Know Your Candidates for Minnesota House of Representatives

Roger Skraba; Republican Candidate, Minnesota House 3A.

As the sitting Representative and experiencing two years of trifecta rule, I am motivated to bring bal­ance back to the Minnesota Leg­islature. I have created many rela­tionships with members of the other party and I look forward to working with them after being elected this November. There are a lot of good people with great ideas but when you have a divided government bet­ter legislation is created because all voices are heard. That motivates me to run again.

I would like to stay on the com­mittee’s I currently sit on, Capital Investment, Legacy and Environ­ment and Natural Resources. I would also like to serve on the Tax­es Committee if it works out. I will work on getting funding and make it easier to build more housing in Greater Minnesota. To me housing is the greatest challenge. Between the Iron Range Resources and Re­habilitation Board and other State and Federal funding sources when applied together, they can help lo­cal communities build housing opportunities for new and existing residents.

I would also like to be part of helping rural healthcare and nurs­ing homes. I will continue to ad­vocate for Critical Access Nursing Homes in our district.

Housing, rural healthcare, rural nursing homes, emergency med­ical services, ambulance service and lowering inflation are just some of the pressing issues in the State and District 3A. How these issues get resolved is up to those who are elected. I used to be a Democrat. My values have not changed. The party left me years ago. I understand the issues facing us and am prepared to work on them again, after being elected this November 5th.

This past trifecta government was challenging but at the same time I learned a lot how the back rooms of government work. Relation­ships are everything. I work very well with Senator Hauschild. We communicate all the time on issues affecting the district. His party is currently in charge and when the House flips this election cycle, he and I can carry more legislation to benefit Northern Minnesota. We both want what’s best for the Dis­trict. I voted with the other party on numerous bills that benefit our Dis­trict, school lunch program, canna­bis legislation, environment legisla­tion, capital investments(bonding), Legacy investments, extending unemployment benefits, legislation supporting union workers to name a few.

We live in a District that most legislators already come to visit or want to come and visit. I would like to host a couple of fishing trips in the summer so I can show off our area and way of life. I am proud of where we live and how we live and when my fellow legislators see that, we can begin building a rela­tionship away from the bustle of St. Paul.

I believe that I can best represent our District in St. Paul. My prior years of elected and appointed of­fices gives me the experience to continue to serve all the people of District 3A and I look forward to serving for another two years.

Thank you to all that have sup­ported me during this journey and remember to vote on or before No­vember 5th and vote for Roger J. Skraba.

Rich Tru; Forward Party Independent Candidate, Minnesota House 3A.

No singular reason should pro­pel any individual. For myself, The People have made it clear they are in utter detest with how our two ma­jor political parties are dismantling and embarrassing our democracy. This frustration I empathize, yet still see how a new path might be forged forward. Rather than a sin­gle issue, we know there are many major issues that have not been ad­equately addressed in recent years and decades. From all facets of our for-profit medical industry to pri­vate equity, decimating the housing market and liquidating successful businesses for short term profits. We have big problems, but there are also solutions we might implement if we fight it, stop baseless fighting, and use multifaceted approaches. Typically, the solutions have been throwing tax money at problems without addressing root causes or blanket, bans / repeals that don’t magically solve these complex is­sues. That is what we have repeated­ly seen from the two major parties. We have all given second, third and fourth chances that the next candi­date will be different. They say one thing on the trail, but then once in office, they must answer to their party, not the people. That is moral­ly bankrupt when you are supposed to be a public servant. I am running with an authentic perspective, with a voracity to innovate our modern democracy. A new American dream is there for us, but a new direction is necessary for any of it.

