All Hands Event: How Gerrymandering is Shaping 2022
Join Tech for Campaigns for our All Hands event, where we'll be digging into how gerrymandering is shaping 2022. We'll host David Daley, author of Unrigged: How Americans Battled Back to Save Democracy, as well as several Minnesota State Senate Candidates. We'll discuss expectations for this year's state legislative elections across the country and our guests will take questions from current and past volunteers.
Our Minnesota Senate Panel:
Senator Aric Putnam, SD14
The son of a Vietnam veteran, Aric Putnam was born at Andrews Air Force Base. He earned a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University, a Master’s degree from the University of Maine, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. He has been a teacher for more than 25 years, working with students from second grade to graduate school. Since 2003, he's been researching and teaching college students about the history of social movements, U.S. Democracy, and the skills of citizenship at Saint John’s University and the College of St. Benedict.
Aric was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2020, by a margin of just 316 votes.
Heather Gustafson, SD36
A lifelong Minnesotan with deep community ties, Heather's first career was in broadcasting, where she worked at Twin Cities' station K102. Ten years ago, she went back to school to get her teaching license and then a Master's in Education, and landed her dream job as a history teacher. She's an active volunteer and community organizer with a passion for down-ballot races.
Heather is poised to flip one of the most competitive districts in the Twin Cities suburbs to unseat one of Minnesota's most prominent right-wing extremists.
Alan Roy, SD2
An enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, Alan was raised on the Reservation. Alan Roy joined the Army and was commissioned as an Officer in 2007 and continues to serve in the US Army Reserve. He currently represents White Earth Nation as the Secretary/Treasurer in Minnesota. A graduate of the University of Minnesota with an MPA from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Roy is the recipient of numerous academic and leadership awards, including the prestigious Mary A. McEvoy Public Engagement and Leadership Award.
After this year's redistricting process (and for the first time in 100 years), all three of Minnesota's Anishinaabe tribes are encompassed within the borders of one Senate district, giving Alan a historic chance to flip this seat and become only the second Native Senator in Minnesota's history.