Candidates challenge mandates, talk affordability
House District 15B candidates take part in LWV forum
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NEW ULM – Affordability was a prominent topic during Thursday evening's forum for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B candidates, hosted by the League of Women Voters (LWV.)
Democratic candidate Keith Klawitter and Republican candidate Geri Theis answered questions created by the LWV and submitted by the community. District 15 Minnesota State Senate candidates Andrea Boettger and Braxton Seifert also took part in the forum at the same time.
Moderator Carolyn Dobler opened the forum by having candidates provide a brief profile of themselves.
Klawitter has lived in District 15B for 48 years. He attended Hector high school and graduated from the University of Morris with a double major in English and history. Klawitter was a teacher for 33 years in Milroy and Morgan, and has had many other jobs including bus driver, truck driver, and beet harvester.
Writing is a strength of Klawitter's and he plans to either write a regular column or post to social media to engage in conversation with the community. He is also open to town halls whenever works for the community.
"I'm not going to run and hide," Klawitter said.
He and his wife Carla have been married for 51 years. The two have four children and 11 grandchildren.
"I can work with anybody," Klawitter said. "I am willing to challenge my own party when its position does not reflect the realities of our own district."
Theis is from Redwood Falls. Her grandparents were dairy farmers and her family has been in the area for five generations. She and her husband Corey have four children and seven grandchildren, four that live in the district.
"I have children who have taken two to three jobs just to survive and that's why I decided to get involved with this," Theis said.
Theis owns a real estate company in Redwood Falls. She was treasurer of Minnesota Realtors before serving as the president of Minnesota Realtors in 2024, along with being the chair for multiple boards during her time in these positions.
Theis said that her role as president of Minnesota Realtors gave her the opportunity to meet with a range of community members and bring their voices back to the office. If elected, she would continue regular communication,
"The most important thing I can do for communication is listen," Theis said. "I have to know what is going on for you right now in your situation."
Many questions asked focused on the issues of affordability, the first asking about policies to aid housing, gas, food, and child care prices.
Klawitter said that although he has no specific policy suggestions because he has not been involved in politics before, he believes addressing homelessness and vacant housing is a step to be taken.
"There are more empty houses in the United States than there are homeless people," Klawitter said.
Theis said that housing is her area of expertise and that Minnesota has an affordability issue.
"If you cross into Wisconsin from Minnesota you will pay $40,000 less than what we are charging here because of all the regulations," Theis said.
Theis said addressing these issues begins with making sure people have jobs and businesses are able to afford giving raises.
Candidates were asked how to prevent Minnesota businesses from leaving the state for one with a lower income tax.
Theis referenced the paid family leave policy as a big issue for businesses, saying that teachers and nurses are not easily replaced, which harms the already struggling education system in Minnesota.
"We used to be proud to say we are from Minnesota," Theis said, "Now we can't say that anymore."
Klawitter disagreed with Theis, saying that he is still proud to say he is from Minnesota, but agreed that there are problems with the paid sick leave policy.
Despite these issues, Klawitter said that businesses who leave for another state with lower income taxes will want to return to Minnesota because of its high quality of life.
Another question asked about financial challenges and opportunities facing the state budget.
Klawitter said the federal government was primarily responsible for struggles, saying that the tax burden from DOGE cuts will fall on farmers. He said that priority number one is getting the money back that the federal government has taken away from Minnesota and blue states in general.
Theis pointed to state policies and fraud as causing challenges.
"We are starting out in a very bad spot, in part to paid family leave," Theis said.
She said the solution is to look into areas of funding overlap and join these areas together while acknowledging that cuts will have to be made.
Questions about challenges to farmers, specifically related to high production costs, trade, and market, were asked.
Tariffs and the war with Iran were harms that Klawitter brought up as affecting trade and market issues.
"Everything done at the national level seems to undermine what the farmers need," Klawitter said.
He said the absence of a national farm bill for the past ten years is the reason why helping at a state level is so important.
Theis agreed that there is no reason that a farm bill at the national level should not have been passed. She said that listening to what farmers need and working across the aisle are essential to assisting farmers with the issues they are facing.
When asked what policy measures could improve access to affordable health care, Theis said to remove mandates.
"We have to help by not over-mandating everything. There are nurses that are sitting in their rooms and not being with their people because they have to do so much paperwork," Theis said.
She said the government needs to get out of the health care industry and let the health care workers who know the industry take care of things.
Klawitter said that lessons should be taken from countries like Canada.
"[Our system] is definitely broken. I don't think we can fix it, unless we start all over from scratch," Klawitter said.
Another flawed system candidates were asked about was how to address domestic violence.
Klawitter said the process to get justice is too long.
"We need to punish offenders and hold them accountable," Klawitter said. "But that is hard to do in this society when people are routinely handed pardons by the white house."
Theis agreed that there need to be tougher laws. She praised nonprofits like Child's Place in Redwood Falls that help victims in the aftermath of domestic assault.
After a child makes a mention of abuse the organization brings them into a welcoming facility so the children can comfortably process and get the information to those that will be able to help the child.
Candidates also found common ground, with both supporting the constitutional amendment to increase the annual distribution from the Minnesota School Fund.
The General Election takes place Nov. 3, and early voting is underway. Information about elections can be found at https://www.vote411.org/
The full forum is available on the New Ulm Community Access Television YouTube channel.