by Dennis Dalman
Two candidates, both of them residents of Sartell, are competing for the House District 13B seat in the Minnesota Legislature. They are incumbent Rep. Tim O’Driscoll and challenger Melissa Bromenschenkel. The following are profiles of those two candidates.
Bromenschenkel
Melissa Bromenschenkel (DFL-Sartell) is challenging incumbent Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R-Sartell) for the State House seat for District 13B.
Raised in St. Cloud, Bromenschenkel graduated from Apollo High School and attended St. Cloud State University. While caring for her grandparents, she worked various jobs and plans to start a bakery business. She is helping her husband develop a video-game business.
She earned degrees in English and creative writing, as well as a master’s degree in business.
Her priorities, as listed on the “On Your Ballot” website, are the following:
“I’m working toward equity in education, increased teacher wages, increased services for veterans in Minnesota, equality for people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community,” she stated on her campaign website. “I’m for legal protections for body autonomy, taking care of our environment and making sure everyone has access to safe, affordable healthcare.”
Elections
Bromenschenkel said Minnesota requires voters to register again if they haven’t voted in the previous four years. That should be changed to eight years as long as their addresses haven’t changed. That, she said, is one way to reduce barriers to voting. Another would be to expand the mail-in ballot option, which would allow people without transportation access or those with disabilities to vote instead of becoming disenfranchised.
Abortion
“While I wouldn’t make the choice to have an abortion myself, I have no right to make that choice for anyone else,” she stated. “Women should have the right to make choices about their own bodies and have privacy and confidentiality with their doctors about those decisions.”
Gun safety
Bromenschenkel stated she is in favor of passing legislation to require a pre-purchase waiting period, mandatory mental-health screenings and thorough background checks.
“Gun safety, storage and cleaning should all be a part of the process in obtaining a firearm,” she added. “The applicant should also have to demonstrate understanding of what they have learned. The military and law enforcement use mental health screenings to determine whether a person is stable enough to join their ranks & carry a weapon. The public should undergo the same rigorous process.
Public schools
She favors more funding, including more for special education, as well as more funds for raises for teachers and para-professionals, more equity programs and policies to combat bullying.
Racial, ethnic disparities
She supports more funding for law enforcement to train in race relationships, harsher penalties for racial-hate crimes and stronger enforcement of non-discriminatory business practices (housing, employment, schools).
Inflation
“Inflation,” Bromenschenkel said, “comes from the basic economic principle of supply and demand. Due to the pandemic, suppliers have not been able to keep up with increased demand. As the demand outpaces the supply, prices increase. Minnesota had a nearly $9-billion budget surplus. While that money will go toward a number of beneficial projects, a small income tax break for lower-income families would put more money into the hands of Minnesotans, which would give an influx of cash to a floundering economy.”
O’Driscoll
Incumbent State House Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R-Sartell) of District 13B was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2011. Since then, he was re-elected five more consecutive times to that position.
He is a corporate trainer for Kaplan Professional Schools and a former real-estate agent.
Raised in Sartell, O’Driscoll graduated from Sartell High School and St. Cloud State University with a degree in business education, office administration and real-estate planning and development.
He served on the Sartell City Council from 1993-1995 and again from 2002-2006 and as the city’s mayor from 2007-2011. During that time he served on many boards and committees. He was a founding member of the annual Sartell SummerFest celebration.
As a state legislator, O’Driscoll served on many committees, during his current term on the Commerce Finance and Policy Redistricting Committee and as ranking member of the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee.
Other committees he served on include Government Operations and Elections Policy (chairman), Rules and Legislative Administration, Capital Investment and State Government Finance and Veterans Affairs Division. O’Driscoll has been honored throughout the years for advancing the rights and well-being of military veterans.
He has authored many bills and co-authored or signed on to many more.
Among O’Driscoll’s legislative priorities are the following:
Cutting waste, fraud and abuse within state government and eliminating any program that isn’t effective use of tax dollars.
Protect families from unnecessary tax-increase proposals and find ways people can keep more of their money, including targeted tax relief to small-business job creators.
Prioritize law enforcement to protect those who protect others and oppose any radical proposals to defund or dismantle police departments.
Continued support for nursing homes to ensure aging loved ones receive the quality care they need and deserve.
Ensure transportation funding continues to be sent to central Minnesota so road-and-bridge infrastructure can be advanced.
Finding ways to give Minnesotans in need their money back. Get rid of the Social Security tax on people to boost the incomes on lower and middle-income people on fixed incomes.
There is no need for more gun laws. Rather, support police departments and make sure laws on the books are enforced to help diminish crime and gun violence.
Describing himself as pro-life, he said abortion issues should be decided by the states.
The state should provide more local aid to education for cities in central Minnesota and other rural areas of the state. Students should be learning based on norms and values of a particular district, not on what St. Paul dictates.
Melissa Bromenschenkel
Tim O’Driscoll
