(bright music) (soft bright music) - [Announcer] Welcome to "Meet the Candidates," the local election forum from Pioneer PBS.

This season, we ask every candidate the same list of questions to learn more about what type of legislator they will be if elected.

In this episode, we will meet candidates from Minnesota House District 9A.

District 9A is made up of Grant, Traverse, and Wilkin Counties and the western portion of Otter Tail County.

Major cities include Fergus Falls, Breckenridge, and Pelican Rapids.

To find out which district you live in, visit mnvotes.org.

And now, let's meet the candidates.

We'll start with DFL candidate, Nicholas Hanson.

(soft music continues) - Hi, everyone, My name's Nicholas Hanson.

I'm running for the 9A House seat here in Minnesota.

I am running to bring back real rural representation.

I believe it shouldn't look so much as a party matter, but as a metro versus rural Minnesota representation matter, because we are two very different communities, and that is something that has been lost in our partisan politics that we've seen here in Minnesota.

I'm running as a DFL candidate.

Does that mean I'm going to align with everything the DFL says down in the Metro?

No, because they have very different needs and their representation is going to bring their needs forward, and I plan to bring the rural DFL needs forward to them when legislation is crafted and passed.

My main platform is making sure that rural Minnesota, Greater Minnesota, has a voice at the seat down in St.

Paul.

I want to make sure when things like legislation for infrastructure, housing, healthcare, schools is passed, that we have a true voice at the table, and we are not ignored or forgotten any longer.

Our communities help grow Minnesota.

Our roads, our communities fuel all of Minnesota.

The Metro cannot forget that we provide for them.

Their products are sold in our communities.

Our products are sold in their communities.

Our roads travel to them and from them.

When people come to our communities for recreation in the summertimes, they go through the Minneapolis-St.

Paul area, whether it via plane or coming in train.

We have so many wonderful opportunities here in Minnesota to create and grow, and our communities need to be recognized and serviced in a way that promotes them and grows them so that we can continue to grow as a state.

(soft bright music) - [Announcer] Why do you want to be the representative for your district?

- I want to be a representative for my district because I believe our voices have not been heard when legislation has passed.

We often hear, "I can't do things because I'm not in this party."

Well, I'm gonna be a part of that party and I'm going to hold my party accountable.

I'm going to make sure that rural Minnesota has a voice within the Democratic Party.

We are the DFL, the Democrat Farmer and Labor Party.

I'm gonna make sure the farmer and the laborers have a voice again down in St.

Paul.

That is why I want to run, because I've realized that we can do better, that we can have a voice, and that we can grow our communities and grow our state.

There's so many opportunities when we empower our communities that benefit not only these communities, but the larger communities in the state as a whole.

We talk about things like housing shortages.

We take pressure off the metro areas when our small rural communities grow because we have things like good infrastructure, good schools, and good hospitals.

Families will come, settle in these areas, and are willing to commute to these larger areas from our area if we have these things in place, but if we do not have that in place, people will not sit in our communities, and we've seen it happen time and time again when we lose things like schools, hospitals, people leave the towns.

You do not want to start a family where you do not have these basic needs for that family.

By making sure we reinvest in these communities, we'll take the pressure off of the metro, we'll grow our communities, and we'll grow as a state, and we'll lead this nation.

- [Announcer] What are your priorities for the next legislative session?

(soft bright music) - So my main priorities is reinvesting in our rural communities.

The big ones will be healthcare, hospitals, and infrastructure.

As I've previously said in some of my other statements, these are the things that these communities need to thrive.

When we have the hospitals that give all the services we need, people know that they can grow their family there, that they can stay there, and they can retire there.

We see when our rural members of our communities don't have easy access, they leave those communities.

They leave a house, they've leaved the communities that they've spent their lives in because they need to get access to basic care that is no longer available in those communities.

We need to make sure that we stabilize that so that they can stay in the communities that they've grown up in, the houses that they've invested in, and by their families that they love and want to stay with.

When we have schools, we know that the future generation has an opportunity, that young families have a place to start and have their children grow, learn, and thrive.

When we have infrastructure, we make sure that there is the ease of access in and out of these towns, that the towns have the ability to grow, and that they're not stagnant.

When we're stagnant and we're not growing, our communities cannot prosper and our state loses as a whole, and that is why I believe investing in these three things primarily and putting a focus on them will grow our rural communities and grow our state and make us a stronger, more prosperous area.

- [Announcer] What unique perspective do you bring to the Minnesota House?

(soft bright music) - My unique perspective is I'm true rural Minnesotan.

I grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

I grew up on just the outskirts of town.

I've known country my entire life.

I grew up working in and around farms, whether it was hobby farms or true dairy, or ag, or beef farms.

I then moved further out into the country in 1999 when we purchased a home further out in the country and I switched to Underwood, Minnesota.

I graduated there in 2005, I was a multi-sport athlete, I was in multiple extracurriculars, including band, speech, FCCLA, class plays.

I did it all because I wanted to engage, learn, and take in everything I could, and that is what I will bring to the capitol.

I will always grow, I will always engage, and I will always learn.

Some people say, "Hey, I have this wheelhouse."

I believe as a legislator, my wheelhouse should be legislation, period, that I should not limit myself to one niche thing.

If I don't know it, I'm going to learn about it.

I'm gonna grow in that and I'm gonna make sure when I make a vote that is informed and is going to be beneficial for my community and my state as a whole and the citizens that I'm supposed to represent in my constituency in 9A.

- [Announcer] What is your vision for the future of Minnesota?

- My vision for the future of Minnesota is simple.

I want us to be a leading state.

I want us to show what we can do here in the Midwest that can be implemented across the rest of the United States.

I believe we are in a unique position.

We have some of the best Fortune 500 companies and housing and infrastructure already in place, and those things can only grow and get better.

I believe we can address issues that are talked about on the federal level here at the state and show a way forward that can be used on a national level, things like healthcare by granting access to the MinnesotaCare program for small families, farmers, small businesses.

We can show, hey, this is a viable option for us to invest in.

We can take what has been done around the world, find out what's worked and what's not worked, implement it within our state, and then be a leader in the US of how we can produce and grow, and that is my vision and my plan for the future of Minnesota.

- [Announcer] And now, a closing statement.

(soft bright music) - Again, my name is Nicholas Hanson.

I'm running for the 9A House seat, and I'm trying to bring back real-world representation.

I believe we can do better, and I believe we can have a voice again at the table at the state legislator.

I believe that we can show what rural Minnesota is truly about, bringing that value, that hard work, and the ethics that we carry down to the state capitol and grow our state.

By doing these things, we'll benefit our rural communities, we'll benefit our state, and we'll benefit the nation as a whole by being a leader within the US of how we can do things right.

I will work across the aisle with my Republican counterparts.

I will hold my party accountable, and I will make sure that everyone does better.

Thank you.

- [Announcer] You can find more information about Nicholas Hanson at Nicholas Hanson District 9A on Facebook.

(soft bright music) Next, the Republican candidate, Jeff Backer.

We were unable to schedule an interview with Jeff, but you can find more information about him at jeffbacker.com.

(soft bright music continues) Learn more about voting, how to register, and what district you live in by visiting the Minnesota Secretary of State website at mnvotes.org.

Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Thank you for watching "Meet the Candidates" on Pioneer PBS.

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