Candidate Profiles: Minnesota State Senate

The candidates on your ballot for this race will depend on which Senate District you live in. To find your Senate District, put your address in here. You can also find your current Senator by putting in your address here.

See the responses to our candidate questionnaire for these races here.

*Denotes incumbent

MN State Senate District 62

Andrew Schmitz

Party: Republican

Policy Stances:

• No information could be found online

Omar Fateh*

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Policy Stances:

• Environment
  • We must implement a carbon fee and dividend system.
    We must expand our system of public transportation statewide and make it free.
    We must invest in infrastructure statewide for electric vehicles and phase out fossil fuel powered vehicles
• Guns
  • We need to ban the manufacture and sale of guns whose sole purpose is to inflict violence against human beings including military-style semi-automatics such as the AR-15 as well as semi-automatic handguns
• LGBTQ+ Rights
  • We need to change a culture that tolerates violence towards transgender and other LGBTQIA+ people, starting by banning the gay and trans panic defenses.
• Public Safety
  • There needs to be a system in place to get people emergency help that doesn’t involve police, meaning crisis counselors, mental health experts, and medics are sent in first.
    We should treat rubber bullets as live ammunition and use neither against peaceful protestors for exercising their first amendment rights.
• Reproductive Justice
  • We will preserve state funding for healthcare clinics, which provide vital services to women and families, and end the closure of clinics.
    We must pass legislation to allow minors to make healthcare decisions with their provider without a requirement to notify parents when no emergency is taking place.

MN State Senate District 63

Shawn Holster

Party: Republican

Policy Stances:

• Environment
  • Any serious discussion of energy policy must include lifting the prohibition of nuclear plant construction.
• Public Safety
  • The criminal justice system, social services, and our health care system are inextricably tied together in multiple ways. Those systems are already under incredible strain — understaffed and hobbled by regulatory redundancy and interagency communications difficulties.

Zaynab Mohamed

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Policy Stances:

• Ethnic Studies
  • Fight vigorously to defend the importance of teaching the history of race and racism in the United States.
• Environment
  • Expand the public transit system in Minneapolis
    Expand on electric vehicle charging infrastructure
    Prevent the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure projects
    Take every possible action to safeguard our watersheds
• Guns
  • Implement universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, and an assault weapons ban.
    Reduce the number of guns on our streets by establishing stricter rules to obtain a concealed carry permit.
• Public Safety
  • End qualified immunity
    Ban the use of no-knock warrants, which pose significant risks to unsuspecting homeowners and the police officers carrying out the warrant.
• Reproductive Justice
  • I will oppose all efforts to roll back reproductive rights, including attempts to restrict abortion, limit access to contraceptives, and interfere with decisions that should be made between women and their physicians.

MN State Senate District 64

Erin Murphy*

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Policy Stances:

• Environment
  • We must ensure a transition to 100% clean energy, end pollution, protect our air and water, and create a future that is sustainable for all Minnesotans no matter where they live.
• Guns
  • Minnesota must take the lead by implementing strong measures for gun violence prevention. This includes banning assault weapons, restricting magazine capacities, and requiring universal background checks.
• LGBTQ+ Rights
  • I vehemently oppose efforts that discriminate and dehumanize LGBTQ+ Minnesotans, like conversion therapy and so-called “bathroom bills”
• Public Safety
  • We must also recognize police violence as a facet of gun violence, one that impacts the most vulnerable in our communities. The gun violence conversation is incomplete without addressing the ways in which legally armed state and local law enforcement officers inequitably threaten the lives of people of color, indigenous people, and LGBTQ+ people.
• Reproductive Justice
  • I am unequivocally pro-choice, and will always work to protect reproductive freedom and choice for all Minnesotans.
    I will also fight to ensure that there is access to contraception, women’s health clinics, and abortion services.
• Voting Rights
  • We must also restore the vote for Minnesotans who have served their time for felony convictions.

Robert Bushard

Party: Republican

Policy Stances:

• Voting Rights
  • Voting by Absentee Ballot should be rare and having 6 weeks of balloting prior to Election Day should end. It should be encouraged for all voters to vote in person on Election Day.
  • Same day registration should end
  • The best way to ensure someone is voting who they claim to be is using Driver’s Licenses or State Identification Cards for those who do not drive.

MN State Senate District 65

Paul Holmgren

Party: Republican

Policy Stances:

• Public Safety
  • Every one who respects our laws deserves the protections of police, fire and safe ways to travel.

Sandy Pappas*

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Policy Stances:

• Environment
  • We must accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels, promote more renewable energy, and protect our natural resources – like the Boundary Waters – from harmful mining.
• Guns
  • The easy availability of illegal and legal handguns does not create a safe community but a community where residents fear each other and don’t trust the police.
• Public Safety
  • I serve on the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and have fought hard for criminal justice reforms and police accountability.
• Reproductive Justice
  • I envision a community where every woman controls her own reproductive health and everyone has access to quality, accessible, low cost healthcare and prescription drugs.
    I will fight to protect those rights for women and families and to ensure that all families have access to healthcare.

MN State Senate District 66

Clare Oumou Verbeten

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Policy Stances:

• Environment
  • A statewide commitment to 100% clean energy
    A clean energy economy built on good paying union jobs
    Expanding the transit system by investing in electric charging infrastructure, energy efficient buses, light rail and bike lanes
• Public Safety
  • I will fight for policies that take a holistic approach to public safety, hold police accountable for misconduct, and ensure solutions are community-centered.
    Ending qualified immunity
    Banning the use of no-knock warrants, tear gas, and chokeholds
    Funding professional trained community healers to respond to crises and provide supportive services

Mikki M. Murray

Party: Republican

Policy Stances:

• Public Safety
  • Reduce violent crime.
  • Hold criminals accountable.
  • Full hires for law enforcement.