Republican Karin Housley has served Minnesota well in the state Senate, and now she hopes to translate that experience into helping Minnesotans in a new way, by moving up to the U.S. Senate. We believe she deserves the chance as she takes on Democrat Tina Smith, who has held the Senate seat in an interim role.

Housley has served as the first-ever chairperson of the Minnesota Senate Aging & Long-Term Care Committee, working to protect senior citizens from abuse. In fact, she pushed for creation of the committee. It is this kind of commitment and caring that she will take with her to Washington.

While new to national politics, Housley has laid out her understanding of the issues in a reasonable and common sense fashion. She knows higher education must adapt to the times and that four-year degrees are not for everyone. She touts free and fair trade. As a small business owner, she knows that high taxes hurt job creation. She sees public education as a state and local responsibility. She believes in secure borders, but also in trying to attract the best and brightest students and workers to the United States. She believes in protecting Social Security. She wants a patient-centered, market-driven health care solution. She worries about the national debt and its threat to future generations.

We also believe, from examining her background, her experiences in life and the things she notes about herself and her family, that Housley is someone who will work with all her U.S. Senate colleagues, from both sides of the aisle, to help find solutions to problems. We believe she can help bring civil discourse to the volatile political times in which we live.

For all these reasons, we endorse Housley for U.S. Senate.