Letter: Schmit has qualities district needs

To the Editor:

We have known Matt Schmit since he was a boy growing up down the street, a boy with a good mind, a kind and generous spirit, a mature outlook on life, a strong work ethic, and an engaging personality.

As we have followed his growth, we are convinced that the qualities of his character that we knew to be true then have only deepened and are what motivate him today to seek public office. He brings into the political arena honesty, integrity, a heart for service, and vision for a better Minnesota for all. What more could we want?

Like many Minnesotans, we were disillusioned with the dysfunction in St. Paul that resulted in last summer’s state government shutdown. Rather than tackle state issues constructively, our elected officials borrowed over $2 billion from our public schools to “balance” the budget and eliminated important middle-class tax credits that help Minnesotans invest their money in their families and local economies.

Minnesotans deserve more than the partisanship and gridlock that is dividing us. We are the state that works, and we need our elected officials to work together and compromise. We need leaders that will buck their parties, not through their voices privately, but by their votes publicly.

We only need to look down the street for that leader — we are voting for Matt Schmit on Nov. 6.

Steve & Marilyn Nelson

Red Wing

Tags: opinion, letters