State Rep. Peggy Bennett to hold press conference announcing candidacy for Minnesota Governor

State Representative Peggy Bennett, R-Albert Lea, will hold a press conference on Monday, January 5 at the Abert Lea High School to announce her candidacy for Minnesota Governor.  She will be announcing her future status as state representative at this time as well.

 

Bennett, a former teacher of 33 years and six-term state representative, serves the majority of Freeborn County, along with parts of Faribault, Waseca, and Steele counties. She has served on several House committees including Veterans and Military, Education Finance, and Education Policy where she currently serves as co-chair.

 

When asked why she’s entering the governor’s race, Bennett says that she’s dismayed that the issues that were a problem when she entered office almost 12 years ago are the same issues being talked about today – funding nursing homes, education decline, crumbling roads, expensive health care, and more.

 

“We’re not getting anything done,” Bennett said. “We just keep fighting constantly about the same things. We’re so far apart that we don’t even remember the things we could do together. My goodness, my heart breaks for our urban core children who have been stuck in schools that are clearly not working for them - for over fifty years!  It’s criminal!”

 

Bennett acknowledges that some will question why she would enter a race with a dozen Republican candidates already announced. “This was not a last-minute decision,” Bennett stated. “I have been planning this for months. I am entering this race because I believe I’m different and will be an effective leader to get things done for this state.”

 

“First, I have always put people before politics. I refuse to take part in name-calling, and I can't stand political spin and game playing. I don’t shy away from calling out wrongdoing when I see it, and I will always strongly confront bad or harmful policy for what it is. But name calling and game playing only shut down conversation – and we badly need conversation to get things done.”

 

“Second,” said Bennett, “I’m different because I don’t want just basic promises – I am running on solutions. We can call out the bad problems in this state - like fraud, crime, etc. – and we should. However, we must move on to talk about solutions, or we will get nowhere.”

 

Bennet says that this is why she has laid out her campaign website with her very specific plans on how to address the problems we see in our state – her first action plan as governor.

 

Representative Bennett won her first election in 2015 with 53% of the vote, but quickly rose to well over 60% support in subsequent elections. She credits this to exactly what her constituents tell her, whether Republican, Independent, or leaning Democrat: “We don’t always agree with every bill or policy you support, but we trust you to do the right thing.”

 

“I have over 750 former first grade students who I count as my “kids,” said Bennett. “I stay in touch with many of them. I will not give up for their sake, or for the sake of all those young people like them. We must get to fixing this state!”