What This Senate Seat Is For

Who I Am

I’m a registered patent attorney who has run my own law practice for more than 20 years here in Minnesota. Before law, I earned a degree in chemical engineering. I grew up on a farm in the Red River Valley in northwest Minnesota, my family has called this state home for nearly 150 years. My wife Carolina and I have been married 18 years, and we’ve lived in Minnetonka for the past 16. I am the Republican-endorsed nominee for this seat.

District 49 covers Eden Prairie and southern Minnetonka. I’m running because this district, and this state, deserve a senator who will show up, do the work, and answer for the results.

What I’ll Actually Do

1. Real fraud accountability, not press releases.
Minnesota has lost hundreds of millions of dollars to fraud in Feeding Our Future, Housing Stabilization Services, and autism services (EIDBI), fraud that continued for months after red flags were already known. Minnesota already created an Office of Inspector General with real subpoena power, but its law enforcement division, the part that can actually act on fraud in real time, doesn’t start until 2028. I’ll push to move that date up, so accountability starts now, not three years from now.

2. Property tax relief through spending discipline.
Minnesota’s state budget has grown 128% since Governor Pawlenty left office, nearly 60% even after inflation, while the state’s population grew just 9%. That gap shows up on every property tax bill in this district. I’ll work to bring state spending growth back in line with what Minnesota families can actually afford.

3. Lowering the cost of living, not just talking about it.
Minnesota carries the third-highest state income tax rate in the country and ranks 44th of 50 states for overall tax competitiveness, worse than every state we border. Add new taxes and mandates layered onto health care and small businesses, and Minnesotans are paying more at every level just to get by. That includes energy costs: Minnesota’s 1994 ban on new nuclear power leaves us paying more than we need to for reliable power, long after the technology it was written for became obsolete. I’ll oppose new taxes and mandates that raise the cost of living without making anyone’s life better.

4. A legislature that funds public safety in the department.
Officers deserve a state government that funds police departments consistently and honors negotiated agreements. That’s it, that’s the job. Public safety works when the basics are handled, not when it becomes another front in a bigger fight.

Where I Stand

I support local control. Decisions about schools, zoning, and public safety belong closest to the people they affect, not mandated from St. Paul.

I don’t sign pledge cards. I answer to the voters of this district, not to a pledge that ties my hands before I’ve heard the facts of a given issue.

Schools and Jobs

Nearly two-thirds of Minnesota students are not at grade level in reading, math, or science. Schools should teach the fundamentals, let parents see what is going on, and put money in the classroom and in career and technical programs.

Minnesota should be a place employers stay. I will vote against new taxes and state rules that make it harder to keep a shop open. A broader tax base is one way the property tax bill comes down.

The Bottom Line

If you send me to St. Paul, you are voting for those four jobs: (1) Fraud enforcement now, not put off until 2028; (2) Spending that does not land on our property tax bill; (3) No new pile-on that raises the cost of living; and (4) Public safety funding that actually shows up in the police departments.

Questionnaires

My full, unedited, responses to candidate questionnaires from organizations across Minnesota:

Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA)
Minnesota Housing Partnership / Habitat for Humanity Minnesota
Minnesota Society of CPAs (MNCPA)
Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN)
SEIU Minnesota