CAUTIOUS APPROACH.

>> Mary: THANK YOU, SENATOR RASMUSSON FOR YOUR TIME, APPRECIATE IT.

>> THANK YOU.

>> Mary: ALL RIGHT, OUR FIRST-TERM LAWMAKER THIS WEEK IS ALSO A FIRST RESPONDER.

IN HIS DISTRICT IN DULUTH, HE SERVED FOR DECADES AS A FIRE FIEFT, AND HE -- FIREFIGHTER, AND HE JOINS A GROWING NUMBER OF EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WHO ARE IN THE LEGISLATURE.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO RUN?

>> I'VE BEEN A FIREFIGHTER UP THERE IN DULUTH FOR GOING ON ALMOST -- IT WILL BE 20 YEARS THIS SUMMER.

BEEN ACTIVE IN THE FIRE SERVICE, I'VE GOT A WIFE WHO'S A TEACHER, COUPLE KIDS WHO ARE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.

FIGURED THE PERSPECTIVE THAT I COULD BRING, MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND EXPERIENCE OF THE PEOPLE THAT I SERVE UP THERE COULD MAYBE BRING -- SHED A DIFFERENT LIGHT ON SOME THINGS AND BRING SOME DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES.

>> Mary: DULUTH IS FAMOUS FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, POLITICS.

SEATS DON'T OPEN UP THERE VERY OFTEN.

>> NO, THEY DON'T.

YOU KNOW, WHEN REPRESENTATIVE OLSON DECIDED NOT TO RUN, I WAS READY TO HIT THE GROUND.

AND THIS IS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A LONG TIME.

I ACTUALLY RAN TEN YEARS AGO ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN AGAINST REPRESENTATIVE SCHULTZ.

WE DIDN'T GO TO A PRIMARY, BUT IN THE ENDORSING CONVENTION, SHE ENDED UP WITH THE ENDORSEMENT SO I STEPPED BACK THEN.

SO I GOT A VERY SMALL TASTE OF IT.

SO WHEN THIS OPPORTUNITY CAME UP, I JUMPED AT IT.

>> Mary: LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AS A FIREFIGHTER.

PEOPLE PROBABLY KIND OF KNOW YOU.

IT'S NICE TO HAVE PHOTOS IN UNIFORM, TALK ABOUT THAT.

>> MY REAL KEY DEMOGRAPHIC WAS WOMEN IN THEIR LATE 70s, EARLY 80s THEY REALLY LIGHT TAKE HIT ON THAT -- LIKE TO HIT ON THAT ISSUE.

MY WIFE DID SOME DOOR KNOCKING, THAT WAS A POPULAR THING.

DULUTH HAS GOT OUR TWO DISTRICTS, 8A, WHICH IS THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTION, 8B, THE EASTERN SIDE, I'D SAY OF THE 19 YEARS I'VE BEEN IN DULUTH, I'VE PROBABLY SPENT THE BETTER PART OF 18 YEARS OF THOSE IN DISTRICT 8A, A LOT OF THOSE FOLKS, WHEN I'VE KNOCKED ON THE DOORS, YOU LOOK FAMILIAR, I'D BEEN TO THEIR HOUSE AT SOME POINT OVER THE YEARS.

>> Mary: SO THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD FRAME OF REFERENCE, BECAUSE YOU WERE PROBABLY THERE TO HELP.

>> YEAH.

>> Mary: PEOPLE HAD A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE, I'M GUESSING.

>> GENERALLY.

>> Mary: EVEN IN A CRISIS, YOU'RE THERE TO HELP IN A CRISIS, RIGHT?

>> RIGHT.

A LOT OF THAT WORK, I MEAN, THE FIRE SERVICE IS REALLY A TEAM EFFORT, RIGHT?

WE RESPOND WITH, YOU KNOW, THREE TO FOUR FIREFIGHTERS ON A TRUCK.

AND THEN WE WORK WITH THE AMBULANCE CREWS OR WHATEVER DURING THAT SITUATION.

AND YOU GET THERE, THAT'S YOUR WHOLE JOB IS TO JUST TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS, FIGURE OUT HOW TO HELP.

>> Mary: THERE'S A LOT OF BAD ANALOGIES, WE CAN DO BAPTISM FROM FIRE I, DRINKING FROM A FIRE HOSE, WHICH ONE OF THE FIRE ANALOGIES FITS THE BEST?

>> I WOULD SAY THE BAPTISM BY FIRE.

I MEAN, IT IS LIKE IN SO MANY OF THESE POSITIONS, THINGS I'VE DONE OVER THE COURSE OF MY LIFE, YOU SEE IT FROM THE OUTSIDE.

AND YOU LOOK AT IT, YOU'RE LIKE, YOU THINK YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT IT ENTAILS, BUT THEN WHEN YOU'RE IN THE SEAT OR YOU'RE IN THE ROLE, YOU GET A VERY DIFFERENT LOOK AT THINGS.

