In Twin Cities suburbs, voters' focus is on local issues

The suburban voters who could decide the presidential election and in Minnesota which party gets the majority in the Legislature have concerns that don't quite line up with national campaign strategies.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are focusing their campaigns on abortion rights and immigration, but candidates who have up-close contact with suburban voters say these key constituencies are focused on more granular issues, from water quality and public safety to the classroom and cost of groceries.

"Clean water comes up at the doors constantly," said Jen Fox, a DFLer running in House District 41B in Hastings and Cottage Grove against Republican Tom Dippel.

In the east and south metro communities hardest-hit by contamination from PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances often called forever chemicals — getting safe water and how to pay for it is one of the biggest issues for voters, both Fox and Dippel said.

Though some communities received funding from a settlement with 3M, others are left wondering how they will fund clean water as the plume of pollution spreads.

Dippel said he hears worries about how Hastings will fund water-filtration systems, as residents see their property tax bills rising already.

"We certainly need to be good stewards to the most fundamental thing to life, which is water," Dippel said, although he worries about paying for filtration.

Candidates in other close legislative races say they hear most about the cost of living and about education.

"Mostly what I hear is economic issues," said Brian Cohn, a DFLer running for the 57B seat in Lakeville. Rising grocery costs still surprise people, especially when there are big jumps in the cost of eggs.

"The dollars are getting stretched thinner and thinner," said Josh Jungling, a Republican running for District 35A in Coon Rapids and Anoka against Rep. Zack Stephenson, a DFLer who gained prominence for carrying a bill to legalize sports betting.

DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, running for re-election in Shakopee's District 54A against Aaron Paul, a Republican and Bloomington police officer, said the top issue he hears about is education — specifically, the need for smaller class sizes and better pay for teachers and paraprofessionals.

GOP candidate Alex Moe, running in the Blaine-based District 32B against DFL Rep. Matt Norris, said he also hears about class sizes. He too wants to see higher pay and more support for teachers.

Property taxes also is an issue that candidates say voters have raised, along with suburban cities feeling like they aren't getting a fair share of state funding or local government aid compared to poorer parts of the core cities and outstate Minnesota.

Less about abortion

At the national level, Democrats are eager to contrast their record on abortion rights with Republican policies. As Harris' running mate, Gov. Tim Walz has spoken about reproductive freedom, both around Minnesota's liberal abortion laws and in-vitro fertilization, and Harris' campaign has made it a key issue.

But suburban voters don't often bring up the issue, legislative candidates report.

Cohn, the Lakeville Democrat, said DFL officials he has worked with tell him their polling suggests abortion is a big issue, but he doesn't hear much about it, especially from centrist voters he's trying to persuade.

"When I talk to people in the middle, it doesn't come up," Cohn said, though he added he's not sure if the issue is unimportant or just uncomfortable.

Kari Rehrauer, a DFLer running for House District 35B in Coon Rapids and Andover, said abortion came up a lot more when she last ran for office in 2022. She thinks the issue isn't quite as live in Minnesota now because of abortion rights laws the DFL majority passed in 2023.

Voters don't often bring up abortion themselves, Tabke said, but when he talks about abortion rights, people say the issue still matters to them. "It will be a massive motivator," Tabke predicted.

Crime concerns

Public safety is another worry for suburban voters. Some, especially those contacted by conservative candidates, say they worry about crime spreading from Minneapolis, or they don't really feel safe downtown.

But most concerns about crime are more local.

Moe, the Blaine Republican, said he hears from residents worried about feeling safe at Northtown Mall, especially in the days and weeks after gunfire led to a lockdown. People want to make sure local police departments have adequate staffing, he said, even if there is not much crime in Blaine.

Lucia Wrobleski, a DFLer running against Republican Wayne Johnson for House District 41A, which includes Lake Elmo and Afton and stretches to the St. Croix River, said she also hears worries about crime — something she's particularly attuned to, she said, as a former St. Paul police officer.

"Our district is generally safe, but I do hear it at the doors," she said. People worry about property crime in the fast-growing district, and they think about gun violence too, she said, with the February killing of two police officers and a firefighter-paramedic in Burnsville still on residents' minds.

Jungling said he hears concerns from north metro residents about their safety when they visit Minneapolis and, in their own neighborhoods, property crimes such as catalytic converter thefts or thefts of purebred dogs, as was the case when a valuable French bulldog puppy was stolen from the porch of a Maplewood home.

But overall, Jungling said, local and state-level issues are of much greater concern than the national political discourse.

"You know what's out there; you're prepared to have that conversation," he said, but those national issues have not come up often, even since Walz became a vice presidential candidate. "I think people are more concerned bout their day-to-day living."