Candidate Questionnaire: Statewide Races

Governor & Lieutenant Governor

Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

1. Minnesotans want a governor and Lieutenant Governor who builds an economy that works for everyone, invests in children and families, and protects the health and safety of our Asian and Asian American community. Through some of the most challenging years in memory, we’ve built a strong economy in Minnesota by investing in workers and small businesses. But with rising costs, we’re fighting to give some of our historic budget surplus back by sending $2,000 checks to help Minnesota’s working families put gas in their cars and food on their tables. When COVID-19 hit, we carved out millions of dollars in COVID-19 business relief for small businesses and organizations hardest hit by the pandemic and supported cultural malls like the Hmong Village Shopping Center. We’re making record investments in education to ensure every Minnesotan has access to a quality education and fighting to ensure every Minnesotan has access to a safe and affordable place to call home.
2. From public education to climate change, the stakes for future generations couldn’t be higher in this election. On the key issues facing Minnesota, young voters haven’t just been tomorrow’s leaders — they’ve been today’s leaders too. Engaging young voters will be critical not just for preventing a Republican takeover of state government, but for passing the lasting changes that we need at all levels of government in Minnesota.
3. We will always trust Minnesotans, in conjunction with their health care provider, to make their own decisions about their health care needs, including whether to become a parent. The patient-provider relationship is an important relationship that should be free from government interference. An abortion ban will never become law on my watch and as long as we are in office. We will fight to protect the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including the right to a safe and legal abortion.
4. Yes, we have and will continue to support public spaces to ensure that Asian youth have safe and accessible places to build community. For example, to combat disruptions caused by COVID-19, we channeled resources to help AAPI communities and ensure the spaces like libraries and recreation centers had the support they needed to reach and support children and families in their neighborhoods.
5. Our administration’s decisive and sensible public health measures ensured that Minnesota beat predictions and emerged from the pandemic with fewer cases and deaths than its neighboring states. Our no-fee testing program became a model for the nation and we continue to devote additional resources to ensure that residents in every community have equitable access to vaccines and boosters. During the pandemic, we launched the “COVID-19 Community Coordinators” partnership with Northwest Indian Community Development Center, Vietnamese Social Services, CAPI USA, and others to ensure access to the vaccine and community-specific resources to address the impacts of COVID-19, such as unemployment, food insecurity, housing, and child care.

Secretary of State

Steve Simon

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

1. When it comes to our office, I think there are two things that come to mind. One is the ease and accessibility of voting, and the second is being able to start and register a business with minimal hassle. On the first issue, I’m proud that as a son of an immigrant we have more than doubled the number of languages we translate election materials in to make our elections more accessible. My mom spoke English fluently but when it came to technical documents she wanted it in her native tongue, as any of us would! That’s why this is something I am particularly proud of, and we won’t stop there. We’re going to keep adding languages as needed for Minnesotans. Second, the Asian and Asian American community is very entrepreneurial! And when anyone in Minnesota registers a business our office is the first stop. Much like our election materials, we have significantly expanded the languages our business services materials are translated into to make things easier and more accessible for folks who are non-native English speakers.
2. This is a great question. First, we have been engaging with a lot of college students, but even though this might seem silly… we started a TikTok! @MNSteveSimon. We have over 1,500 followers, which isn’t huge, but we have been putting out content for months highlighting things about our election laws that a lot of people, not just those 18-35, don’t know or hadn’t heard about our election system. I think that speaks to my and our office’s philosophy which is that you have to meet people where they’re at. Young people are on Instagram and TikTok (and apparently BeReal? My campaign manager told me that, I don’t even know what that is!) so we have made a very conscious effort to meet them there, as well as appearing at in person events. One thing I am really anxious to do is to pass a law that allows for pre-registration of 16 and 17 year olds, so that the day they turn 18 they are automatically registered to vote. This would make things easier for them, and easier for our office and all local elections offices! It’s a no brainer, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get movement in the state senate on this.
3. Absolutely, 100%. When I was in the legislature I had a 100% voting record with Planned Parenthood, and I am very proud to be the first Secretary of State candidate in MN history to be endorsed by Planned Parenthood. I don’t have a specific role protecting this care in my office, but I will always stand up for and fight for protecting abortion rights in Minnesota.
4. Absolutely. Unfortunately this is a little outside of the scope of my office, but I support this 100%.
5. This is also a little outside of the scope of my office, but we are making sure all of our elections offices and poll workers are prepared and protected to help keep community members safe.

State Auditor

Julie Blaha

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor

1. Members of the Asian and Asian American community are increasingly stepping into local leadership roles, including being elected to local government positions. This is good for all of Minnesota because when members of the community get to lead on solutions for community members themselves, those decisions are generally more effective and efficient. A key role of the Office of the State Auditor is to support local leaders in general. The best way for the state auditor to support the community specifically, is to support these new leaders with the data, tools, and support needed to make effective financial decisions. I have worked to connect with Asian and Asian American local government leaders to better understand their needs and learn from their leadership to share with all of Minnesota. In addition, I have worked to make the financial documents in my office more accessible to new leaders and members of the community, so we can all make decisions based on facts.
2. Our youngest voters make up one of the most fact and data focused generations in recent memory. It is inspiring to see the willingness of young Minnesotans to dig into data, policy details, and governing theory to ensure their decisions will be effective and long lasting. Because of this focus, I have sought out opportunities to meet with young people at every turn. Not only am I interested in building the bench of local leaders to serve our communities, but I also seek out young Minnesotans because their perspective on our state’s financial trends are fresh and have the potential to lead to new solutions to difficult problems. I also ensure that any citizen advisory group I create or participate in has age diversity to help the group be effective for all Minnesotans.
3. Health and human services are a significant part of local government budgets, so we need an auditor who understands that healthcare includes abortion. An auditor pushing an anti-abortion agenda could disrupt local access to reproductive care, particularly for low-income Minnesotans. I’m proud of my history supporting abortion rights as a president of the National Organization for Women of Minnesota and am proud to be endorsed by organizations that work tomake abortion care availble, accressible, and culturally-responsive, such as Planned Parenthood, Women Winning and EMILY’s list.
4. I support funding these services, and as State Auditor I am proud of my work to make sure the people working in their communities to keep these services running efficiently have access to the financial tools and resources they need. Because these resources are primarily organized at the local government level, whenever we support cities, counties, park boards, and neighborhood groups we are supporting libraries, recreation centers, and parks. In addition, when we support local control (the freedom of local residents to make meaningful decisions to customize their community services), we are supporting the kinds of community spaces that fit the needs of local residents best.
5. I will work to ensure that all Minnesotans have access to the covid vaccine, and have the data they need to see it is effective and safe. When people contract the virus, we must make sure they know what precautions they need to take to protect their friends and family. As State Auditor I worked closely with people in towns, cities, and counties throughout the state to make sure local governments could get aid and medical care disbursed as quickly as possible. In addition, as a member of the state’s Executive Council, I have worked to make COVID decisions that both follow the science and the specific needs of individual communities. Specific to the auditor’s office, we are also working to capture what local governments learned during the height of the pandemic to apply to future challenges the endemic phase of COVID will present.

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