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Wise leadership provides funding to educate our future workforce and also provides funding to improve our communities. Brandon Lawhead is running for the Minnesota Senate to represent District 23 because he cares about educating our state’s children and improving our local communities. Going into the 2022 legislative session, Minnesota had a $9 billion surplus. Area schools requested additional funding and the city of Albert Lea requested $8.5 million to dredge Fountain Lake and $30 million to help pay for the much-needed upgrade of the city’s wastewater treatment plant. None of these important requests were granted after Republican leadership walked out of negotiations on how to divide the surplus and refused to return to negotiations, even when requested by cities and school districts. In the face of our schools’ and community’s great needs, current Republican Sen. Gene Dornink did nothing and remained silent. Reading the Minnesota Republican Party platform for 2022, it’s easy to see why Dornink refused to stand up or speak up for our schools and communities. His party platform expressly states that Republicans plan to end local government aid to cities and says nothing about funding K-12 schools. Scott Jensen, candidate for governor, even says he plans to cut aid to our schools because it’s throwing money down a “black hole,” in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio. Even more extreme, the Republican Party platform states their intention to repeal our anti-bullying law, oppose universal preschool programs and end health screenings for infants, preschool children and our K-12 students. Educating our children, keeping them healthy and improving our communities are not priorities for Gene Dornink nor the Republican Party. We need Brandon Lawhead in the Minnesota Senate to stand up and speak up on behalf of our children and our communities. 

Barbara Finley-Shea

Austin