Candidates speak at DFL Picnic
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FAIRMONT - As the campaign trail continues, Senate Candidate Marisa Ulmen, House Candidate for Upper Martin County Jon Wilson and a Representative of Fairmont's House Candidate Sonja Denn all spoke at Monday's Martin County DFL Picnic at Gomsrud Park in Fairmont.
On the Senate side, Ulmen is up against Jeremy Munson to fill the seat of retiring Rich Draheim. In the House, Wilson and Denn are both facing incumbents Marj Fogelman and Bjorn Olson.
Ulmen, a fifth-generation farmer, said the issue she is hearing people are at their breaking point for most is healthcare.
"Last year I did not have health insurance," she said. "I had to get blood work done in the Madelia Clinic. I paid the direct pay $130 to have my blood work done. Everything was great. This year, I had insurance, very good insurance. There are over 600,000 postal employees. We get a good deal. I had the same blood work done. I got the information back from my clinic saying that insurance had paid $500 of this bill, and I still owed $447. If I hadn’t had insurance, it’d cost me $130."
Another issue is education. Specifically, Ulmen touched on community college higher education, noting that there is none in her Senate District.
"What we’re seeing is that 40 years go by, and we’re losing opportunities that we used to take for granted," she said. "One of the main things about technical schools and vocational schools is that people who go there then stay in the communities, and that’s not necessarily true for a four-year institution. They go on, and they get their education. Maybe some come back. Maybe some of them leave. The people who go to community colleges stay in their communities. They come back. They live, and they work, and that’s the kind of thing that we need."
Denn could not attend due to health issues, but Campaign Representative Toni Popp shared a moment that spurred Denn to run for office.
"We went to the Mankato City Council meeting in January," she said. "Earlier that day, two young women had been pepper sprayed by ICE. The second one, she was sitting on the side of the road. The cops talked to her for a couple minutes and left her sitting there. She was soaked. They’ve been pouring stuff over her face to get all that out of her eyes, and they just left her sitting there in the cold crying. Sonya got out of her truck and gave her a blanket and made sure that she was safe."
Reading from remarks prepared by Denn, Popp said Denn was one of seven children who graduated as a single mother and has gone from a housing manager at a homeless shelter to a Director of Finance and HR for a Mankato-based construction company.
"I know the meaning of struggle and perseverance," Popp read. "I value the work hard and you can be anything you want mentality. That doesn’t seem to be possible in the world we currently live in. I’m here to change that."
Wilson, who was born and raised in Fairmont, represents part of Martin County, including Trimont and Fox Lake. Going door to door in the area, Wilson has been fielding concerns from residents.
"[Trimont], they do have some water issues," he said. "I knew that coming in, and that was the main focus of a lot of the doors that I talked to, and Marj did nothing to really help them, and that’s one of the reasons that I came back into the race is that we need somebody that’s going to fight for people, and not fight for the parties that they have."
Overall, Wilson encouraged people to be informed and talk to everyone they know about the candidates in this race.
"Continue to tell your neighbors about your candidates, and make sure that November goes the right direction for all of us, no matter who they are," he said.
The event was attended by around 40 people, including DFL officials and representatives for statewide candidates.