I would like to take this opportunity to write of my support of The Minnesota Daily editorial boardâÄôs endorsement of DFLer Mark Dayton in todayâÄôs gubernatorial election. My vote is very important to me and I do not believe in voting based on party or personality. I researched the candidates and hereâÄôs what IâÄôve found.
Tom Emmer has a reputation as a far-right Republican legislator. With no significant pieces of legislation under his belt, Emmer has focused instead on introducing chemical castration bills, attempting to eliminate all HIV funding and introducing a nullification bill that reads more like it belongs in John C. CalhounâÄôs pre-Civil War South Carolina than a 21st century Minnesota. At the request of some of his DWI attorney friends, Emmer âÄî who has been arrested for drunk driving twice himself âÄî introduced a bill that would have reduced and delayed penalties for DWIs. As a student who works to pay my way through school, I could never vote for a candidate who wants to lower the minimum wage for wait staff and cut higher education by hundreds of millions of dollars.
On the issues important to young people and students âÄî from jobs, to the cost of tuition, to equality for all âÄî Dayton would lead. DaytonâÄôs two opponents, Emmer and former Republican, now Independence Party candidate, Tom Horner, offer more of the same failed policies that have increased tuition at the University of Minnesota by over 130 percent over the last decade and made it harder for students to find jobs after graduation.