(logo whooshing) (ethereal music) - [Narrator] "Almanac at the Capitol" is a production of Twin Cities PBS for the stations of Minnesota Public Television Association.

- A special look at the record, historic class of new lawmakers that's coming up on "Almanac at the Capitol".

(lively orchestra music) - [Narrator] "Almanac at the Capitol" is made possible by members of this public television station.

Support is also provided by, Manitoba Hydro, providing clean renewable energy to Minnesota utilities for more than 50 years.

Manitobahydropower.com.

Flint Hills Resources, a leading producer of the fuels Minnesotans rely on every day.

Minnesota Lottery, delivering nearly $4 billion to benefit all Minnesotans since 1990.

Great River Energy, providing wholesale power to 27 Minnesota electric cooperatives.

And the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community.

A sovereign tribal nation in Scott County.

More at shakopeedakota.org.

- Welcome to this special edition of "Almanac at the Capitol".

I'm your host, Mary Lahammer.

Tonight we continue highlighting the freshman class.

It's one of the most diverse and representative classes in history.

We start with a woman who has held the highest office among all lawmakers.

Representative Anderson, the question we start with everyone is why did you wanna run for, and I'll say this office?

- [Patti] This office, yeah.

The legislature.

As you know, there was redistricting.

So there was an open seat.

You know, I'm nearing the end of my career and I thought I could do some good up at the legislature.

There's a lot of new faces up there.

I have a lot of institutional knowledge.

- [Mary] Yeah.

Let's talk about your background.

'cause you might have one of the deepest resumes in all of the legislature.

You've held statewide office, you've been commissioner.

I don't think anyone else can say that.

In the current legislature.

- Yeah, I was a mayor.

- Do you talk about it much?

Do your fellow lawmakers know that?

- I don't talk about it, but I think most of them know.

I think a lot of the new folks didn't know.

Certainly the people on the other side of the aisle didn't know, I think.

You know to probably way in to the- - Do you ever have to be like, "I was state auditor", like does that ever happen in committee?

- No, it hasn't at that point.

Yeah.

- Okay.

- [Patti] I am on the legislative audit commission and most of the members there, at least any senior members, knew that they put me on that.

I'm actually the chair of the audit subcommittee.

- As a freshman.

- As a freshman.

- Technically you're a freshman.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

I am.

And I always say that I'm a freshman.

- [Mary] Do you feel like your colleagues in your caucus are using your extensive experience in state government?

- No, because you know, I'm in the minority, Mary, and frankly, as we all saw last session, it didn't really matter.

You know what my side of the aisle thought, I mean the agenda was the agenda.

It was set months in advance and it was just pushed through.

Except for, again, the legislative audit commission.

I could argue that is very nonpartisan.

Everyone on that committee is there to do good.

And so I think that's the exception.

It's a different world than I thought it would be.

I mean it's, you know, frankly was very frustrating, especially for someone like myself.

I know things, I have ideas, you know, good ideas, just to make government better, because these aren't partisan or philosophical.

It's just about bettering the way we run things.

- Do you feel like you could get like any amendments or get some of your ideas heard in committee?

Was there a level?

'Cause I know the floor was frustrating for just about everybody in the minority.

- [Patti] Yeah, yeah.

- But early on behind the scenes, was there any kind of quiet ability to influence things?

- Very minor.

I am on the tax committee.

I did have some legislation with Senator Rest.

She actually asked me to carry it and I did.

And the chair and the house was signed on to that and it was nonpartisan.

But even that was hard at first.

It's a different world than it was, you know, even 10 years ago up at the legislature.

- Yeah, you have that perspective.

You know, we've both been around a long time and I think a lot of long-term observers say politics has gotten more partisan.

Both sides have pulled sort of- - Yeah.

- You feel that both ways a little bit?

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

In the past, legislation could occur because maybe one party controlled in a house, one control the Senate.

So you had to figure it out.

And those people kind of in the middle helped bring things over the edge.

They don't exist anymore or hardly exist.

- [Mary] You kind of still stand out in Minnesota history as one of the very few Republicans who have won statewide office.

Everybody talks about Tim Pawlenty, but you're one of the last who have won statewide too.

What does your party have to do to try and statewide get some traction again?

- [Patti] Our party blew up over financial issues and other issues and it just hasn't been the same since then.

And so I think you have to create a better party structure that's more on the ground.

We have long lost the early vote.

