October 27, 2024-Richfield, Minnesota, USA: Jeremy Hofferber of Minneapolis rides the Orange Line home from work in Burnsville. Hofferber voted for Trump. “He’s owned casinos, he’s owned hotels, he gives his money away. He wrote off his government paycheck,” Hofferber said. Photo by H. Jiahong Pan/Minnesota Reformer.
Minnesotans are typically the nation’s most enthusiastic voters, and this year is likely to be no different with DFL Gov. Tim Walz running for vice-president. Already, more than 1.1 million Minnesotans have voted.
Following the most volatile presidential election in modern times — assassination attempts, felony convictions, a candidate switcheroo — the voters will finally have their say Tuesday in what most elections analysts are calling a true toss-up presidential election.
Beyond just deciding whether to send Walz back to Washington, however, voters have other important decisions to make. Minnesota voters in the 2nd Congressional Distirict — the state’s most competitive — will have some say about control of the U.S. House.
And voters in about 15 state House battleground districts — as well as a sole west metro special state Senate election — will decide the fate of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s current control of the state Legislature.
The Reformer talked to voters in the metro, St. Cloud, Belle Plaine and northwest Minnesota, first during the early voting period, and then Tuesday.
The deciders
If voters at the Linwood Community Center in St. Paul — where long lines moved a relatively brisk pace — are likely unified Tuesday around Kamala Harris and Walz, they may be divided on three ballot questions on funding for environmental conservation; raising taxes for a new child care subsidy; and moving city elections to even-numbered years.
Chanel Strandquist, a physician assistant, cast her ballot for Harris as the alternative to Donald Trump, because of the way he talks about immigrants and women.
She voted against raising property taxes to pay for a new child care subsidy program that Mayor Melvin Carter has said he would not enact if passed. She also voted to move city elections to even years.
“I don’t come on odd years, and I literally live across the street. You just don’t think about it,” Strandquist said.
Chris Bruhn and Carly Helfrich, both 35, said they were excited to vote for Harris and supported DFL candidates all the way down the ballot.
“The Democrats have a strong ticket for the first time, well, since Obama,” Bruhn said. “Tim Walz is our neighbor and has been an amazing governor … and we were already sold with Harris.”
“She cares about everybody, not just the top 1%,” Helfrich said.
Bruhn, who works as an engineer in utility-scale solar, said the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats has been a boon for his industry (though he noted solar is already the cheapest form of utility-scale energy). He said the tax credits in the law are critical as the country transitions to renewable energy and demand for electricity surges.
“The IRA tax incentives help immensely,” Bruhn said. “It needs to be upheld.”
Helfrich and Bruhn voted to keep citywide elections on odd-numbered years, arguing that it ensures people who vote are motivated and informed. They didn’t support the tax subsidies for child care although they believe it’s a worthy cause because they weren’t sure the city would be able to follow through with its promise.
A construction worker for Trump
Jeremy Hofferber, a construction worker who moved into his own place in Minneapolis after being homeless, voted early and he voted for Trump.
“(Trump) is not a bullshitter, he’s already got a life established. He’s made his business for people. He’s owned casinos, he’s owned hotels, he gives his money away. He wrote off his government paycheck,” Hofferber said.
Hofferber aired a litany of complaints about Harris, the Democratic Party and the mainstream media as well as the country’s voting practices, food system, immigration and the war in Ukraine, which he called “absurd.”
He said he thinks Trump will be better at dealing with Russia because he’s “friends with Putin and he knows how to leverage Putin.”
“I feel Kamala is too incompetent. Kamala is constantly either stealing people’s ideas and lies all the time and then goes back on her word all the time. Try to listen to her interviews. She never makes a (expletive) point, she circles around and doesn’t really give an answer,” he said.
Moving back home
In Woodbury, Ashley Helge, a 25-year-old freelance photographer and 3D modeler, said she’s reluctantly a Harris supporter.
“(She’s) better, not the best. Like, say, Palestine, she’s been kind of distancing herself. It’s kind of pretty much what it’s always been, is picking between the best of two,” Helge said.
Helge, who moved back to Woodbury in May after study and travel in Europe, said her politics have moved left in recent years as part of her self-discovery that she’s transgender. Her top issues are LGBT rights, public transit and right to repair laws to give consumers greater control over products ranging from iPhones to farm equipment.
Stacey Kreger relocated to eastside St. Paul three years ago from the Frogtown neighborhood. She’s the director of administration at a charter school. She votes Democratic-Farmer-Labor, and is supporting Harris.
“It aligns with my values,” Kreger said as she walked her dog. Democracy, abortion rights and education are her top three issues.
On democracy: “I believe in the power of a democracy and I don’t like someone threatening it,” Kreger said.
On abortion rights: “Women should have the right to decide what happens to their body with their doctor. I find it ironic that (Republicans) tend to talk about valuing freedom, yet they want to hinder women’s right to choose and hamper their freedom,” Kreger said.
On education: “”I appreciate Walz’s leadership in Minnesota and believe having Democrats in power in the state has been very good for education. There is more work to be done and I believe Democratic leadership is important.”
In Belle Plaine, support for Libertarian nominee Chase Oliver
Anastasia Kukacka, a 38-year-old bank teller and Belle Plaine resident, supports Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver, although her family has historically voted Republican.
“(My husband and I) both grew up Republican and that’s where our values align,” Kukacka said.
As a mother with two children, including an autistic son, education and family values are hugely important to her. “Just making sure the schools are safer for our kids and getting the education we need. Both parties need to work on (education) honestly, I would like to see them put more funding into special education programs.”
Both her children go to Belle Plaine schools, and she says she is having a great experience with them and has appreciated their care and respect for her son. “They’re very in communication with us, they communicate with us daily to ensure they are meeting our needs. They don’t do anything before running it before us, and he’s able to say what he needs throughout the day.”
Kukacka said in a follow-up email that Americans should explore candidates beyond just the two major parties: “If more people actually researched all the candidates and voted with their morals rather than by party or popularity, third party candidates could be elected and give America fresh new voices instead of the same tired narrative.”
A Northside Republican
Angela Williams, 60, voted early for Trump although she thinks Republicans should do a better job reaching the Black community, some of whom share her conservative values.
“We want security in our communities. We want economic growth. We want the community to thrive together. We want to figure out how we can cut some of these taxes,” Williams said in a phone interview.
Williams ran for City Council to represent part of north Minneapolis against LaTrisha Vetaw in 2023 and finished third. She does community outreach and engagement work and also helps inmates at Stillwater prison with their legal documentation.
In 2016, she voted for Hillary Clinton because she thought she would be a great president. She has since lost faith in the Democratic party. “The reason why I will never vote Democrat again is I see the condition of our community. People need help. When a mother called me crying with her three kids in the car because they homeless, you know what? Why am I voting for a Democrat? The leadership that has been under the DFL is destroying our communities.”
She spent the interview talking about education, abortion and crime.
“I want to see our children being able to walk safely home from school without getting shot. I want a good education for my (grandkids). They’ve taken everything out the schools and replacing it with a lot of LGBT type of education, sex education type of things, you know, and it’s really destroying — they’re making our kids confused,” she said.
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