Three Republicans battle for Senate District 5 in the Primary Election

Three candidates, including the incumbent, are battling for a spot on the Republican ticket in the Minnesota Senate District 5 race, which includes part of Becker County, a large chunk of Hubbard County and all of Wadena and Todd counties.

Contributed / Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State

Contributed / Dale A. P. Anderson

Name: Dale A.P. Anderson
Age: 51
Hometown: Pine River
Education:
Family members (name/age): Wife, 58. Three adult children all live in area.
Past offices held, if any: Mayor 
Most recent employment: Self employed. I am a pastor, farmer, and trucking company owner.

What makes you the best candidate to represent the MNGOP in the upcoming November election?

Neither of the other two candidates can say they relate to our residents. If you have not lived their life...how could you? I am a lifelong resident of our district. I grew up here. I grew up knowing what hard work was. Our family grew or hunted most of what we ate. I've spent a considerable amount of time farming or working for other farmers and working with or for other area businesses.

I've now been in the trucking business for the last 31 years, as well as farming ... supporting many of the workers in this area by hauling the fruits of their labor. Whether it was french fries from RDO/Lamb Weston, food from ConAgra, rolls of paper out of Potlach, reflective materials out of 3M, printed material from Bang Printing, to seafood out of Seafest, beef out of Long Prairie Packing ... to loads hauled into Walmart, Fleet Farm, Menards, Home Depot, Dans Prize, A-Tech, Coke, Pepsi and more... I've hauled millions of tons of products to and from our area.

I've experience the same ups and downs with the economy, the increased burden of taxation, the high costs of doing business in Minnesota, and watching year after year ... Mainstreet Minnesota disappearing.

What are the main issues you will focus on when you are elected to the Minnesota Legislature?

My top 4 priorities are:

• 1. Help for seniors. Eliminating Social Security taxes, reducing or eliminating a retiree's homestead taxes, and making healthcare affordable. This can be paid for without raising anyone's taxes. Minnesota has an abundant list of tax forfeited property that should be sold and placed on the tax roles in Minnesota. Property taxes on these parcels would be well in excess of what's needed to pay for those ideals.
• 2. Creating and keeping higher paying jobs. Increasing minimum wages does not create jobs, nor does it create higher paying jobs. It adds to inflation and the cost of living goes up for ALL Minnesotans. To do this, we need to cut corporate and business taxes, which fuels investment and business expansion. We also need to expand opportunities for trades and apprenticeship training. Some of the best paying jobs in Minnesota do not require a four-year college degree. We as a state also need to protect family farms. The increased tax burden and increased regulation and liabilities is a food security issue. They feed America. Slowly the family farms are disappearing, like main street, which puts more stress on local communities to stay alive.
• 3. Government reform. This entails a lot of work by a responsible government. It requires looking at what's working and what is not, and fixing what is not working. Throwing money at problems fixes nothing. We need a government willing to do more with less, especially in a struggling economy. It's what they ask us to do. They should live by the same standard.
• 4. Fixing the housing problem in our communities. We start by incentivizing the building of starter homes for single families, with tax breaks for developers and builders. And putting tax forfeited property to good use, not just idle for management. The State Legislature would need to work with communities and counties to identify and release these lands for sale to make opportunities available for affordable housing.

How would you describe your position on:

• Abortion?

I am prolife without exception.

• Spending the $9 billion state surplus revenue?

Much of the surplus is because our state overtaxes it citizens and businesses. It should be returned in proportion to the ones from whom it was collected. Overtaxing is not a reason to spend more money. It is proof that permanent tax cuts are necessary.

• Was the 2020 election stolen? Why do you believe that? What, if any, changes would you recommend for how elections are conducted in Minnesota?

Whether the election was or was not stolen is not the issue. The issue is how do we make elections free and fair. The solution is Voter ID and in person voting.

• What changes, if any, would you make to how local government aid is distributed to Greater Minnesota?

With an increasing aged population, the formula needs to be adjusted for communities having a disproportionate number of elderly in the community as well as population decline and current property aging. The stress of unmet, substantial needs-based funding is inadequate. The formula hasn’t been revisited since 2013 and it is not keeping up with inflation or with the rising cost of public services.

