- [Greg] Next up is House District 7A, which consists of the western portion of Senate District seven, including far western St. Louis County, including Hibbing and flood wood, southeastern Itasca County and the northern part of Aitkin County.

Now, this race pits two incumbents against each other due to the redistricting.

The Republican is Representative Spencer Igo from Wabana Lake north of Grand Rapids.

- Hi, my name is Spencer Igo, and I'm running to be the next state representative for House District 7A for the citizens of Itasca, St. Louis, and Aitkin County.

The range is my home.

My life and my blessing in this life is growing up and being a part of the range and the rich history that we have.

I'm running for the state legislature to help usher in and deliver all our best days to reality.

Our issues of mining, timber, energy, and keeping our families on the range are at front of mind.

Traveling the district these past few months and learning the concerns of the people, you are writing the playbook that'll be delivered to St. Paul if you choose to elect me.

The last two years I've been serving as a state representative for House District 5B to the citizens of Itasca and Cast counties.

It has been the honor and pleasure of a lifetime.

To serve the people and bring their issues to St. Paul is something that I strive in this life to leave this place better than I found it.

My background is I went to the University of North Dakota for a degree in public administration.

My passion is to to work and deliver and to make communities stronger than ever so that we can serve one another.

In the St. Paul legislature, I've been a champion for our issues, going to the house floor multiple times to fight for mining, logging, and our way of life.

This November 8th, I'm humbly asking for your voter support to be our voice for our home.

Together we can utilize our rich history, our American dream that built this country and won world wars.

We are standing on the cusp of a new age of copper-nickel on the Iron Range that can help deliver the technology for the world of tomorrow.

We can create a space that not only retains our youth, but attracts new generations of people to live, work, and play on our range and in our Northland.

That is why I'm asking for your support.

Together we can work together with our communities, we can come together as one, and we can stand louder than we ever have before to make sure our communities are not forgotten and are represented in St. Paul.

This November 8th is gonna be an important election that determines whether or not we are gonna stand strong once and for all to represent what matters.

That is why I'm asking for your support.

Again, we can deliver a hand up to Minnesota families, especially here on the Iron Range.

Permanent tax cuts, lifting people up, permitting reform for our mines, and we can find ways to again unleash our economic potential here in Minnesota.

Together, that is why I'm asking for your vote, so thank you so much.

Please never hesitate to reach out.

All of my contact information can be found on my website and on my Facebook, and I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you on the doors and earning your voter support this November 8th, thank you.

- [Greg] Representative Julie Sandstede, a Democrat from Hibbing, is the other incumbent in the new district.

- I'm state representative Julie Sandstede, and it's been my honor to serve the community of district 6A for the past 6 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

I'm from Hibbing, and Hibbing is where my husband Evan and I are raising our three children and our granddaughter.

I'm a public school teacher of 29 years.

I'm the city band director, the choir director for my church, a volunteer firefighter, and a union leader.

I know the challenges that you face because I face them too.

That's why I work tirelessly on your behalf.

In my role in St Paul, I focus on results and working across the aisle.

I put people before politics and I'm not afraid to stand up to my party when it's the right thing to do.

This common sense collaborative approach that I take has helped me to deliver the results for you.

These include things like the largest broadband investment in state history, service bonuses for our post-9/11 vets and gold star families, saving jobs from preventing the closure of MCF Togo and Willow River, funding millions of dollars for bonding investments, the Highway 1-69 cross range expressway.

I've provided funding for that as well as safety improvements, and I even passed a bill for 911 CPR training, which is so critical in rural districts.

I've also been able to provide funding to help our Main Street businesses, which are so critical to our communities, recover from the COVID Pandemic.

You can always count on me to defend northeastern Minnesota's way of life, and this includes mining and forestry, hunting and fishing, outdoor recreation, protecting our lands and waters, but it also includes supporting labor and protecting jobs.

I support fair treatment and wages for our workers, and I look to attract new economic opportunities to our district.

With redistricting, my new district comes with many, many needs, and they're very pressing.

These include childcare, affordable housing, education, jobs and economic opportunities, access to mental health and addiction treatment, and we need a legacy mine water account on the Iron Range.

These are the things that I promise to keep in mind as we tackle the next budget in the upcoming session, and I promise that I will continue to work to get our region the investments that it needs and deserves.

With a potential surplus, we need to ensure we make wise decisions and we do the most good that we can.

My goal for the upcoming session is to eliminate taxes on social security, to invest in our critical infrastructure needs: roads, bridges, clean water, et cetera.

We need to fund our schools and we need, again, to establish a legacy mine water account.

In closing, I want you to know I don't play political games and I won't back away from hard work or tough votes.

Governing is about progress, not about perfection.

I'm Julie Sandstede and I would appreciate your support in the upcoming election so our communities can continue to work together for the common sense solutions we need.

- [Greg] We'll move on now to House District 7B,