- There are some definite concerns that you have heard from our side of the aisle.

- [Patti] I think Lisa is doing a great job.

- [Mary] Would you like to see her run for higher office?

Do you think that's a direction the party could go?

- [Patti] I think she is, and I think there's a lot of other, especially amongst the freshmen, frankly, it's a good class of people on our side.

I mean, these are professionals, people who are very successful in their career outside of the legislature.

- A lot of moms too, a lot of women aren't there in your caucus?

- A lot of moms.

Yeah, yeah.

It's really a great, great group of people.

There's only, I think, three female Republican senators.

- [Mary] And zero new ones.

Zero.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

- That's tough for your party.

That's tough for reaching out to, you know, suburban women who decide every election in this state, don't they?

- They do.

They do.

And so it's especially in the suburbs, you know, and I think my party recognizes that, that we need really good solid female candidates, you know, that are in the suburbs especially.

- [Mary] So do you think you guys can flip back?

Do you think you have enough to go on in a year?

- I certainly hope so, Mary.

I really hope so.

We need some balance in Minnesota, but I do think so, we've got some great candidates, not just in suburban seats, but there's some greater Minnesota seats that we're absolutely gonna pick up, I believe.

And you know, it's four seats.

That's it.

- [Mary] Not a lot.

- [Patti] You know.

Yeah, no, it's not a lot.

(bright piano music) - Next up, a Democrat who was the first woman elected in her district in one of the closest races.

- [Lucy] I really wanted to have a fresh voice in this area.

And also I thought we needed a new perspective and a women's perspective in the house.

I think I'm one of the first women to represent Chanhassen, Chaska area in the house.

So that's pretty exciting.

And I think last election was a lot about women's issues.

I think a lot of women, when I talked to them at the doors, you know, they're very concerned about gun violence, education, but also women's reproductive rights.

- [Mary] What was it in the end?

What was your final margin?

- [Lucy] I think it was 417 votes.

Two points.

So one of the tightest races out there.

I think the polls showed that it would be really tight like that.

You know, this district has been very close for a couple elections now.

So this was the election that actually flipped it.

- [Mary] Has it been kind of a learning curve then for your district to get used to having a woman representing them and a Democrat?

- [Lucy] Yeah, I think it has been.

I think it has been a change.

I think some people are really surprised that I won because we've had close races before.

I really feel like the women came out in full force and I talked to a lot of women who normally would have voted Republican.

But I think with the changing political climate, they were saying that, you know, the abortion access issue was so important to them that they were going to vote Democrat.

As women, I think we're growing in power and in number and I don't think this issue is going to go away anytime soon.

- How about now that you have a session done, what'd you learn?

What was your biggest lesson?

- A lot happening all at once.

You know, I've been told that it was one of the busiest sessions, for me it was my first, so it's hard for me to compare it to any other sessions previous to that.

I would say within my caucus, I thought we were a great team.

You know, we all stuck together, a lot of camaraderie.

As a caucus I thought we did really well working together, we all have, you know, different views.

We all come from different districts and have different perspectives on the issues, but we all agree on those common values and I think that showed with the legislation that we passed.

- [Mary] And what about you specifically?

What do you think as a freshman you were actually able to get done?

- [Lucy] So I ran on education funding, making healthcare accessible, including mental health care.

And I ran on the environment.

We have a climate crisis that we're facing and all three issues I think, you know, we were able to pass legislation, we did so much this past session, but there's still more to do.

So when I think about it being a part-time job and I think, you know, in many ways that's great, but I also feel like this is a job that requires full-time attention.

There's a lot of work to be done and trying to cram it in, in those few months that we have, I think that's a bit of an issue.

The bill is passed and its title agreed to.

(crowd cheers) Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get signs on Highway 5, memorial signs in law forever.

And that's a mighty long time.

But I'm here to tell you there's something else.

Instead of asking me how much money it will cost, ask me how important this is.

'Cause in this body, things can get real hard to get into statute, on this vote you're on your own.

- [Mary] What about sessions surprised you?

When you look back based on what you thought it might be like versus the reality?

What was the "Oh wow, I didn't see that coming" kind of experience?

- I really enjoy being in such a historic place.

I guess I was surprised by how beautiful it was and actually how well people work together.

We talk a lot about how there's a lot of difficulty being a legislator, you know, working with the other side and certainly that's true, but you know, overall we got the work done.

So I feel proud of what we did do.

