Voter's guide for St. Cloud-area state seats

ST. CLOUD — Several St. Cloud-area state races will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, with candidates including both incumbents and newcomers.

In the State Senate 14 race, five-term State Rep. Tama Theis will take on incumbent Aric Putnam, who was first elected in 2020. In that race, Putnam beat popular Sen. Jerry Relph, who later died from COVID-19.

With Theis running for a Senate seat, there's no incumbent in the House 14A race. Republican Bernie Perryman will take on Democrat Tami Calhoun, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat against Theis two years ago.

Democrat Dan Wolgamott is running for his third term in the House 14B seat. He was first elected in 2018 after incumbent Jim Knoblach ended his re-election bid following allegations by his daughter. Wolgamott won again in 2020 against Paul Brandmire, a member of St. Cloud City Council. In this election, Wolgamott is up against Republican Aaron Henning, co-owner of the well-known local hamburger joint, Val's Rapid Serv.

The Star Tribune asked each candidate questions in advance of the election to help voters decide. Answers may have been slightly edited for length and clarity. Candidates are listed alphabetically.

Senate District 14

Includes St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Augusta, and parts of Sauk Rapids and St. Joseph

Aric Putnam (incumbent), DFL

Age: 50

City of residence: St. Cloud

Educational background: Ph.D., University of Minnesota

Occupation: Professor at College of St. Benedict/St. John's University

Family: Wife Laurie and two children

Experience: First elected to Senate District 14 in 2020. Also serves or has served on the following nonprofit boards: Promise Neighborhood of Central Minnesota, LION Community Engagement, Local Education Activities Fund, Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, The Beautiful Mind Project, St. Cloud Education Rights Advocacy Council.

Why are you running? The only reason anyone should run for office is that they believe they can do good for their neighbors. That's why I do it. Our community is not really rural nor is it a city. We aren't Greater Minnesota or the Twin cities. Being in the middle like this, we can get left behind at the State Capitol. And we have been. We need a senator who understands our character and can provide strong, independent leadership. That's why I am running. That's why I serve.

What are the top two or three issues facing your district? The top issue in my community is public safety, but I think we need to think about safety more comprehensively. We definitely have rising crime in specific neighborhoods that we need to address intentionally and immediately, but we also struggle with affordable housing and pathways to careers. You will never have a safe community when people can't afford a place to live and don't have hope that working hard will allow their life to improve.

What are the top two or three issues facing the state as a whole? In addition to the local issues already mentioned, the state struggles with infrastructure, broadly construed. We need to attend to our material infrastructure, like transportation, broadband and water treatment/sewer facilities, but we also need to intervene in our social infrastructure, health care, child care and mental health, for example. These issues are interrelated. We need good roads to get to work, but we also need to make sure our children have a safe space to be before we leave the house.

What are your plans to address those issues? Locally, we need to provide incentives to recruit and retain law enforcement officers, as I did in the past session. We also need to develop flexible strategies to deal with our lack of affordable housing. The housing problem is not a simple issue of supply, however. We need to deal with acute and chronic problems in housing, make sure landlords are taking care of their properties, develop safe transitional housing for the unhoused, and support first-time home buyers. As to the state-level issues I identified, I have been working to leverage federal resources for our material infrastructure and develop public/private collaborations to build our ability to care for our children and mental health. I've done a lot, and I will continue to. There's so much we can do when we have leaders who actually show up and get to work.

Tama Theis, Republican

Age: 62

City of residence: St. Cloud

Educational background: A.A.S., St. Cloud Technical College

Occupation: Business owner

Family: Husband Greg and two children

Experience: First elected to Minnesota House 14A seat in 2013. Served as chair of the Chamber Connection from 2002-03, president of the Central Minnesota Builders Association in 2007 and president of Birthline from 2012-13. Also serves on the following nonprofit boards: Good Shepherd Lutheran Foundation, Quiet Oaks Hospice House and Central Minnesota Mental Health Center.