This might not sound sexy, but 1. Ranked choice voting (RVC) with 2. Independent redistricting com­missions, and 3. Term limits for all elected offices need to be our first concern for long-term success. These reforms will add security to the validity of every vote cast while also giving more power to every voter in ways of independent choice and no wasted votes. In a few elections, dark money will in­fluence races drastically less, and will take power out of the hands of two parties that would both pre­fer to keep the status quo. Second­ly, education is a cornerstone of a functioning Democracy and I feel finding solutions in the last decade, have not been prioritized with the prevalence of new factors, such as social media, isolation, ineffective and outdated educational standards / requirements, vast career, market, changes, and fundamental teaching careers that do not meet financial stability to stay in or perform their duties to the excellent degrees we need for them to enlighten, inspire and safeguard our next generations. My office will have full transparen­cy, strive to mitigate pointless, fake rhetoric, fighting in the capital, and promote sensible, and innovative solutions to the effect both sides wish to work with me. I’m not blind to idealism, but I also will not com­promise real solutions for political gain. People want to hope for a fu­ture that can be different. My 33 years young self will not settle for no answer. There isn’t a candidate who will fight stronger for every­one.

I am from here on the North Shore, my lived experience comes from both rural and urban, some­thing that my opponents do not share. Minnesota’s governance has not been equitable for greater Min­nesota. From neglected bonding bills to not listening to the small municipalities when they explain that even with funding, they lag behind in the development due to corporations, not bidding on the projects ( like affordable housing). I have a multitude of ideas and solu­tions to tackle these various issues if we just look at policy in a holis­tic approach. My top issues very much include, with RV C still at the top, affordable housing, nuclear energy, rural healthcare, and EMS, higher education tuition caps and high school, vocational training, neurodivergent, inclusiveness, and local amenity development to fur­ther expand our economy to keep and slowly grow our population. A fair number of these issues stem from a lack of focus on rural popu­lations, and I hope to address them with multiple comprehensive reso­lutions. Others I will note, there is nuclear energy that will be transfor­mational with cleaner, then current renewables, being safer to produce than the others and doesn’t require battery farms. There is a stigma I wish to change around their per­ceived danger and will require an investment that will pay dividends. Another is we need not just trans­portation and amenities, but munic­ipal amenities too. These will retain the population, improve quality of lice, and foster a growth of the economy.

I can unequivocally affirm that I am the candidate with the least amount of baggage and with the best track record when it comes to working with different ideologies. I will reiterate, My party forward is about raising up individuals who will directly represent and be ac­countable to their communities. I do not fit into a political box. Not because I am eccentric, but rather I don’t operate in black-and-white mannerisms that do not serve pro­ductive goals. I also know not ev­ery independent or “lean” will agree 100% with me, but I know for a fact, most people do not 100% agree with the two major parties ei­ther. So why wouldn’t you vote for someone who isn’t held back by a party apparatus or PACs / donors? I care about our personal freedoms, but I also believe that as humans we have a responsibility to care for our communities equitably. Just as I believe fiscal responsibility is on the House of Representatives to ad­equately craft budgets and spend­ing they will not be abused. Though we also need to fund the growth and stability of our state with those most vulnerable to economic changes like our seniors and vets to not leave them behind and foster a healthy, new middle class. Not Left. Not Right. FORWARD.

My name is Rich Tru and I am a forward-independent. This is not some spoiler race for president, but rather an office that will direct­ly influence your lives by being your advocate. I represent a num­ber of communities and it hurts me when I see them not doing as

 well as I thought they would in the year 2024. Especially when there has been so much time to change things, but then they never do. The insanity that is the two party duopo­ly has to end, so let’s start a little change. I may not be a mayor, but a mayor doesn’t know the office any better than myself. Though I have a skill set that includes Product Man­agement that is all about working with multiple teams, understanding what they do and how they do it, and anticipating needs. My experi­ence in unions and how vital they are with collective bargaining. On a side note, I am a huge supporter of co-op businesses and homeown­ership. I served on committees here and in Los Angeles, helped start the Forward Party in Minnesota and founded a government in college. These are only some facets of who I am and what abilities I have honed over my 33 years. One I would like to end on is I strive to be the least biased person in a room. We are all fallible, but being self-aware, actively listening, and always re­searching multiple sources are key to a position like this. You are not alone, Trust Tru for Change. www. RichTruMN.com

