Brandon Lawhead
Brandon Lawhead (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 23. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Lawhead completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Brandon Lawhead earned a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from St. Olaf College in 1993. He was inducted into the St. Olaf College historical honor society. Lawhead earned a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota State Senate District 23
Incumbent Gene Dornink defeated Brandon Lawhead in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 23 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gene Dornink (R) | 60.7 | 20,273 |
 | Brandon Lawhead (D)  | 39.1 | 13,051 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 67 | ||
| Total votes: 33,391 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 23
Brandon Lawhead advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 23 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brandon Lawhead | 100.0 | 5,882 |
| Total votes: 5,882 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 23
Incumbent Gene Dornink defeated Lisa Hanson in the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 23 on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gene Dornink | 71.5 | 5,874 |
 | Lisa Hanson | 28.5 | 2,342 | |
| Total votes: 8,216 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brandon Lawhead completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lawhead's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Brandon was born and raised in Austin Minnesota, and graduated from Austin High School. A graduate of St. Olaf College and William Mitchell College of Law, Lawhead paid his own way through college (including student loans), and worked as a professional violinist, performing with The Who, Moody Blues, Amy Grant, Sandi Patty; Richard Marx; Melissa Manchester; James Ingram; and many others.
Brandon styles himself “A Kennedy Democrat”, who is giving a voice to “the middle”, while bridging the Democrat and Republican parties.
In short, Brandon’s a Capitalist - a fiscal conservative, a social liberal, and desirous of creating a dynamic economy that rewards hard work, innovation, and provides small business an opportunity to compete without government/big business unfair interference in the marketplace.
Brandon supports the 2nd amendment, and as an avid outdoorsman, he understands hunter’s rights.
Brandon’s candidacy calls for an end to political gamesmanship, and a return to civility and compromise.
- Let’s Meet In The Middle: compromise, mutual respect and listening are the bedrock on which democracy exists. I’m a Democrat, but I love the Republican Party. The two parties create a symbiotic relationship that exist and provide balance. We need to respect each other and recognize that no person or party has a monopoly on virtue.
I am best described as being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In truth, this is the best manner in which to create a robust economic environment.
- Nobody wants to live in an unsafe community that doesn’t offer educational opportunities. The role of government is to provide community safety by supporting an effective police department and a fair and impartial judiciary. Similarly,an educational system must offer opportunities to all persons, regardless of financial circumstances. By so doing, we create opportunity for future generations to chase the American Dream. Educational opportunities should not be limited to the 3 R’s. I strongly support educational opportunities in the trades, and arts.
It’s a reality that we are in an era of globalism. What separates the State of Minnesota and the United States of America from the rest of the World are (1) political stability and (2) a fair and impartial judiciary. What has transpired? Political instability and a direct attack on the Judiciary.
I am running for office to bring America together for my friends and our children.
Democratic government can work!
He volunteered to serve in the United States Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While serving in the Navy, his bunkmate was Byron “Whizzer” White, President John F. Kennedy’s subsequent nominee to the United States Supreme Court.
My grandfather was a Republican, but changed party affiliation to the Democrats at Justice White’s urging during the election of 1960. At the time Senator Kennedy was a Catholic, which was considered to be controversial. My grandfather, a devout Protestant, saw that in America religious affiliations are irrelevant to life in a Capitalistic and free society.
My grandfather was the chairman on the hiring committee for 2nd Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, when William Hudnut was hired as minister.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 29, 2022
