Voter check-ins: Voters share what issues led them to vote in the primary
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Minnesotans are voting in Tuesday’s primary to narrow the fields for governor, U.S. Senate and other state and local races for the November general election.
72-year-old retiree Cindy Hatfield of Moorhead voted in the Republican primary for House Speaker Lisa Demuth for governor and former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya for U.S. Senate.
“Agriculture is a big one for me,” Hatfield said. “A lot of the power is down in the Cities so it's hard for, say, farmers and stuff to have good representation.”
25-year-old paint store manager Isaiah Wayne-Davis of Austin cast a Democratic ballot for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan for Senate.
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“More than convinced that Medicare for all and dipping out with Israel's genocide in Palestine is extremely necessary.”
For a ballot to count, you can only vote in one party’s primary.
Kyle Wagers of Moorhead said he was not happy with how U.S. politics have been playing out in the past decades. "We are in a two-party dictatorship. Really, these two parties own us," he said.
The U.S. relationship with Israel is a major issue for Wagers, who wants the U.S. to cut off military aid to the country. He described himself as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, which has logged multiple primary victories recently.
"I hope the DSA does take over the Democratic Party and gets rid of the Democratic Party because they're not representing us,” he added. “They're representing their corporate donors and Israel."
Fifty-six-year-old Jennifer Ek, who owns a painting company in Mankato, says she was motivated by her concern over the presence of federal immigration agents in her city earlier this year.
"I also am very concerned about AI centers in general, but specifically in Mankato. And I guess just affordability for everybody to be able to live, eat, have a place to live,” Ek said.
Another Mankato resident, Becca Stidham, 39, voted in her first primary on Tuesday.
Stidham, a cook for a senior living center, said she was concerned about immigration, rising living costs and cuts to healthcare, which spurred her to vote.