You know government does work and function for the people.

- [Mary] What's left?

Or did you do too much?

What do you think?

What's ahead?

- [Lucy] I think there's a lot more that we can do.

Climate change is a lot more we can do.

I think we need to really focus on conservation.

I think that's something that we haven't really focused on.

I think there's a lot more we can do for education.

The ERA, I think will be a big part of our discussions.

I know a lot of ERA advocates out there wanted to get that passed this year.

I look forward to getting back there and working on it, and now I know better, right?

I know how to work as a legislator and make things happen.

I'll be a lot more effective I think.

(bright music) - The increased diversity on both sides of the aisle here at the Capitol is just part of what this next duo brings to the legislature.

People might describe you as edgy.

- Sure, absolutely.

- Right?

That's fair.

- Of course, you're being quite kind.

You go check on my Twitter feed.

Yeah, I'm pushing the edges of- - [Mary] I mean, you're not afraid to pick a fight, honestly, right?

- No, no.

- Or defend or offense/defense.

I'd say you play both, right?

- Sure.

I kind of look at it as there are different rhetorical styles that are appropriate in different context, right?

So a preacher on Sunday is gonna thump the pulpit and preach fire and brimstone, or at least they used to.

But when he goes to visit somebody on their deathbed, he's not gonna do that, right?

Because the context is different.

It's gonna be much more relational and specific to the person.

And I feel as though that translates to politics as well.

- Do you get that opportunity in the minority to be in a room and work with people?

- Sometimes it very much depends on the person and the issue.

One example of that was the Indian Family Preservation Act, I believe it was called, that was authored by Representative Heather Keeler.

That bill was coming through the committee, and I knew nothing about it at all.

I was reading through the bill and had some really nerdy technical questions about how it worked.

So I sent her an email and she was so excited.

She hooked me up with a Zoom and had me talking to a couple of different experts and walked me through.

- [Mary] Did you support it then?

- I did, I got up on the house floor and I argued for it.

- [Mary] That sounds like bipartisanship, working across the aisle.

- Yes.

It is possible.

- Okay.

- It's absolutely possible.

The problem is, is that the stakes of everything are ratcheted up so high that even when people see what they believe to be a good idea, if it comes from the wrong person, who's wearing the wrong uniform, they're going to forego what they know to be a good policy in favor of the partisan politics.

And that's deeply unfortunate.

People have their reasons for voting the way that they do.

If you actually sit and you listen to their case, even if you don't agree with it, you kind of have to respect it.

- [Mary] Your caucus elects the first black woman ever to lead it.

Talk to us about diversity and race.

- That's been an interesting journey for me, during this legislative session because, you know, I grew up in the suburbs.

I went to predominantly white schools.

I don't have the same, what they would call lived experience that folks say like in North Minneapolis have had.

And so for me, when I look at racial issues, it's much more through the lens of what you would expect to find talking to a suburban conservative.

- [Samantha] Before I was born with the history and legacy of my family in this country.

I'm fourth generation Japanese American and my grandparents along with 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned by the US government during World War II.

And you know, that's a historical event, a legacy that has really shaped the history of my family and has always kind of informed how I look at public service.

I've always had a real sense of government decisions affect people's lives, right?

And who is at that decision making table is, is really important.

- [Mary] I'm guessing some of our viewers may know your father.

- [Samantha] My father is an author and artist that has lived in the Twin Cities for a long time.

A lot of the work that my dad has done is really around kind of telling some of these often untold or marginalized stories of people of color and specifically Asian Americans in America.

And done a lot of work in Minnesota to really, make sure that people of color are centered in our art spaces.

- [Mary] Has that influence from your father affected and had an impact on legislation and priorities and policies for you now in the capitol?

- [Samantha] My dad in his own way was an activist, right?

And so from a young age I would go to protests with him and I was, you know, taught that using your voice is incredibly important.

A story that he likes to tell, as I think I was maybe, you know, five or six and me and my friend led a protest at our Thanksgiving about being relegated to a kids' table.

- Was there specific legislation?

Were you able to accomplish anything that first session so far?

- I was really lucky to come into a set of circumstances that made it really great to be a Democrat in my first term in the house.

I was not coming in expecting a trifecta, but was just immediately impressed with our caucus' ability to really hit the ground running and get things done.

One of the pieces of legislation that was incredibly important to me was the paid family and medical leave plan.