Why are you running? I have been serving House District 14A for five terms and I felt that I would be a better fit serving as a senator for District 14. Being involved in this area, raising two sons and having businesses in this area has helped create many relationships and those partnerships continue to shape how I serve. I have worked with many folks on many issues in making sure we pass good legislation that helps my constituents. The senator and two representatives should work as a team, not individually.

What are the top two or three issues facing your district? The economy and gas prices, taxes on social security and education, both K-12 and higher education. Many of the retired folks or those who are close to retirement, including me, are seeing significant adjustments to their budgets in the past year of so. Finding affordable housing is a big problem and we need to stop sugarcoating what is going on and make real steps to make sure we don't lose more folks to states with kinder taxes and those that don't tax social security.

What are the top two or three issues facing the state as a whole? I would say the same three that face my district: We are losing folks to other states and we are turning a blind eye to what those problems are that are contributing to it. We need to get back to education that encourages our young folks into the areas that need so many folks to continue as we had been. Businesses are closing or cutting hours of operation because they cannot find good staff. Our job participation rate is down from pre-COVID times. We need to empower folks to participate and offer our help to make sure that happens again.

What are your plans to address those issues? I plan to continue working on housing issues and finding ways to work together, not against each other. We need partnerships — having that feeling of satisfaction of knowing we are working together in good, solid solutions. I have worked for most of my years on taking care of our aging and vulnerable populations. We need to pay these important folks well enough that they don't leave to work in fast food restaurants. The same is true for our child care providers. I will continue to support our law enforcement folks, firefighters, EMTs and all those who work to keep us safe. The St. Cloud area has been a leader in how we do that and I will continue to work to keep those partnerships in place.

House District 14A

The southwest side of St. Cloud, south of Minnesota Highway 23 and west of the Mississippi River, as well as St. Augusta, Waite Park and St. Joseph

Tami Calhoun, DFL

Age: 64

City of residence: St. Cloud

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, Minnesota State University Moorhead; master's degree, St. Cloud State University

Occupation: Retired teacher

Family: Husband Daniel and four children

Experience: Serves or has served on following boards or organizations: First Presbyterian Church, Friends of Presbyterian Education Board, St. Cloud Educational Rights Advocacy Council, ISAIAH.

Why are you running? To build community. For 34 years, I taught in the public school district, caring for our community's children and families. After retirement, I did work with the nonprofit ISAIAH on transportation, public safety, education and housing. I am invested in the community and want to continue to see it prosper.

What are the top two or three issues facing your district? Our district is short more than $12M yearly in funding due to the special education cross-subsidy, which is an underfunding of special education services that requires the district to dip into its general fund to cover it. Public safety: With a shortage of labor in our police and sheriff's department, we are seeing an increase in crime.

What are the top two or three issues facing the state as a whole? Labor shortages in healthcare, education, public safety (police and fire); supply chain shortages. Hiring and recruitment in public safety is another priority.

What are your plans to address those issues? Job training, hiring incentives and retention programs in health care, education and public safety are ways to reduce our labor shortages. Increasing people in the labor force will reduce labor and supply shortages, which will then reduce inflation. We need to increase our supply. We need to bring people into Minnesota to add to our workforce.

Republican candidate Bernie Perryman declined to answer the questionnaire.

House District 14B

The north and east sides of St. Cloud, plus parts of rural Benton and Sherburne counties

Aaron Henning, Republican

Age: 29

City of residence: St. Cloud

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, St. Cloud State University

Occupation: Co-owner of Val's Rapid Serv

Family: Fiancé Elizabeth

Experience: Serves as a member of the St. Cloud Rotary Club, St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce and East Side Boosters.

Why are you running? Val's has been in business for 63 years. The close relationships we've developed with our customers have instilled in me a sense of needing to give back. I'm also running because I'm tired of feeling cheated. We feel ripped off when we go to the grocery store or the gas pump, and I feel short-changed when it comes to our representation in St. Paul. We need representatives that are members of the community, representatives who live and work in the districts they represent, and representatives that you can meet, talk to and hold accountable. I am that candidate.

