The DFL party again swept Duluth’s state legislative races Tuesday, sending Erik Simonson to the Senate, returning Jennifer Schultz to her House District 7A seat, and lifting Liz Olson into place as the city’s next House District 7B representative.
Simonson, a 48-year-old assistant chief for the Duluth Fire Department, served two terms as House District 7B representative but chose to run for Senate this year after incumbent Sen. Roger Reinert decided not seek a third term.
Also vying for the open senate seat was Donna Bergstrom, a 53-year-old retired lieutenant colonel for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Simonson praised his opponent, calling her “an absolutely stellar Republican candidate.”
But Simonson said he’s glad the campaign is over, after winning more than 65 percent of the vote.
“I really want to get back to work,” he said, adding that he hopes to see a special session called before the end of the year.
As for his to-do list, Simonson said: “Health insurance has to be at the top, that’s a given. Beyond that, a bonding bill is absolutely critical … and transportation has to be resolved.”
Jennifer Schultz, a 45-year-old economics professor for UMD, was elected to her second term representing the eastern half of Duluth. She fended off her Republican challenger, Dylan Raddant, a 21-year-old overnight personal care assistant, by receiving about 70 percent of the vote to his 30 percent.
While pleased with her victory, Schultz said she was growing increasingly concerned that the DFL would be unable to pick up the six additional seats it would need to gain control of the House, as early results rolled in.
“It will be really frustrating to serve in the minority again, if that’s the outcome,” she observed. “I was hoping that during the last two years of Gov. Dayton’s term that we could get a lot done, especially with health care. You know we have this crisis with the individual health insurance market that really needs to get fixed, and I don’t know if that’s going happen if we don’t have a majority in the House.”
Without a change of control in the House, Schultz predicts there could be more gridlock, “because I have experienced Republicans not wanting to do a lot, not wanting the government to function well.”
If the Legislature stays divided, with a DFL majority in the Senate and GOP majority in the House, Simonson remained hopeful that close races could still send GOP House members a message.
“I don’t know that the GOP can go through two cycles of gridlock and call that a success. So I honestly think there is room for agreement and compromise if they are willing to participate,” he said.
“I think the will of the people is: Hey, get something done,” Simonson said.
Liz Olson, a 35-year-old community advocate and organizer, won the battle for the House District 7B seat Simonson now occupies, representing the western half of Duluth. She took 71 percent of the vote, beating out Cody Barringer, a 30-year-old flight instructor who ran on the Republican ticket.
Heading into the election, she said: “I was feeling really optimistic, because we ran a real strong campaign from the beginning, talking to a lot of voters starting way back in May, just going door-to-door and hearing what people cared about.”
The outreach was about more than campaigning for Olson.
“It’s not just about winning, it’s about building the relationships that you need to do the job of being a legislator,” she said.
Olson said she’s eager to begin serving her constituents.
“I think there’s obviously the work of the last session that didn’t get done that we’ll have to take care of … there are projects that were essential for Duluth that were in the bonding bill, and it would be great to see that move forward,” she said.
But Olson has other priorities, as well.
“When I was out talking to people, I heard a lot about pocketbook issues and a lot about economics, a lot about things that we could do in 2017 around paid family leave, earned safe and sick time and some of those things that I know would really benefit the people of 7B,” she said.