Screenshot / Bret4Senate.com

Name: Bret Bussman
Age: 60
Hometown: Young America, Minn.
Education: MBA
Family members (name/age): Wife and three children
Past offices held, if any:
Most recent employment:

What makes you the best candidate to represent the MNGOP in the upcoming November election?

I am the only true conservative in the race. SD 5 is 76% conservative.

What are the main issues you will focus on when you are elected to the Minnesota Legislature?

Voting integrity, eliminate abortion, constitutional carry and stand your ground, school choice, fiscal responsibility, eliminate state tax on Social Security and term limits.

How would you describe your position on:

• Abortion?

Pro Life from conception.

• Spending the $9 billion state surplus revenue?

Permanent tax relief for seniors and return it to the people.

• Was the 2020 election stolen? Why do you believe that? What, if any, changes would you recommend for how elections are conducted in Minnesota?

Yes, there was massive fraud in the 2020 election. There was ballot harvesting, no signature verification of mail-in ballots, stuffing drop boxes with ballots. I would have everyone re-register, voter ID would be the same as a US passport, watermarked ballots, hand counting only, shrink precincts to 500 voters, so the count can be done the same day, election day a holiday, eliminate mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, and absentee voting the same as before 2020.

• What changes, if any, would you make to how local government aid is distributed to Greater Minnesota?

It should be based on population, like it is for educating a child.

Contributed / Paul Utke

Name: Paul Utke
Age: 65
Hometown: Park Rapids
Education: College diploma
Family members (name/age): Wife Nancy, daughters Angela and Alison
Past offices held, if any:  State Senate, 2017-present; Park Rapids City Council, 2009-2016
Most recent employment: Legal videographer, commercial property landlord, insurance agent

What makes you the best candidate to represent the MNGOP in the upcoming November election?

I am a common sense conservative who treats everyone with respect. I have six years of experience in the Senate, I am the current chair of the largest committee (budget appropriations based) in the state, and I have been a very productive member of the Senate over the past six sessions. In the legislature, relationships matter. You must be able to work with others and motivate your fellow caucus members. If you are not a team player, you will fail fast. I have been able to work with a lot of different people and come together to move good legislation forward. My legislative priorities are, what is good for my district and what is good for all Minnesotans. This is a job of service, and I am a public servant to our citizens.

What are the main issues you will focus on when you are elected to the Minnesota Legislature?

First and foremost, will be the next Health and Human Services biennium budget and making it one that respects our Minnesota taxpayers. A lot of Minnesotans receive services from the Health and Human Services departments. We must figure out how to provide the services more efficiently and provide these services only to those that truly deserve them. COVID has increased the number of people receiving state services and now we must move these people back to their respective providers.

After the HHS budget, I will continue to focus on concerns for the state that did not get completed during the 2022 session. Public safety, school choice, budget surplus/tax relief, secure and fair elections, and help for our long-term care and disability care providers.

How would you describe your position on:

• Abortion?

I am pro-life. I believe in protecting life from conception until our natural death. The only acceptable reason for an abortion is when it is to save the life of the mother. Life is precious and must be protected.

• Spending the $9 billion state surplus revenue?

The $9 billion dollar surplus is the taxpayers' money and needs to be returned to them. The surplus will probably shrink due to the current economic conditions and the growing inflation we are experiencing. Any surplus that remains needs to be returned in the form of permanent tax relief. Any talk of spending it is irresponsible, as we already have a blotted budget.

• Was the 2020 election stolen? Why do you believe that? What, if any, changes would you recommend for how elections are conducted in Minnesota?

Was the election stolen? It appears to have been manipulated. That will need to be addressed in a court of law. There are a lot of unanswered questions and now we see data coming out that shows evidence of fraud. There definitely appears to be fraud in many areas across the country. This is an issue that must be tried in a court of law when the facts are collected.
Changes that are needed: Same day registrations and mail-in ballots are bad and must be eliminated. We need Voter ID, provisional ballots, voting only by in-person voting on the day of the election or absentee voting only in the courthouse.

• What changes, if any, would you make to how local government aid is distributed to Greater Minnesota?

The LGA has a very complex process that it goes through to appropriate funding to our local governments. Treating everyone the same would seem to be a simple concept. But in the case of LGA we still have winners and losers. The formula will need to be revisited again and see what can be done.