What are the top two or three issues facing your district? Public safety is the No. 1 priority in the district. There's been an escalation of shootings, thefts and assaults. People express concerns about what goes on in their neighborhoods at night. They are worried for the future of their children and talk about leaving St. Cloud if things don't improve. Rising costs affect all members of the community. Gas prices are still too high. And spending $100 at the grocery store is not hard to do. I don't want to keep seeing families struggle to make ends meet. Also, the upcoming Highway 10/23 interchange project has major economic implications for St. Cloud. The project will impact businesses and daily travel. We need leadership that can respond to the impacts and ensure equitable outcomes for those impacted.

What are the top two or three issues facing the state as a whole? High crime is a statewide issue. Continued calls to defund police have resulted in too few officers and emboldened criminals. We see brazen acts of violence met with "catch and release" policies. Police resources are strained by repeat offenders and calls to act as case workers rather than law enforcement. The cost of living continues to rise. Soaring energy prices are going to make worse the strain felt by families who already choose between paying bills or buying groceries. We need action now to help Minnesota families. Education across the state has struggled to keep pace. We need to keep politics out of the classroom and focus on reading, writing and math. Our children have fallen behind and we need new leadership to get us back on track.

What are your plans to address those issues? We need to secure funding for police. We need to ensure we compensate and appreciate the sacrifices they make in the line of duty. We need to increase accessibility of mental health resources to help elevate the strain on law enforcement. We need to hold criminals accountable and keep those who are a danger to themselves or others off the streets. Addressing rising costs includes reducing taxes while fully funding roads and bridges. With billions of dollars in tax surplus, we need to give Minnesotans a break. Reducing the gas tax will help lower the costs of goods and freight. Eliminating the social security tax will help people on fixed incomes maintain their quality of life. And eliminating the provider tax will help bring down health insurance costs.

Dan Wolgamott (incumbent), DFL

Age: Will turn 32 before Nov. 8

City of residence: St. Cloud

Educational background: Bachelor's degree, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University

Occupation: High school football coach, former real estate agent

Family: Two daughters

Experience: First elected to Minnesota House in 2018. Serves as the assistant majority leader and speaker pro tempore in the Minnesota House, as vice chair of the subcommittee on legislative process reform and as a member of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission.

Why are you running? I'm running for re-election to continue working with lawmakers from both parties to get things done for St. Cloud. I've delivered support for police officers and frontline workers, tax breaks for middle class families, investments in students and resources for small businesses. I'm running to build off of those successes and continue utilizing my position as assistant majority leader to achieve results for our community.

What are the top two or three issues facing your district? Public safety, struggling seniors and mental health care for students. Minnesota is one of only a dozen states in the country to tax social security and it's not fair for our retirees on fixed incomes. We also need to support seniors who are struggling to stay in their homes in the midst of property tax hikes. Also, Minnesota ranks nearly last in the country for our student-to-counselor ratio. As a father of two daughters and a high school football coach, I've seen how difficult the past few years have been for our students.

What are the top two or three issues facing the state as a whole? Reproductive rights, transportation and infrastructure, and workers' rights. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a gutting reversal of a decades-long precedent that millions of Americans rely on. Although abortion rights are constitutionally protected in Minnesota, a GOP-controlled legislature will do everything they can to reverse that. I will oppose GOP efforts to ban abortion with no exceptions because I believe we should all have the freedom to make our own health care decisions. Minnesota has an incredible legacy of supporting union workers, and we need to continue that. We should make sure that workers have fair wages, safe working conditions, and are heard at the Legislature.

What are your plans to address those issues? I am endorsed by the Minnesota Peace and Police Officers Association because of my strong record of working across party lines to improve public safety in our community. We need to increase funding for law enforcement, get more police officers on the streets and protect the physical and mental health of first responders. Two solutions to help seniors include increasing the amount they receive on property tax returns and decreasing their property taxes through local government aid. We also need to stand up to big pharma and lower prices on prescription drugs. For students, we need to hire more mental health providers, social workers, school counselors and school nurses. For infrastructure, I support the passage of a robust bonding bill, which will create jobs now and invest in local projects that will benefit communities for decades to come.