My name is Pete Johnson.

I'm running for reelection to Minnesota House District 8A, which covers central and western Duth.

I want to say what an honor it's been to serve in this role for the last two years and represent the people of our district down at the capital.

But that it hasn't been without its challenges.

We saw the worst of political violence when an Speaker Hortman and her husband Mark were assassinated in their homes and Senator John Hoffman and his wife Evette were also shot.

We saw a campaign of retribution that ripped families apart and sent terror across our state.

But even through all of that, we were able to get some good work done.

We took major steps to address the fraud that has happened and happens in our state through forming the Office of Inspector General to add much neededed oversight to our state agencies to funding more Medicaid fraud investigators for the Attorney General's Office who have been extremely successful in prosecuting over 350 cases.

And we invested in IT infrastructure upgrades for our counties so that they can move away from these archaic systems where fraud often hides.

But there's still more work to do.

We have to make life more affordable for people here in Minnesota.

That includes figuring out how we reduce tax burdens.

It means figuring out how we make health care that's accessible and affordable to everybody and addressing our child care crisis which is quiet quietly crumbling in the background and is a critical piece of infrastructure that we all need.

I think I have the experience and skills to keep delivering on that.

I've served over 20 years as a firefighter here in the city of Duth.

I've sat in people's living rooms on some of their worst days as they contemplate whether or not they can afford to go to the hospital, not whether or not they need to.

I've talked to people in doorways and alleyways as they struggle with housing and a safe place to stay and live or as they battle mental health or substance abuse.

It's those experiences and that perspective that I bring with me to the capital.

But I also have the skills to actually get work done.

I've spent 20 years as a union negotiator for the firefighters union.

I know how to go in and advocate and push for everything I possibly can for the people that I'm representing.

But I also know how to figure out where and how we find compromise and get deals done to continue to deliver for the people here in our state and in duth.

Sometimes that means taking smaller steps so that we can get those building blocks in place.

Sometimes it means fighting till the very very end.

I'm committed to keep doing this work.

I take a lot of pride in representing everybody in our district, not just the folks who represent me.

And it's just like I do as a firefighter.

If you call and you're looking for help, I'm going to answer.

So, I ask for your vote and support on November 3rd.

My name is Alan Kerr, running for the Minnesota legislature in district 8A.

Regarding education, the federal government has from time to time demanded that various states adopt their education program if they want federal education money.

However, we know that with the money comes the strings.

Minnesota residents should not allow the state to sell our education rights to the federal government.

regarding the keep right to keep and bear arms.

If the Democrats win control of the legislature, we will um we will see gun control like you have never seen it before.

Which is sad because gun control has never worked anywhere it has ever been tried.

For example, a uh an assault weapons ban was that uh we've had one and it lasted 10 years, but the National Institutes of Justice found that the assault weapons ban had no discernable effect on crime.

And the Congressional Research Service found that the assault weapons ban had no effect on crime.

The Centers for Disease Control reviewed 51 studies of gun control laws.

In every case, the CDC found no proof that gun control reduces crime, violent crime, accidents or suicides.

Also, history teaches us we reg if we register our guns, then at some point in the future, they're able to uh confiscate the firearms since they know where to get them.

And after that, history teaches genocide.

So, and what do we make of the Democrats that call for packing the US Supreme Court or for abolishing the US Senate?

Regarding taxes, I would like to see the elimination of the homestead credit refund and the renters's property tax refund.

It would reduce the amount of paperwork in the in our lives, and it would make our tax system fairer.

As it is now, it just benefits some at the expense of others.

And remember, it takes money to move money.

Regarding national security, uh yeah, that's a federal a federal thing, but we should uh we could, I think, um prohibit the sale of farmland to China and other countries.

Regarding the Minnesota state flag, well, process matters.

The way that the state flag came about was very divisive and just plain wrong.

People are very upset about it.

There is a Democrat lawmaker that wants to take money from the cities that fly the old Minnesota flag.

Some people want to preserve history.

Some say that there is a lack of input and some are upset because there never was a statewide vote.

My name is Alan Kerr and I'm running for the Minnesota Legislative District 8A.

The League of Women Voters of Duth is a proud underwriter of PBS North.