 

“We’re seeing an influx,” Otto said. “I just received a call last week from someone who was literally on a bus on their way here and said, ‘I have nothing when I get there.’ It’s weekly.”

Twin Cities Pride’s cultural arts center saw around 1,700 people use their services in March alone, Otto said. The center houses the Rainbow Wardrobe, cultural education and support groups, according to their website. 

Besides learning how Twin Cities Pride can better help the queer community, Otto said the assessment could shed light on the funding needed from the state and federal government. Federal funding cuts have forced Twin Cities Pride to prioritize different events and resources, Otto said. 

“When we do stories like, ‘Hey, sponsorships are getting cut. How is it going to affect the festival in June?’ It’s not going to affect the festival in June,” Otto said. “What it is going to affect is our ability to help individuals all year round. Those are the programs that are going to get cut.”

Outside of gathering data to improve their awareness of community needs, Otto said he hopes the survey will help create more partnerships between state agencies like the Council and local LGBTQ+ organizations. Otto added this data will raise awareness and identify issues not only in the queer community but in others too. 

“Especially right now, it brings the awareness that we are much more alike than people think,” Otto said. “This isn’t just a problem that affects the BIPOC community. This isn’t just a problem that affects substance abuse. There is so much intersectionality between all of these that if we just focused on taking care of our community as a whole, we’d be much better off.”

A bill moving through the state legislature takes aim at gun violence by requiring law enforcement agencies statewide to use a firearm tracking and reporting system. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that around 5,200 firearms were traced and recovered in 2023, according to their website. Around 1,500 firearms were recovered in Minneapolis, followed by about 700 in St. Paul and 188 in Brooklyn Park. 

These trackings are done through the Bureau’s eTrace system. While a helpful tool, Minnesota law enforcement is not currently required to use it.

Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), who authored the bill, hopes to change the requirement. Latz said in a press release that this bill would help decrease the number of violent crimes and illegal gun trafficking across the state. 

“Tracking firearms used in violent crimes is critical to solving cases quickly, keeping dangerous criminals off the streets and combating illegal gun trafficking,” Latz said in the statement. “This legislation will ensure that law enforcement agencies are using this critical tool to get violent criminals off the street sooner and prevent crime.”

The Bureau’s eTrace system uses markings on a firearm to identify its original manufacturer or importer, according to a report from the Bureau’s website. Then, the weapon can be traced from a wholesaler or retailer all the way to the purchaser. 

If the firearm has a damaged or altered serial number, the Bureau uses forensic experts and technology to find its origins, the report reads. The Bureau also works with federal firearm licensees to search their records for the serial number. 

Executive Director of Protect Minnesota Maggiy Emery said requiring firearm tracing through the Bureau would help law enforcement and the state better understand how to stop firearm trafficking. She added this gun tracking could be especially useful with violent crime involving guns because certain trends can be followed, like locations, types of firearms and more. 

“It helps us understand how crime guns come to be involved in crimes and how we can get them at the source before they go on to be used in another crime,” Emery said. 

Federal firearms licensees are required to report any lost or stolen firearms from their inventory to the Bureau in hopes that these weapons are not passed to be used in future crimes. 

Around 300,000 firearms are stolen every year, according to the Center for American Progress. Emery said the Bureau’s eTrace system could decrease the number of stolen firearms that are later used in violent crimes and while returning the guns to their proper owners. 

“In addition to just stopping crime guns from being used over and over, it helps stop guns from being stolen because it gives us an idea of where they’re getting stolen from,” Emery said. “‘Why is this happening?’ All of those kinds of pieces.” 

Although not many bills surrounding gun violence prevention have passed in the state Legislature this year, Emery said requiring law enforcement to use the eTrace system is common sense to prevent future gun violence. 

“I do think that this is a kind of a common sense system,” Emery said. “It’s free for law enforcement agencies to use. This is cost-neutral. It’s data-driven. It strengthens agency collaboration. There’s just really no reason for us not to use it.”

Sen. Doron Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) and Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Minneapolis) met with residents for a town hall meeting discussing housing affordability, public safety and protecting international students on Saturday. 

Minneapolis residents met with Noor and Clark at Van Cleve Recreation Center and submitted questions to the two legislators. Clark recently became the senator for District 60B, which covers most of the University of Minnesota area, after the passing of former Sen. Kari Dziedzic. 

With a University international student recently detained and five students at Minnesota State University, Mankato having their visas terminated, Clark and Noor addressed questions about protecting University of Minnesota students from Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts. 

“The way that we should ensure that our students are at the University of Minnesota is that they all feel welcome, and whether that is how you identify, whether that is you’re from across our diverse spectrum of folks, you should be treated with quality and equity,” Clark said. “That’s my expectation, and that’s what I would be encouraging the University.”

Noor echoed Clark’s thoughts and said the University is under attack not only by ICE’s actions but by the federal government’s actions to cut funding from the University. 

“It’s not just attacking the University, it’s attacking jobs, it’s attacking our long-term excellence,” Noor said. “We’ve lived around the University of Minnesota to know the value of it, and we need to help ensure that the University stays here, stays strong.”

Addressing public safety around campus, Noor said Minneapolis and University police have made strides to improve safety around campus through the Off-Campus Safety Center in Dinkytown and expanding their coverage beyond traditional University boundaries. He added that it is necessary to recognize that students are impacted by crime outside University boundaries, too.

“We are asking the University to take the lead in some several efforts in terms of the safety of the students because they are separate from the city of Minneapolis,” Noor said. “But guess what? Whatever happens in Como happens in the University, whatever happens in Prospect Park, that impacts the students.”

Clark said that although crime around the University area has decreased about 49% over the past year, the perceptions of crime have not changed for students and residents. He added that the city and state need to continue prevention efforts like the Off-Campus Safety Center. 

Residents also asked the legislators if they plan to protect free universal school lunches as a current bill moves through the House and Senate to restrict free meals to families who make below 500% of the federal poverty line. Both Clark and Noor said they support the current free school meals policy now and going forward. 

Residents also raised questions about how the Yes to Homes legislative agenda, which would allow for more high-density housing construction and remove some zoning regulations, could impact rent affordability. Clark said the agenda makes housing more affordable and easier to build in and outside Minneapolis.

While Clark promoted the agenda, he added that it does nothing to address rent prices and rising property taxes. He said he is carrying a bill in the Senate to create more affordable options in the city. 

“I’m carrying the strengthening main street bill in the Senate,” Clark said. “Which essentially makes it, wherever there’s commercial space, there can be residential on top of it.”

Noor highlighted that people are struggling to find affordable living options across the state, especially families wanting to move into single-family homes in Minneapolis. Noor added that around 50% of renters in the state use over 30% of their income to pay for rent. 

“Is not easy for a small family that wants to move to Minneapolis to find affordable housing or home ownership,” Noor said. “We need to address this spectra for those who are homeless to homeownership. There is no between. If we cannot address that right now, we will continue to struggle with high rents.”