What is the Forward Party? Being a Forwardist is about making the world a better place and finding eq­uitable solutions to our communi­ties’ problems. The Forward Party doesn’t force a top-down platform like the major parties; instead, it lets its candidates create their own plat­form in a bottom-up fashion based on what their community is calling for and needs. The solution to the division and anger in our political system is creating a 3rd Party that will represent People not Parties. End the tribal and corrupt duopo­ly. Let’s bring civility back to our political system and help establish the Forward Party in Minnesota and our nation by voting for Rich Tru.

Natalie Zeleznikar; Republican Candidate, Minnesota House 3B.

I ran for office after watching the emotional devastation of seniors and families who were not able to visit each other during the pandem­ic. In 1991, we had a historic bliz­zard and I slept at the nursing home to provide direct care for seniors for 5 days with bare bones staff­ing. However, the pandemic lasted for years, and it was devastating to hear seniors cry as they did not understand why their grown adult 70-year children were standing out­side their window in the middle of winter and did not come in. Fami­lies would hold their hands pressed to frozen glass windows, and the seniors would try to connect with their hand on the window. It was the best we could do, but it caused tremendous pain for everyone. As a breast cancer survivor who nearly died before the pandemic of sep­sis complications, I benefited from having my husband, sons, daughter in law, parent, family and friends by my side. Watching seniors die with­out those they loved with them, and not even one person allowed with a mask on was devastating for ev­eryone, including the staff. I looked up how to do the Rosary as a Lu­theran, and decided to run for office to ensure our mental, emotional and spiritual health was given the same value as our physical health. I was reminded how important this is to us all, as a high school girl came up to me when I was in the school cry­ing saying she never got to enter the hospital to say goodbye to her mom who died of breast cancer. I cried with her, and vowed to make sure everyone had one person with them knowing we have 40% increase in mental health following the pan­demic. I authored a bill to do just that, and my amendment passed in 2024 to ensure all have one person with them in the hospitals, and the goal will be to ensure this in nursing homes, assisted living etc as well. I believe accessibility is essential as a State Representative, and I wrote articles monthly in newspapers to keep people updated on activity during session on issues that matter to many. In addition, I have my cell phone number 218-409-6822 avail­able for all to text or call with ques­tions, ideas, or concerns. As a leader the past 30 years, I never knew who had a D, I, or R after their name, and it never mattered. What mattered is common goals, reasonableness, and common sense. I looked for oppor­tunities to unite on issues that mat­tered to us all, and was appointed to the EMS ambulance and aging services task force. In addition, I was selected to the conference committee and worked with Dem­ocrats to ensure critical workforce funding happened, and my trade bill of $100,000 passed for high school students to get free EMT ed­ucation will begin at Lake Superior School district this year. I believe it is essential to get back to ensuring the core services of public safety, roads and bridges, education, child­care and caring for our vulnerable adults is imperative. Spending $750 million on a palace for State Reps is irresponsible or spending $194 mil­lion on a train from the cities to Du­luth is equally irresponsible when we have workforce funding needs for police, potholes, schools with millions in budget cuts or layoffs, childcare closures, and nursing homes closures. We must lead with funding the critical core services that northlanders expect first, and I will do just that.

