I
was raised by a single mom and grew up in a mobile home park. I watched my mom work hard and complete her teaching degree over nine years while raising three kids with the help of my grandmother — who herself worked in a union shoe factory well into her 70s. These strong women showed me what grit and determination look like.
Like my mom, I worked two jobs and took out a little in student loans to put myself through state college. I started my career as a newspaper reporter and worked my way up over 20 years in business to lead a workforce of 16,000 for a major Minnesota manufacturer. Today, my wife and I are moms to four amazing young men. My oldest is now a proud trade school graduate and a machinist, two have now graduated from four-year colleges and our youngest is a recent graduate from Rosemount High School and is a college student. In the past two years, we’ve added two daughters-in-law and our grandson Noah to our family.
I worked hard to get where I am, but I was pretty lucky, too. For too many Americans, hard work doesn’t pay off like it used to. College is unaffordable and technical training is unavailable. Healthcare costs too much. Incomes aren’t keeping up with the costs of groceries and prescription drugs. We can do better.
That’s why I ran for Congress, and that’s what I’m working on day-in, day-out since being elected. It’s disappointing that so many politicians seem content to sit back and do nothing but fight among themselves over petty politics.
Instead, I’ve prioritized listening to the concerns of the citizens I represent and working across the aisle to create stronger communities and an economy that works for every Minnesotan.
Since coming to Congress, I’m proud to have:
- Introduced 49 pieces of legislation, four of which were signed into law
- Cosponsored more than 1,000 bills, with more than two-thirds of them bipartisan
- Been ranked in the top 5% of all bipartisan members of Congress
- Hosted 44 town halls in all six counties in the Second District
- Met with over 15,000 Minnesotans
I’m working hard to bring costs down for working families. In June of this year, I worked across the aisle to pass two of my bills to address high prices at the gas pump and the grocery store.
I’m also fighting to make healthcare more affordable for Minnesota families. This year, I wrote and passed the bill to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 per month because it is unacceptable that patients are forced to ration the life-saving medication they need when the cost is too high. I also succeeded in pushing the Administration to fix the Family Glitch in the Affordable Care Act, reducing premiums and expanding healthcare to 5.1 million more Americans. And I helped introduce legislation that would empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices and cap out of pocket costs for folks on Medicare Part D.
I’ve championed education equality in Minnesota. I worked across the aisle with Republican Rep. Pete Stauber to expand resources for apprenticeship and job training programs across our state. And I’ve worked with Sen. Tina Smith to introduce the 21st Century Workforce Partnerships Act, which will give students the career skills and technical education they need to help fill the thousands of good-paying, skilled job openings in Minnesota right now.
I’ve prioritized Minnesota’s family farmers and supporting biofuels markets. I am the first member of Congress to ever get year-round sales of E-15, or Unleaded 88, passed in the House. And I am focused on ensuring that family farms can be passed on to the next generation of farmers.
And now that I’ve seen how things usually happen out in Washington, I’m determined to fight for change that prioritizes the voices of my constituents over special interests. That’s why I authored a bill to permanently ban Members of Congress from serving as lobbyists or trading individual stocks. And it’s why In March 2022, I introduced legislation to stop Members of Congress from purchasing first-class airline tickets using taxpayer funds. I will continue to prevent Members of Congress from receiving a pay raise until we’ve demonstrated that we can deliver bipartisan results for the American people.
You’ll find more about what I believe in on the issues pages.
My wife, Cheryl, and I chose Minnesota as our home because as Minnesotans, we uniquely understand the importance of family, community and caring for each other. I lived in Eagan for nearly a decade and recently moved to Prior Lake. I’m a Rotarian and have served on several local boards over the years.
This is my community.
I will never give up on the Minnesota and America that we can create by working together. I humbly ask for your vote to continue to represent you in Congress and advance this important work representing you.