2026 MILLE LACS BAND OF OJIBWE VOTERS GUIDE: IN THEIR OWN WORDS
October 4, 2026
Candidates respond to three questions from MLBO Government Affairs
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
As part of this Voters Guide, the Mille Lacs Band Government Affairs Department invited all candidates in the races covered by this guide to answer the same three questions about issues important to Band members and Tribal communities.
Each candidate received the same questions, instructions and opportunity to respond. In the interest of fairness and transparency, all responses received by the deadline are published in this guide as submitted by the candidates, with only minor formatting changes if necessary for publication. The Mille Lacs Band does not edit responses for content or endorse the views expressed by individual candidates.
Candidates who did not respond are identified accordingly.
The purpose of this section is not to tell Band members how to vote, but to give voters an opportunity to hear directly from candidates about their priorities, their understanding of issues affecting Native people and Tribal Nations, and their views on Tribal sovereignty.
We encourage voters to read the responses, learn more about all of the candidates on their ballot and make their own informed decisions based on the issues and values that matter most to them.
Government Affairs invited candidates to respond to three questions about their priorities, their approach to representing diverse communities, and their understanding of Tribal sovereignty.
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term?
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities?
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you?
The requests were made to the following candidates:
Minnesota Governor: Amy Klobuchar, DFL; Lisa Demuth, Rep.; Steven Young, Green.
US Senator: Peggy Flanagan, DFL; Michele Tafoya, Rep.; Marisa Simonetti, Independent; Rebecca Whiting, Libertarian.
US Representative District 8: Trina Swanson, DFL; Pete Stauber, Rep.
State Senator District 11: Mary Carlson, DFL; Jason Rarick, Rep.; Monique Doward, Forward Independence.
State Representative District 11B: Jack L'Heureux, DFL; Nathan Nelson, Rep.
State Senator District 10: Tara Killen, DFL; Nathan Wesenberg, Rep.
State Senator District 10A: Melissa Maertens, DFL; Mark Striemer, Rep.
Secretary of State: Steve Simon, DFL; Tad Jude, Rep.; George Tangen, Libertarian; Seth Kuhl-Stennes, Green.
State Auditor: Lack Filipovich, DFL; Scott Jensen, Rep; Jay Reeves, Forward Independence.
Attorney General: Keith Ellison, DFL; Ronald schutz, Rep.
CANDIDATE Q & A
Following are the responses from each candidate who responded. Content was not edited for content.
Jack L'Heureux
Minnesota House District 11B
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term? My top three policy priorities are addressing the health care crisis, easing affordability pressures, and protecting our environment and water quality. I will expand access to quality, affordable health care in rural areas and expand revenue sources for hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. I will develop policies to make health insurance more affordable and reduce prescription drug costs through state negotiations with pharmaceutical companies. I will work on developing markets for locally grown produce and meat to ensure cost-effective food for the rural market. I will also protect our clean air, water, and wild rice habitat through practical, locally driven solutions.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? | would build respectful, government-to-government partnerships with Tribal Nations through early, meaningful consultation and ongoing collaboration. I will listen to Mille Lacs Band communities, honor and support their treaty rights, and support Tribal sovereignty. I will work with the Band to ensure equitable access to health care, education, infrastructure, and economic opportunities. Effective solutions must be community-driven, culturally responsive, and shaped by those most affected.
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Tribal sovereignty means recognizing Tribal Nations as distinct, self-governing entities with the inherent authority to make decisions for their communities. It requires honoring treaties, respecting Tribal jurisdiction, and engaging in genuine government-to-government consultation before decisions are made. To me, sovereignty also means supporting the Mille Lacs Band's right to protect its culture, natural resources, and economic future. State leaders must listen, be educated on the culture and issues, collaborate in good faith, and uphold their legal and moral obligations to the Tribal Nations.
Mary Carlson
Minnesota Senate District 11
DFL Endorsed
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term?
Property Tax Relief - We need to find new and creative funding streams at the state level in order to close the funding gaps and reduce the property tax burden facing property owners. Data Center Moratorium - Minnesota needs a pause on data center development so we can work to protect our water and land. I also support these companies paying their fair share in taxes.
Reworking Public Education Funding - The way Minnesota currently funds public and tribal schools is broken. We need to fix the funding formula while also better serving Minnesota students.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? As a school board member, I have leaned into supporting our American Indian Cultural Liaison by writing policies that lift up our Indigenous students. The best example is the smudging policy that as chair of the policy committee, I brought forward. Just in the three weeks, that policy protected our students' rights to smudge in the school.
I will continue this work as your State Senator. I want to work alongside the Tribal Nations to write legislation that protects your sovereign rights, expands support to tribal schools and supports local economic development.
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Prior to becoming a school board member, I knew essentially nothing about Tribal sovereignty, which demonstrates how badly we need to reform public education curriculum. I'm incredibly grateful to the folks that have taken time to educate me on the local tribes, their heritage and sovereignty.
Tribal sovereignty means that each tribe has the right to govern themselves. This inherent right must be defended and upheld. As your senator, I promise to work with tribal leadership as equals. I promise to listen and to continue to learn about how I can better support our tribes.
Zack Filipovich
For Minnesota State Auditor
DFL and Labor Endorsed
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term? I am the only accountant in the race and focused on protecting the dollars funding schools, public safety, infrastructure, and community services in Minnesota to make sure they are reported responsibly. Priorities:
-Protecting funding through strong oversight, internal controls, and guidance to prevent fraud at the local level.
