To the editor:

I am writing this letter to express my endorsement for Anita Gaul for Minnesota Senate. In the years I’ve worked with her, I’ve found her to be not only a reasonable and enlightened colleague but also a thoughtful and honest person.

As a quality teacher, Anita is dedicated, hardworking, and intelligent. Our offices are adjacent to one another, so I’ve often had the pleasure of stopping by for a chat, as well as observing her interactions with students who drop by her office. As instructors, we are busy, but the good ones make time for people. On the surface, this may not seem like a significant qualification for a senator — but it is an important example of why Anita is the top choice to be your senator.

Anita is accessible, she listens, and she legitimately cares. She has a reputation for being a tough instructor, yet her students visit because she takes an earnest interest in them and their futures.

That is what Southwest Minnesota needs: a senator willing to fight for and make difficult decisions in the best interest of all constituents — whether you typically vote red, blue, green, purple, or not at all — because she genuinely cares.

Because, as with her students, she is all in. She is invested in the area’s success and its future. Just like me, and many of you, Anita grew up in southwest Minnesota. And like us, she chose to build her life here — working and raising her children here — because she knows southwest Minnesota. She embodies its best qualities — integrity, neighborliness, and hard work — and is also familiar with its unique challenges. More importantly, she is tenacious, clever, and modest enough to collaborate in order to address those challenges.

Aside from the entertaining conversation, her sincerity and drive are the characteristics I appreciate most about her. During my time as the division chair, I knew I could always count on Anita to be thoughtful, timely, and objective. And so it is with great confidence that I recommend you vote for Anita. As your senator, I know she will serve you with the same vigor and integrity that she applies to teaching; it’s just who she is. Vote for a senator who is hopeful, capable, authentic, and sensible — a daughter of southwest Minnesota who does and will continue to represent the best in us.

Gillian Singler

Lakefield, Minnesota (raised in Lyon County)