Our Elections Work: St Cloud Update

This is Justin Lewandowski, Take Action Minnesota’s election organizer in the Saint Cloud area. It’s October, and our community is being hit with massive amounts of outside money as we get closer to Election Day.

In fact, the local race in House District 14B (former State Representative and current candidate Zachary Dorholt’s district) is once again set to be one of the most expensive races in Minnesota.

With all of the negative mailers, radio spots, and television ads, our anger and frustration with big money in local politics can easily distract us from the vision and story we want to create for our community, and why our local elections are so important in this work.

I’m angry, too. Dark money and candidates like Jim Knoblach who refuse to participate in campaign spending caps are distracting us from having meaningful conversations about our stories, experiences, and values.

I got into organizing because of the constant attacks on the LGBTQ community by candidates like Jim Knoblach and the devastating effects those political narratives have had on myself my friends and my family. I am angry that those attacks still persist, from repealing protections for LGBTQ youth in our schools to supporting the harmful practice of conversion therapy.

I am angry that too many people in our community are overworked, underpaid, and do not have access to sick paid leave, paid family leave, and are struggling with housing and homelessness. I am angry that these issues and the stories of the people affected by them are being drowned out by a sea of negativity and far too much money.

I am angry, but that anger motivates me to change the negative narratives in our community into conversations that are positive, powerful, and moving. That is why our volunteer team in Saint Cloud has been working hard over the phones and at the doors to share our stories and experiences while listening to the same from members of our community. Not only are we motivating people to vote for our local candidates who share our values in a positive and engaging way, we are reducing prejudice and the negativity that big money is blasting throughout Saint Cloud to divide us.

Our stories matter now more than ever as we move closer to November 8th. Our endorsed candidates Dan Wolgamott, Zachary Dorholt, and Abdi Daisane are working very hard to make sure our shared values and experiences are not silenced in Saint Paul and the Saint Cloud City Council. But it is up to us that these candidates, our experiences, and the values we share are not silenced by big money and special interests during this election.