You know, one of the more kind of personal events that led me to run for office was becoming a mom.

I have a 2-year-old and what he was born, he spent a few weeks in the NICU.

I was really lucky when he was born to be at a organization where I had a paid family leave policy, so that I could spend time with him.

I saw a lot of other families that had babies in the NICU that didn't have that benefit.

Passing that piece of legislation that so many people had worked on for decades, was really monumental.

(bright music) - This representative is already a leading voice in his Republican caucus on legal issues.

He embraces nerding out and taking the process seriously.

- I've had a lot of experience as a judicial law clerk and as a lawyer in court cases, really trying to piece back together what certain words mean and statutes or in contracts.

So it's really very important, I think, that we are very careful as we're writing statutes and thinking about all of the future implications of it to be very nerdy and technical.

That's definitely been, I felt like a big part of my role in calling at the legislature this last year.

- Is it kind of cool to be on the front end now of laws being written when you've dealt with the back end of it so much as a lawyer?

- It is.

It's a new experience and as a lawyer, you know, I've writing contracts and things on the front end as well.

But yes, to have this, it's a big responsibility and it's something that I hope we all take very seriously.

I certainly try to take it very seriously.

- [Mary] You like to debate.

Did you debate like in high school?

- [Harry] I did.

I debated in high school and in college.

Yeah, I was a competitive debater.

That's part of what got me interested in going to law school in the first place.

I liked the research and the arguing.

- [Mary] Did you feel like you could be effective given your background in the law, in debating, in being really specific about the language going into law?

Do you think in the minority, do you feel like you were able to have some impact?

- I'm not sure how much of an impact I had.

There certainly were a lot of opportunities to argue and to really push on specifics.

And I've had conversations after the session about that maybe some of those questions or issues or concerns we tried to raise might be addressed in the future.

And I hope that that's the case.

- [Mary] Let's talk about your district, 'cause I kind of think of like North Metro, Anoka County, kind of libertarian.

I mean once Jesse Ventura territory, some of it's competitive.

Talk to me about the politics of your district.

- [Harry] There were a lot of folks in Anoka County, who, like you said, voted for Jesse Ventura.

It used to be, especially in sort of northern and Anoka County there used to be some DFL strength.

I think that the '98 election with Jesse Ventura actually kind of shook that up a little bit.

And at least the area that I represent has been fairly solidly Republican.

But yeah, it is sort of populist independent minded voters.

People who frankly just kind of don't trust the government that terribly much.

- [Mary] How do you connect with those voters who are skeptical now you're part of the process, right?

- [Harry] Nobody is perfect and we shouldn't just, you know, trust anybody to have total control over our lives.

I think that's why it's important that we have checks and balances.

It's important why we have, in this country a legal system where the government can be challenged in court, and the government can lose in court.

I do tell them that most of the people that I see and that I work with, I think really do have good intentions.

We disagree with on things, but we're trying to further the betterment of our entire state.

I have coached basketball and baseball for both my sons and yeah, I love sports, I love the competition.

But even more than the competition, I think you learn the life lessons about failing and getting back up, learning grit, learning to overcome adversity, learning to work together.

There's just so many important life lessons that you can learn.

- I've always said that sports prepares people for politics.

There's an a lot of analogies between the lessons you learn in athletics and at the capitol.

Do you see that now coming through?

- [Harry] Yeah, I think so.

You're not gonna accomplish anything on your own.

In St. Paul, that's for sure.

- [Mary] So you knew your way around politics and even the capitol.

Talk a little bit about that and maybe some of the surprises you still had, knowing as much as you did coming into this.

- [Harry] I've been involved in some campaigns.

My wife has been involved in some campaigns and my wife actually worked at the legislature.

There's just nothing that can prepare you, I think, there's no professional experience I've had, and even working in political campaigns, there's nothing that can prepare you for what life is like as a legislator, just in terms of the sheer volume of human interaction that you have.

I've never been involved in any situation in my life where as many people wanted to talk to me or I had to deal with as many people in a short period of time as a legislative session.

Was definitely a big adjustment.

Even as a minority member.

(bright music) - Our next new lawmaker works closely with the agriculture community and is a reminder of the farmer in DFL.

- [Pamela] I didn't see a lot of rural representation on my side of the aisle.

Really seeing that there was a deficit of that point of view for the majority.

And knowing that that's really important to our state and that's really important to have that voice and that perspective in the lawmaking.