- Ensuring local governments from rural townships to big cities have the data, training, and resources they need to make the best decisions for their own communities.
- Increasing transparency at every step through a commitment to public engagement with open houses and forums across the state.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? Policies are only effective when the people most impacted are involved in creating them. Ensuring equal consideration for historically underserved communities starts with listening sessions that are accessible, with outreach to bring people into the decision-making process. This office works with school districts, counties, and cities. All of these can significantly impact the lives of our most vulnerable people. I am committed to holding these transparency meetings in the first year including in greater MN and in partnership with Tribal Nations. I will work closely with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC), especially when proposed projects intersect with Tribal projects.
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Sovereignty and treaty rights come before our constitution and need to be upheld legally alongside education to the public. I believe that the Auditor's office can be a voice to advocate for this education and support alongside our Attorney general. The Auditor's office does not audit our sovereign Tribal nations, but does work closely with partners as well as representing interests on the Executive Council and other boards.
Seth Kuhl-Stennes
Candidate for MN Secretary of State
Green Party
(612) 293-6119
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term? My top 3 policy priorities (in no particular order) as Secretary of State would be: 1) Adopt the election of MN House members by Proportional Representation and statewide offices by Ranked Choice Voting for a more diverse democracy that honors the will of MN voters. 2) Divest from genocide, weapons manufacturers, nuclear power and fossil fuels, animal harm, and any such companies that profit from those actions for principled state investments. 3) Grow democratically-controlled businesses and recognize worker-friendly employers for a healthy business and worker environment.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? I am running for all Minnesotan residents, especially the underserved and underrepresented, not any corporate or special interests. I am the Green Party candidate in the race and will connect our values to the work of the Secretary of State's Office to bring about a more diverse and stronger democracy and economy in MN. In that context, that means more Indigenous representation in our state government and Indigenous-run businesses throughout the state. Native people must be allowed to have a stronger voice in the halls of power and greater opportunities for self-determination.
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Tribal sovereignty to me means that the 11 Tribal Nations that share geography with MN (and all Tribal nations) are able to fully exercise self-governance and self-determination of their communities. These Tribal Nations have the right to rule over themselves, their people, and their lands - free of control from state and federal government and exploitation by enterprises outside their communities.
Marissa Simon
marisa4minnesota@marisasimonetti.com
Green party
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term? The first priority is reinforcing the permanent, undiminished boundaries of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation by aligning all local and county law enforcement frameworks with federal court precedents. The second is driving generational prosperity and community infrastructure, mirroring initiatives like the "Year of the Child" to expand early education and update K-12 learning facilities across all three geographic districts. The third is protecting fiscal self-governance and operational integrity, ensuring that revenue from tribal assets remains tightly managed under clear statutes to directly benefit enrolled Band members.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? The plan focuses on establishing explicit, mandatory tribal consultation protocols that prevent state or federal agencies from operating within tribal lands without direct coordination with the Chief Executive and Band Assembly. This means actively defending the Band's right to manage its own resources, including fisheries, air and water quality monitoring, and wild rice beds-free from outside jurisdictional interference. True equity is achieved by treating the Band as a sophisticated, peer government with absolute authority over its internal services and membership systems
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Sovereignty is the absolute, inherent, and non-removable right to self-government as established by the Band's ancestors and protected under the supreme law of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. It is visually and legally demonstrated when the Mille Lacs Tribal Police exercise full, uninterrupted jurisdiction to protect their communities within reservation borders without county-level obstruction. It means that the Mille Lacs Band is an independent nation that creates its own.
Monique Doward
Independent Candidate for Minnesota Senate, District 11
(218) 940-6379
https://www.dowardforsenate.com/
1. What are your top three policy priorities for the upcoming term? My first priority is affordability: lowering household burdens through accessible healthcare, affordable housing, and utility-rate protections. Second, I will support rural schools and workers through reliable classroom funding, fair wages for educators and paraprofessionals, and pathways to lasting jobs. Third, I support a five-year pause on new large-scale data-center approvals while independent studies assess water use, electricity costs, environmental impacts, and employment. These priorities reflect my commitment to people over party and decisions grounded in evidence, public accountability, and community voices.
2. How do you plan to address the needs of Tribal Nations, Native people, and other historically underserved communities? My work in social services with Fond du Lac taught me the importance of listening, dependable follow-through, and services that respect culture and individual needs. I will seek early, meaningful government-to-government consultation with Tribal Nations and support community-led solutions. My priorities include accessible healthcare, stable housing, disability services, transportation, and broadband. I will advocate for funding that reaches rural and underserved communities, reduce unnecessary barriers to assistance, and support measurable accountability. Tribal governments and affected residents should help shape policies from the beginning, with their input reflected in decisions.
3. What does Tribal sovereignty mean to you? Tribal sovereignty means recognizing Tribal Nations as governments with inherent authority to govern themselves, protect their citizens, and sustain their cultures. It requires respecting treaty rights, self-determination, and the government-to-government relationship. To me, consultation must begin before decisions are made and meaningfully influence the outcome. As a senator, I would respect each Nation's distinct priorities and work to uphold Minnesota’s responsibilities, particularly when legislation affects Tribal lands, waters, wild rice, healthcare, and economic development. Sovereignty is an obligation to respect in practice, not simply acknowledge in words.