AND MY DAYS ARE SCHEDULED FROM, YOU KNOW, 8:00 IN THE MORNING, AND I'M USUALLY, YOU KNOW, BACK TO -- WHERE I'M STAYING AT 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 AT NIGHT.

THERE'S SOME LITTLE WINDOWS IN BETWEEN HERE AND THERE WHERE I DON'T HAVE SOMETHING SCHEDULED.

BUT IT'S BEEN GREAT.

I'VE LEARNED A TON IN THE SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME THAT I'VE BEEN HERE.

>> Mary: WHAT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST?

>> I WOULD SAY THE SUPPORT.

I OBVIOUSLY HAVE NEVER WORKED IN A POSITION LIKE THIS, BUT OVER THE COURSE OF MY LIFE, THE DIFFERENT JOBS THAT I'VE HAD, I'VE NEVER HAD SUPPORT LIKE I DO HERE, FROM MY L.A., MY LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT, THAT IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE N MAKING SURE THAT I AM SET UP TO BE SUCCESSFUL, TO THE PARTISAN AND NONPARTISAN TAFF THAT HELP WITH RESEARCH AND BREAKING DOWN THESE COMPLEX TOPICS, I MEAN, WE'RE CITIZEN LEGISLATORS, RIGHT?

LIKE I HAVE CERTAIN THINGS THAT I KNOW, I'M VERY EXPERIENCED IN, AND THEN THERE'S THINGS THAT I'M LEARNING ON THE FLY HERE AND THEY DO A REALLY GOOD JOB OF ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS AND, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE AS SUCCESSFUL AS POSSIBLE FOR THE FOLKS THAT WE REPRESENT BACK HOME.

>> Mary: LET'S TALK GEOGRAPHY, BECAUSE DULUTH IS A DFL TOWN.

>> IT IS, YEAH.

>> Mary: WE KNOW THAT.

BUT ALL AROUND YOU IS GETTING REDDER AND REDDER.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THAT BALANCE AND THE CHANGE WE'VE SEEN IN MINNESOTA AND MUCH OF THE NATION OF THE GEOGRAPHIC DIVIDE, YEAH?

>> I THINK THERE'S, YOU SEE SOME CHANGES JUST IN GENERAL, RIGHT?

YOU SEE INDUSTRIES GROWING AND SHRINKING, AND THAT HAS A TENDENCY TO DO SOME OF THAT STUFF.

I THINK THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO DO BETTER AT TO MAKE SURE OUR VOICE, UR MESSAGE IS RESONATING OUT IN GREATER MINNESOTA, IS TALK ABOUT THE GREAT WORK THAT WE'RE DOING FOR EVERYDAY MINNESOTANS.

>> Mary: I THINK WE'RE AT A RECORD NUMBER OF EMERGENCY RESPONDERS IN THE HOUSE, MAYBE ALL-TIME HISTORY.

IS THAT HELPING YOU?

HAVE YOU MET YOUR FELLOW FIRST RESPONDERS ON THE OTHER I'D SIDE OF THE AISLE.

>> I'VE MET A NUMBER OF THEM.

>> Mary: IS THERE A BOND THERE?

>> THERE IS.

I COME FROM THE FIRE SERVICE, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A COUPLE OF REPS THAT CAME IN IN THIS FRESHMAN CLASS THAT WERE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER.

WHY I RAN, I TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BEING DRIVEN KIND OF BY THE WORK THAT I DO, AND WHAT I SAW OVER THE YEARS WAS A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GETTING CALLED TO, ARE NOT THE EMERGENCIES YOU SEE ON TV, RIGHT?

WHEN I GOT HIRED IN DULUTH 200ING 5 -- 2005, IN 2024, WE WERE PUSHING UP JUST A LITTLE OVER 17,000 CALLS, AND IT'S NOT 10,000 MORE FIRES, RIGHT, IT'S NOT 10,000 MORE CAR ACCIDENTS, IT IS PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING WHAT I TELL MY KIDS TO DO, IF YOU'RE IN TROUBLE, YOU NEED HELP, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, CALL 911, SOMEBODY IS GOING TO SHOW UP AND TRY TO HELP YOU.

AND HOW THAT KIND OF SHAPED WHY I RAN, AND IT RESONATED WITH DOORS, WAS A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE GO TO ARE TIED TO A HOUSING ISSUE, TIED TO AN EDUCATION ISSUE OR A JOBS ISSUE OR A HEALTH INSURANCE ISSUE.

AND THE WAY I TALKED ABOUT IT OR FRAMED IT WAS, IF WE CAN JUST DO A ITTLE BETTER ON THE FRONT END WITH SOME OF THOSE THINGS, LESS FOLKS FIND THEMSELVES IN THAT POSITION OF HAVING TO CALL SOMEONE LIKE ME ON THE BACK END.

I DIDN'T RUN INTO A SINGLE VOTER IN THE ALMOST, YOU KNOW, OVER 9,000 DOORS THAT I KNOCKED THAT WAS, LIKE, NO,