Mary Kunesh

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Incumbent: Yes
Endorsed by party: Yes
Age: 65
Website: https://marykunesh.com/

How would you approach balancing the state budget while maintaining essential services, and what principles guide your decisions on spending versus revenue increases?

As the Chair of Education Finance, I have approached balancing the education budget with the goal of structural balance, prioritizing cuts in non-essential areas, utilizing flexible funds. My guiding principles are to balance fiscal sustainability with social equity, ensuring that core educational staff and services are the priority while minimizing the economic burden on tax payers. Our legislature should aim for a balanced approach—pursuing efficiencies and improving tax compliance before raising broader tax rates. This session, we legislators balanced the immediate budget by ensuring that near-term spending increases did not fully consume the short-term surplus we anticipate. By leaving a positive projected balance for the next biennium, we utilized current revenue to cushion against future structural shortfalls.

How do you evaluate the cost-benefit of regulations on businesses, particularly small and midsize, and what reforms would you support to reduce unnecessary compliance burdens?

When I work on finance in the legislature, I depend on fiscal notes to evaluate the cost for policies and mandates. I know that Minnesota evaluates the economic impact of state regulations on businesses through the Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) that analyzes who bears the costs of legislation and who reaps the benefits, focusing on the impact on small businesses and small cities. These notes help us to reduce regulatory burdens and estimate possible hidden costs of tracking, reporting, and training for businesses. One thing I know is that a massive portion of the compliance burden can be the hours spent trying to interpret complex legal language. The State could implement state-level reforms that mandate "plain-English" guides, standardized workplace posters, and prepackaged HR tool kits to reduce frustration and additional costs.

How would you support the Minnesota business landscape to increase the competitiveness and growth of our economy for employers and employees alike?

Minnesota possesses a highly educated workforce, high rates of innovation, and a robust concentration of corporate headquarters. To increase Minnesota's economic competitiveness and foster growth for employers and employees , we must continue to build a robust workforce from high school by bridging the gap between education and industry, invest in high quality education, create innovative opportunities for diverse training, and direct business-to-school partnerships that prepare students for high-demand careers without necessarily requiring a traditional four-year degree.

What else should your district's voters know about you?

I am a retired public education teacher and I remember receiving a personal finance class as well as in intro to accounting in high school with lessons that remain with me today. As the Chair of Education Finance in the Senate, I championed and we passed a stand-alone personal finance course requirement. Passed during the 2023 legislative session, this law requires students to successfully complete a credit-bearing personal finance course in grade 10, 11, or 12. Just this session I successfully passed a significant bipartisan bill, SF 3593, which will appear on Minnesota voters' ballots as a constitutional amendment proposal with the goal to modernize the state's Permanent School Fund. The impact is significant as it will adjust investment restrictions to potentially boost public school distributions from the per student formula from 2% to 4.5%. This would increase funding from $74 to roughly $122 per student annually—funneling more money directly into public school classrooms without increasing taxes. It's vital that we are using the taxpayers dollars to the best use, this is one way!

Pam Wolf

Party: Republican

This candidate did not respond to our questionnaire.

Aaron Klemz

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Incumbent: No
Endorsed by party: Yes
Age: 52
Website: www.aaronklemz.com

How would you approach balancing the state budget while maintaining essential services, and what principles guide your decisions on spending versus revenue increases?

Minnesota has to pass a balanced budget, we are not allowed to deficit spend. I support progressive taxation as the primary source of revenue for the state's budget. That means that I look to tax policies that tax high income earners and wealth, as opposed to regressive taxes such as sales and property taxes, whenever possible. I support the Minnesota Health Plan and Paid Family and Medical Leave, and believe that an increased government role in health care can reduce costs for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and corporations.

How do you evaluate the cost-benefit of regulations on businesses, particularly small and midsize, and what reforms would you support to reduce unnecessary compliance burdens?

Regulations are necessary to protect health and safety, but they should be evenly applied, easy to navigate, and tailored to the industry and the risk. I understand that high compliance burdens can provide advantages to larger businesses that can afford the compliance cost more readily than a small business can, and would be attentive to this as a legislator. If a regulation is truly unnecessary, it should be repealed.

How would you support the Minnesota business landscape to increase the competitiveness and growth of our economy for employers and employees alike?

The Minnesota Health Plan (or a single-payer health insurance system) would remove one of the fastest growing costs for businesses (premium costs for insuring workers), and that's one of the reasons I support it - to make Minnesota a desirable location to locate a business. Reducing energy costs by quickly transitioning to wind, solar and storage, and ensuring that large loads (such as data centers) don't drive up costs for commercial, industrial and residential customers is another key. I'm open to conversations about regulatory burdens, and have been part of conversations around permitting and environmental review as an advocate, but I would focus on keeping energy and labor costs affordable.

