Minnesota Capitol. Photo by Minnesota House Public Information Services.
Voters on Nov. 5 elected 22 new members of the Minnesota House, including 14 freshmen Republicans and eight new Democratic-Farmer-Labor members.
The Minnesota House is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans 67-67, meaning that each new member can wield considerable influence not typically seen among freshman legislators. New members typically follow the lead of their caucus, as they are still learning how the Capitol operates.
Given the 67-67 tie, however, new members can withhold their vote and gum up the entire caucus agenda.
The Reformer reached out to all 22 new members. Some haven’t responded yet. (Email us!) The following five new members spoke with the Reformer about why they ran for office and what they hope to accomplish at the Legislature.
This is the second installment in the Reformer’s series introducing readers to the 22 new Minnesota House members and one state senator. Read our first installment here.
Rep. Cal Warwas, R-Eveleth
Cal Warwas, a steel worker who grew up on the Iron Range, successfully flipped House District 7B from blue to red earlier this month. The seat was the last remaining Iron Range seat held by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The district and its surrounding areas have been represented by Democrats for the last 96 years.
Warwas, 48, said Democrats have strayed from a pro-mining message, which is not popular on the Iron Range.
“Democrats in St. Paul have been able to basically control the entire party and traditional Democrats on the Iron Range didn’t have a voice anymore as it pertains to things like expanding mining, sustaining mining,” Warwas said.
Warwas, who has been a miner for 28 years, said his top issue will be to expand the mining of critical materials in northeastern Minnesota, including copper and nickel. Warwas said the state government needs to focus on green-lighting mining projects faster by reforming the permitting process.
Other top issues for Warwas include bolstering public safety and the police, and protecting Second Amendment rights, he said.
Warwas is a cancer survivor, and he lost his right kidney to cancer in 2020.
Katie Jones, DFL-Minneapolis
Katie Jones, 37, is an energy efficiency policy consultant and won a tough primary battle for the House seat in August. Jones will be replacing influential DFL Rep. Frank Hornstein.
Jones grew up in Indiana. She said she ran for office because she wants her adopted home state to thrive, and she has the skills to do just that.
Jones, who will represent House District 61A in southwest Minneapolis, said people are concerned about the vitality of downtown Minneapolis. She plans to introduce a bill that would create a grant program specifically for small businesses whose foot traffic has been impacted by nearby road construction.
Jones said she plans to work with her Republican colleagues to find shared values and get things done, but she won’t compromise on the rights of Minnesotans.
“I will always stand firm on progressive values of protecting those who have been historically marginalized and who are still experiencing marginalization today, so that’s a non-starter,” Jones said.
Jones and her husband live in a strawbale house in Uptown Minneapolis, meaning they used straw as a primary construction material for energy efficiency and to reduce carbon emissions.
Rep. Wayne Johnson, R-Cottage Grove
Wayne Johnson is a small business owner and a former member of the Washington County Board of Commissioners.
Though he will be new to the Legislature, Johnson said he knows the Capitol well thanks to his many trips to St. Paul to testify on various bills as a commissioner.
Johnson, 59, said he ran for the House because he saw how new taxes and regulations were hurting businesses. He felt he was uniquely qualified to address these issues.
He said the Democratic majority in the past few years passed interesting programs and proposals, like paid leave and a ban on “junk fees,” but they were approved with little thought to the cost and how to implement them.
“There needs to be some more thinking through the process, instead of coming up with ideas and then saying, ‘Well, let’s just do this because it sounds cool,’” Johnson said.
Johnson, who will represent House District 41A, said his top issues will be lowering taxes, fighting inflation and bolstering vocational and technical education. He said his son is an electrician who didn’t have enough opportunities to take trade classes in high school, so he would like to create more opportunities for young people to learn a trade in high school.
House District 41A was an open seat. Johnson won his seat by 327 votes even though Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by about 1,300 votes.
Julie Greene, DFL-Edina
Julie Greene is a brand strategist and a former Edina School Board member. She ran for school board in 2020 because she said teachers and students were being unfairly maligned by misinformation. Greene, 52, said she wanted to step up and make sure that the community was represented well, and now she wants the same thing at the Legislature.
Greene, who will represent House District 50A, said her top issues include education, lowering costs for families, climate and energy and gun control.
She said she will approach her work with an open mind to get things done in the 67-67 House.
“I’m open to working with Republicans to do that good work and support all Minnesotans. I think that is how I served as an Edina School Board member as well,” Greene said.
Greene grew up in a Chicago suburb, and she has four kids, ages 15 to 23. She said her family has fully embraced the winters, and they love to snowmobile and ski.
Rep. Kari Rehrauer, DFL-Coon Rapids
Kari Rehrauer is an Education Minnesota union representative, a former teacher and a member of the Coon Rapids City Council.
Rehrauer, 48, said she ran for the House because she wants to advocate for more education funding to ensure that all school districts are well-funded.
Her top issues include protecting the environment, strengthening unions and making life more affordable for Minnesotans.
“I taught life science and earth science, so the environment and protecting our environment has always been very important to me, so I’d like to work on continuing to mitigate climate change and extreme weather,” Rehrauer said.
Rehrauer, who will represent House District 35B, said she would like to see the bills that were stonewalled in the last few years to be reconsidered again, like the Equal Rights Amendment and the “Prove it First” bill, which states that before a copper-nickel mine is permitted in Minnesota, companies must show proof that sulfide mining has been done elsewhere in the U.S. without causing pollution.
Rehrauer once ran an at-home child care business when her children were young.