This is a State Senate seat in St. Paul and West St. Paul. It is currently held by Sandy Pappas, who’s been in it since 1991. She had a serious challenger four years ago, said she wanted one final term where the DFL was in the majority, and got it. She is now retiring and two people are running in the primary:
Robyn is a labor organizer and former City Council member from West St. Paul. She’s also DFL-endorsed, which means that she’s been vetted by her community, and endorsed by a long list of City Council people from both St. Paul and West St. Paul. She seems fine.
Natasha Bennett is a substance abuse counselor and real estate agent. Her website has a long bio about growing up in St. Paul (“I don’t just know Saint Paul from a map—I know from lived experience”) and an extremely thin set of issues. (On her front page, under “ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE BROUGHT TO THE FOREFRONT FOR DISTRICT 65” she has a list of neighborhoods. On her issues page, she mentions affordability, “stopping corporate interests from pushing out local residents,” and wanting people to be heard.
Honestly my biggest hesitation about Natasha is this: she quotes Bible verses (well, one verse: “we walk by faith, not by sight”) absolutely everywhere: her Facebook shows her name as Natasha Walkingbyfaith Bennett, her campaign email is natashawalkbyfaithbennett at gmail.com, her LinkedIn has a truncated version of the quote plus the citation at the top (I think the omission of “faith” there was a typo). I have nothing against Christians, to be clear; some of my favorite politicians are, in fact, Christians. However, it does raise some questions for me, so I sent her an e-mail asking where she stands on abortion rights and trans rights, and also whether she has any past experience with policy work or governance type stuff. She has not replied. (I’ll note, there’s also nothing on her website or her campaign Facebook that addresses either of these questions.)
I would vote for Robyn!
This seems like a good year to fundraise for a trans nonprofit, so I’m fundraising this year for TIGERRS. I don’t have a Patreon, and a fundraiser lets me see in a tangible way that people value my work, which is really helpful as a motivator. (This project is a lot of work.)
I also have a new book! Obstetrix is about an obstetrician who gets kidnapped by a cult because they want someone on hand to deliver their babies; it’s a story about enduring, surviving, and not giving up. You can buy it anywhere fine books are sold, and Uncle Hugo’s, Moon Palace, and Dreamhaven all (probably) have signed copies. (I also signed copies at Next Chapter, and will be making my way to other bookstores as time allows!)
Will Tell Stories For Food 