What else should your district's voters know about you?

I've woven support of small businesses in my community, particularly immigrant-owned and LGBT-owned businesses, into my campaign. These small businesses were harmed by Operation Metro Surge, alongside schools and families. It's incredibly disappointing to me that efforts to provide support to these businesses failed during the 2026 legislative session, and I will continue to stand up for them if elected to the Minnesota House. Immigrant communities in Minnesota are some of the strongest contributors to entrepreneurial and small business development in our state.

Andy Macko

Party: Republican

This candidate did not respond to our questionnaire.

Amáda Márquez Simula

Party: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Incumbent: No
Endorsed by party: Yes 
Website: www.voteamada.com

How would you approach balancing the state budget while maintaining essential services, and what principles guide your decisions on spending versus revenue increases?

My core belief is that no person must ever be excluded from our society or our policies. With that in mind, my primary priorities include ensuring our communities have fully funded schools, passing the Minnesota Health Plan, and capping rent increases at 3% along with ending rent price fixing by large corporate landlords. When we invest in working people and small businesses, our communities flourish and the economy grows. Ensuring large corporations and the ultra wealthy pay their fair share of taxes will keep the budget balanced and help fund essential services.

How do you evaluate the cost-benefit of regulations on businesses, particularly small and midsize, and what reforms would you support to reduce unnecessary compliance burdens?

I evaluate regulatory cost-benefit through a simple lens: does this rule protect people, or does it just create paperwork? Those aren't always the same thing. As Mayor of Columbia Heights, I've seen firsthand how compliance burdens fall disproportionately on small businesses and the professionals who serve them. When I look at a regulation, I ask: Is the public benefit real and measurable? Is the burden proportionate? And are we creating unnecessary complexity that costs Minnesotans time and money without protecting anyone? When state tax law creates extra work and cost for businesses and their CPAs without a clear public benefit, that's a problem worth fixing. I also support extending the Pass-Through Entity Tax election — it costs Minnesota nothing and saves Minnesota taxpayers an estimated $400 million in federal taxes. More broadly, I believe in reviewing existing regulations with the same scrutiny we apply to new ones. I would support bringing in practitioners — including CPAs — to identify where rules are producing friction without producing protection.

How would you support the Minnesota business landscape to increase the competitiveness and growth of our economy for employers and employees alike?

A healthy economy works for everyone — employers, employees, and the communities they're part of. I believe supporting small and midsize businesses is economic development. When local businesses thrive, wealth stays in our communities. I'll prioritize sustainable infrastructure investment and reducing unnecessary regulatory complexity that drains time and resources without a real public benefit. At the same time, strong worker protections aren't obstacles to growth — they're conditions for it. When workers have stability, they spend locally, contribute to their communities, and create the kind of environment where businesses can plan for the future. Minnesota's competitiveness depends on both sides of that equation.

What else should your district's voters know about you?

I bring a perspective to the Legislature that is rare: I am only the second Latina mayor in Minnesota history, and I've spent my career bridging community, business, and public service. Before elected office, I ran my own small business for five years and managed a small manufacturing company for eight years. I understand payroll, tight margins, and what it actually takes to keep a business running. That experience shapes how I think about policy. I also founded HeightsNEXT, a community nonprofit, and currently serve as a transit professional at Metro Transit. I know how infrastructure, workforce, and neighborhood investment connect — because I've worked at all those intersections.

Kt Jacobs

Party: Republican
Incumbent: No
Endorsed by party: Yes
Website: www.KtForHouse.com

How would you approach balancing the state budget while maintaining essential services, and what principles guide your decisions on spending versus revenue increases?

Transparency and oversight of spending and STOPping the Fraud! Allow authority to act if fraud is a factor Make funding available when fraud is detected

How do you evaluate the cost-benefit of regulations on businesses, particularly small and midsize, and what reforms would you support to reduce unnecessary compliance burdens?

Stop overtaxing small businesses and overwhelming them with regulations - use common sense

How would you support the Minnesota business landscape to increase the competitiveness and growth of our economy for employers and employees alike?

Provide grants whenever possible and provide local/municipal awareness and support

What else should your district's voters know about you?

I am a previous highly successful restaurateur in Colorado and currently own my own business in the Substance Use field. I am a proven fighter and will work for the constituency and not personal agendas.