Under one party rule, democrats increased the government spend­ing by 40%, and grew taxes by 10 billion dollars after spending the entire 18-billion-dollar surplus in 5 months in 2023. This is unsus­tainable spending, and future bud­gets project a budget deficit. This means budget cuts must occur, or taxes must be increased. With many working 2- 3 jobs we need to make Minnesota affordable for working families again. Minnesota top in­dividual tax rates are 9.85%, and MN is just under New York which is at 10.9%. In addition, Minneso­ta corporate income tax rate is the highest in the nation at 9.8%. We must make Minnesota competitive with border states and in the nation to ensure businesses invest in MN and families can afford to live in MN at all ages. Minnesotans had tax hikes for vehicle tabs, vehicle sales tax, gas tax, delivery tax on all boxes over$100, boat registra­tion and the list goes on. Democrats passed a 100% mandate for wind solar only by 2040, and many ex­perts state this is unrealistic, and creates unaffordable and unreliable energy. We use propane, diesel, natural gas, and these are all to be eliminated. This all or none men­tality is expensive and dangerous in cold temperature climates like our region. I support a diversified ener­gy platform to include hydro, car­bon capture, nuclear, natural gas, propane, coal and wind and solar. Our electric grid relies on base load reliability and wind and solar only can’t deliver this by 2040. We need common sense initiatives and not 100% mandates. Seniors on fixed incomes can’t afford higher electric bills, property taxes and neither can the rest of us. We must make MN affordable or we will continue to see many leave this great state, and it does not have to be this way.

I was accessible to all in my dis­trict regardless if they voted for me or not, with an open door at my legislative office in St. Paul, and di­rect access with my cell number to answer questions, get suggestions, and listen to everyone. I was select­ed by Senator Seeberger and Rep. Huot, both Democrat co-chairs of the EMS task force, joined the team as a Republican. I joined them and the team in Washington DC recent­ly to ensure Greater MN has criti­cal funding for ambulance services and serve in a bipartisan role. In addition, I was one of the only Re­publicans selected to the Omnibus conference committee at the end of session. This committee makes sure the Senate language and House lan­guage matches to pass a bill, and every bill I drafted for trades, in­creasing graduating nurses through a Regional Center of Nursing Ex­cellence program, funding EMT programs all passed into law. I have traveled inside my district and across the state to seek solutions for childcare, public safety, & senior care options to learn best practic­es from colleagues in my political party and from those not in my po­litical party. Taking time to build trust, and to understand the indi­vidual needs of every community is important to me, and I have put the time into this and will continue to do just that if re-elected.

Minnesotans did not ask for a new state flag, which now is costing millions for cites, countes, school districts, police departments, and government entities to implement. Minnesotans asked for reason­ableness. Minneapolis is a sanctu­ary state, and some Democrats are hoping MN will become a sanctu­ary state. Minnesotans do not want to become a sanctuary state, and they do not want the progressive far left policies that reflect social­ism. Even recent retired Democrat Gene Polowski said that it would be “a good thing for Minnesota” if Republicans take back the House or Senate. He stated, “I think we do need a divided government.” The reality is if Democrats hold the House, I believe they will continue with their plan to make MN a sanc­tuary state. The Senate is not up for reelection till 2026, and I agree we need to get reasonableness back and have divided government and have Republicans take back the House in November. In addition, my opponent stated on his personal Facebook page on June 5, 2022 that ‘there is no individual right to bear arms. Nothing.’ What other con­stitutional amendments does this retired judge believe are not your constitutional rights? I support the 2nd amendment, and always will. Do not be misled by my opponent who stated he disavows 3rd party attack ads against me, and that I did not make the same condemnation or promise. The reality is the Dulu­th News tribune – Duluth Chamber Forum set the rules for each can­didate, and you could only answer questions if they called on you for a rebuttal. When you watch the vid­eo of the debate, they never gave me permission to do a rebuttal. The reality is I am not participating in any negative campaigns, but as a top target in the state, you will see me called every name imaginable. I did not like middle school name calling in middle school and cer­tainly do not condone it as an adult. In addition, a mailer went out with one word missing and the word was taxes. It should have stated I sup­port full elimination of social secu­rity TAXES. I would never support elimination of social security, as I need it myself to retire. I caught the error before printing, but the wrong one was inadvertently printed, and a new one will go out this week. I authored the bill to eliminate state tax on social security for all seniors as they paid the tax once and should not pay it twice. It is an honor to serve and I will work hard for you if re-elected. Thank you.