- [Mary] You know, the DFL party still has an "F" in it for farmers.

How'd you win in an area that farms?

- [Pamela] Well, I would say my district is particularly unique.

I did not necessarily in the township areas of my district.

What we have really seen across the country, of course, is that a lot of the rural places have turned more red.

And I really see that as an opportunity.

And I know that when I was growing up in southern Minnesota, all the rural places on every corner of the state was blue because there was labor and there was farmer representation.

Much more than I see my party representing now.

- [Mary] I'm guessing that background got you Vice Chair of Ag.

What'd you learn?

- [Pamela] The Ag.

committee is unique because we really do a ton of bipartisan work, or I like to think of as nonpartisan work.

The biggest industries in our state and employment is agriculture.

And so even if you're not a farmer, you're an eater.

So it's important that you are paying attention to what is happening on the national level.

What is happening on, you know, the state level and certainly the local level with our food.

- [Mary] Democrats representing rural areas is a dying breed.

Should Democrats give up on rural America?

- [Pamela] From what I have seen that's kind of already happened, we shouldn't be surprised that a lot of the rural parts of our state, our country are not represented by Democrats, because I have not seen, in my opinion, enough effort and enough care and intentionality to small communities, to rural places.

And that is something that I am passionate about and saying like, it's not a foregone conclusion.

This has changed in my lifetime.

And I don't blame my neighbors for feeling like, what the heck, we voted for Democrats for how many decades and we still feel left behind.

My first campaign ever to door knock in rural places in townships.

I mean, people were just like, "Wait, you're the, you're the candidate, you're door knocking me?"

And I was like, "Yeah, I wanna work for you."

You tell me what you think about, you've lived on this lake for 25 years.

- [Mary] How do you think you got that reaction?

- I mean, I think because we've left rural people out of conversation.

So I think just to even show up, even if we disagree fundamentally, I would have people thanking me, for just showing up and for just caring.

And I think that's literally the least that we can do.

- I recognize the member from Rice Representative Pursell.

- [Mary] You got to be in the majority, you're a freshman, you were a vice chair.

What are your personal accomplishments now that you have one session done?

- And I am incredibly proud of our Agriculture Omnibus Bill.

We also rolled in a hundred million dollars for broadband expansion, and at least 40% of that goes towards a program to really get sort of the last mile, the folks that are like hardest to reach.

- Now that you have a session under your belt, what really surprised you about the place in the process?

- It feels like I didn't have a ton of expectations going in.

Maybe the intensity and the depth of my relationships with people.

I think when you're in an intense situation, whether that's summer camp (laughs) or a new job.

- (laughing) Oh, summer camp's a good analogy actually.

- Yeah, I mean, you kind of like forge these relationships.

You know, I have some of my favorite folks across the aisle who towards the end of session were in the retiring room and the state hockey tournament is on and there's like a certain group of us who are always standing around and like checking in and seeing what the scores are and things like that.

- There are friendships across the aisle.

Isn't that kind of the unknown part of the capitol?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yes.

- And I think I've sort of heard that as a cliche, but I feel like I have those people.

I've just been pleasantly surprised that we come from all over the state and all different backgrounds and we have this very unique experience to bond us together.

(bright piano music) - We'll be back next week with live guests and analysis from the Capitol.

In the meantime, you can head to our website, that is tpt.org/aatc.

There you can rewatch any part of tonight's show, "Almanac" and "Almanac at the Capitol".

You can find out how to interact with us on social media, Facebook and X all week long.

And when the legislature's in session, you can watch House, Senate, floor action, committee hearings, press conferences, and much more on the PBS station you are watching right now.

Be sure to watch "Almanac" Friday night on your PBS station and thank you for watching tonight.

Goodnight.

(lively orchestra music) - [Narrator] "Almanac at the Capitol" is made possible by members of this public television station.

Support is also provided by Manitoba Hydro, providing clean renewable energy to Minnesota utilities for more than 50 years.

Manitobahydropower.com.

Flint Hills Resources, a leading producer of the fuels Minnesotans rely on every day.

Minnesota Lottery, delivering nearly $4 billion to benefit all Minnesotans since 1990.

Great River Energy, powering what's possible.

And the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community, a sovereign tribal nation in Scott County.

More at shakopeedakota.org.

"Almanac at the Capitol" is a production of Twin Cities PBS for the stations of Minnesota Public Television Association.