Candidate's View:
A better way forward is investing in people, our communities
I’m very concerned about the future of our country. I am the only viable candidate in this race who will uphold the Constitution, protect liberty, and fight for our rights. We need a strong Congress as a check on executive and judicial powers. I promise to bring meaningful investments to our region and, as an economist, I will focus on tax fairness and fixing our economy so it works for everyone. I’ll represent working people, not corporate interests or political parties.
I’m a mother of two teenage boys. My husband is a criminologist. My grandparents were farmers. I grew up in a small township. My mother raised me and my older sister after divorcing my father (a firefighter, paramedic, and Vietnam veteran) due to his alcoholism. I started working at age 14 parking cars at the county fair, then at a restaurant and grocery store. I know what it’s like to work hard and still struggle to pay bills. I was lucky to get a scholarship and government loan to attend college. I’m a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota.
I have a proven track record of getting things done in a divided government where no party had total control while representing Duluth in the state Legislature. I advanced measures improving access to affordable health care, reducing drug prices, and expanding coverage for telehealth. I closed corporate tax loopholes to make our tax system more fair. I was successful in securing millions of dollars in bonding projects, including the Essentia hospital and St. Luke’s-Aspirus medical district. As a Great Lakes commissioner, I advocated for federal funds to clean up the St. Louis River and to address invasive species.
It's the most chaotic and unproductive Congress in history. Rep. Pete Stauber is part of this by aligning with an extremist faction and corporate interests. He signed the lawsuit attempting to invalidate the 2020 election and voted against investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Stauber is a member of the Republican Study Committee , which supports restricting Social Security and Medicare . Stauber voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which brought jobs and billions in funding for the Blatnik Bridge, roads, lead-line replacement, water treatment, airport improvements, and broadband. Yet, he didn’t hesitate to take credit. Stauber voted against domestic manufacturing (CHIPS Act), against access to contraception, against helping veterans exposed to toxins, against funding law enforcement, against affordable child care, against limiting use of PFAS, against capping the price of insulin, against funding for Ukraine, against a Republican bill lowering health care prices, against labor rights, and against voting rights. He supported an amendment reducing funding to district public schools by $6 million and sponsored a bill preventing access to IVF treatment.
Stauber has failed to deliver for our region. Despite being in office five years, he has passed only two of his bills into law: naming a post office and starting a task force. Stauber’s inability to work with others has resulted in missed economic-development and job opportunities. Stauber blames others and complains about issues he should be solving, including border security.
Stauber doesn’t show up. A town hall he hosted about delisting the wolf divided two groups, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and Hunters for Hunters. He should be spending more time in his own district and hosting in-person town halls so he can listen to folks he’s supposed to represent.
Stauber also ranks near the top for missed votes in Congress (top 11%) and has by far the most missed votes in Minnesota’s congressional delegation.
I will prioritize affordable housing, health care, child care, jobs, education, small businesses, climate resiliency, border security, and safe communities. I will protect veterans, Social Security, Medicare, tribal sovereignty, and our rights. I will fight to keep our rural health care facilities open. I will be a leader for responsible mining. I will listen, work across party lines, put country above party, fight for working families, deliver results, and be on your side.
There is a better way forward and a future where we improve lives by investing in people and in our communities. I ask for your vote in the Aug. 13 primary and Nov. 5 election.
-- Jen Schultz, Democratic candidate for Minnesota's 8th District
