The Crookston Area Chamber held its Candidate Forum to allow the public to hear from the current candidates for the open spots for the Crookston Public School Board, Crookston City Council, Polk County Commissioners, State Representative District 1B, and State Senator District 1. The forum was moderated by Crookston Area Chamber Executive Director Mark Landa and Monica Custritz of the University of Minnesota Crookston. The forum had the candidates introduce themselves to the audience and answer two questions submitted by the public, then give a closing statement to the public.
The candidate for the Minnesota Senate in District 1 is incumbent Mark Johnson (R). We got the chance to meet with Senator Johnson to learn more about what he plans to do with a new term as the Senator of District 1.
Q: Would you please tell us about yourself?
Mark Johnson: I appreciate the opportunity to be out here tonight. It’s always fun to be out here tonight. It’s always fun to come back home here to Crookston, I grew up over in the Maple Lake area, and I’m back here living in East Grand Forks with my wife, Skyler, and our three school-age kids over there. It’s been just an honor serving Senate District 1 over the last six years. I was elected in 2016 and came into office in 2017. We’ve had so many changes across the state. In the meantime, I’ve worked my way up through leadership and am currently second in command in the Minnesota Senate, and I’m currently a part of the redistricting process. Now I’m back in 2022, running for the third term once November is over, which is just amazing because, in the Minnesota Senate, I’m one of the older folks over there now after just six years, which is a little funny to think about.
Q: What are you hoping to accomplish with a new term as the Senator of District 1?
Mark Johnson: There are a number of things. One is about housing, as it’s so big in our area and unlocks many of the issues we have. The second is finding a workforce and finding people to work. The third is childcare. Can we get those people in, and can we find someone that can take care of kids while people can be working too, with so many job openings, I think it’s a big deal. Those are some of the critical things. Of course, we have tax issues in the state. We’ve got a $9.25 billion surplus that doesn’t come from nowhere, that comes from the pockets of people like you and me and our small businesses and the bigger ones, too, so we need to come up with a proper tax policy going forward. We also have infrastructure issues. Go and talk to any of the City Council folks or County Commissioners, and they’ll ask, “can we get some money for infrastructure.” Some of those things are our government’s bread and butter, and we must ensure we take care of those things immediately.
The candidates for the Minnesota House of Representatives District 1B are incumbent Debra Kiel (R) and opponent Cindy Ansbacher (DFL). We asked each candidate to introduce themselves and why they are running.
Q: Would you please tell us about yourself?
Cindy Ansbacher: I’m Cindy Ansbacher. I’m running again this year. I ran in 2020 also, for House District 1B. I am running as a Democratic-Farmers-Labor endorsed candidate. I live in Crookston. I have a wonderful son who is 27 years old, and he is a little bit of a transplant because I moved here in 2006, he joined me in 2020, and he is a student at UMC. I’m very proud of bringing someone like that in, and he’s been interning all last this summer and fall, working closely in a field that he loves, and he’s getting to know the farmers out there. I’m a retired nurse and work now in a group home in Crookston, a field that I love because of my experience as a retired nurse and my Bachelor’s degree in nursing, healthcare is an area I feel comfortable working in as a legislator, and hopefully, if I’m elected, I can help bring forth universal healthcare to all and expand it, so people who need it aren’t left out.
Debra Kiel: I am in my sixth term and looking to run again for a seventh. I think everyone knows I’m a farmer with a farm in the south of Crookston. I don’t do much farming anymore because our son is taking over, and I’m back to being a gopher which is fine with me when I’m around. In the legislature, I have served on the Agriculture Committee but also spent quite a bit of time in Health and Human Services. This last year, I was honored to work with Representative Gene Pelowski Jr. as his lead Republican. He’s the DFL and college professor, where we worked on things like internet activities and the job performance.
Q: What are you hoping to accomplish if you are elected as the representative?
Debra: If I’m reelected, my hope is to work on more healthcare issues. I absolutely think we need to work on mental health. That is one of the things we need to do and nursing home funding because our nursing homes are really struggling. The same thing happened with a lot of conversations. We need staff and funding. Of course, because the nursing home is not very full, we can’t have more residents because we don’t have the staff to take care of them. It becomes a financial burden for those nursing homes, and we want people to stay close by their families.
Cindy: I would like to, especially this year, make it a priority to push and support women’s rights into law and not have those sorts of things continue to be taken away from individuals. I also support different things that might seem basic, but they’re not, which is supporting public education and taking the weight off of teachers because I’ve talked with many teachers who are telling me that some of the stuff they are doing on their own after school is crazy. And while it may not appear to be the top of the pyramid, we’re dealing with climate and making sure we’re going to look at it every day and not brush it under the rug. We have the Mississippi River and Lake Mead drying up, you have all these other things happening, and I don’t think we feel it here. I think I would support any projects that would limit our carbon footprint in Minnesota.
The live stream of the forum can be found below-
