Joshua Fike
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Joshua Fike (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 32. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Fike completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joshua Fike was born in Cambridge, Minnesota. He earned an associate degree from Anoka Ramsey Community College in 2012 and a bachelor's degree from Saint John's University in 2015. Fike's career experience includes working as an officer with the Department of Corrections.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota State Senate District 32
Incumbent Mark Koran defeated Joshua Fike in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 32 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mark Koran (R) | 66.4 | 32,493 |
Joshua Fike (D)  | 33.5 | 16,412 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 66 | ||
| Total votes: 48,971 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Joshua Fike advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 32.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Mark Koran advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 32.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Fike's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joshua Fike completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fike's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I love about my country, my state, and my little community. I struggle with what we lack however, so many gaps where we can improve as a people. I grew up in Braham and here I still reside. Isanti and Chisago counties are often overlooked in the gulf between the metro and the north shore. I grow weary of seeing less visible Minnesotans forgotten. I come from a working background and I bring the tenacity of blue collar workers to this campaign. I will not be silenced in the fight for the well-being of my neighbors. I studied under great minds and earned my education which gives me the responsibility to make an easier path to education for the next generation of Minnesotans.
- Education is important to me. It is what has allowed this first generation college graduate to even dream of running for state office. Fully funding our public schools is my number 1 priority. We need to make certain that the American Dream is available to all.
- We need a strong voice in St. Paul and I'm stepping up. No longer will our legislators be silent on the sidelines or unreachable in their capital offices. Whether you agree or disagree with me, you will know where I stand and why.
- The pandemic and the civil unrest in the state have not been properly addressed by District 32's elected officials. There is no acceptable death toll for covid-19. There is no excuse for police brutality.
I am most interested in public safety, fiscal responsibility, and education.
"We all do better when we all do better"
Those words from the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone resonated with me from a young age and have been a guiding light throughout my life. Senator Wellstone is the leading example of what I think an elected leader should be. He worked with both sides of the aisle for the good of all. I have been a student of that style of public service and want to bring that way of thinking to our state capital. Divisive and polarizing politics have gotten us far less than we owe each other. We stand together today amidst a pandemic, a struggling economy, pressing social issues, and looming threats to our environment. I seek to bring a strong voice from our district to St. Paul and no longer let us be the gulf between the Twin Cities and the Iron Range. I promise to do what's best for the people of Minnesota regardless of how party leadership feels about the issue. This campaign isn't about polarizing politics and how many points we can score by criticizing each other, it's about making progress for the people that put us in these offices.
Those words from the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone resonated with me from a young age and have been a guiding light throughout my life. Senator Wellstone is the leading example of what I think an elected leader should be. He worked with both sides of the aisle for the good of all. I have been a student of that style of public service and want to bring that way of thinking to our state capital. Divisive and polarizing politics have gotten us far less than we owe each other. We stand together today amidst a pandemic, a struggling economy, pressing social issues, and looming threats to our environment. I seek to bring a strong voice from our district to St. Paul and no longer let us be the gulf between the Twin Cities and the Iron Range. I promise to do what's best for the people of Minnesota regardless of how party leadership feels about the issue. This campaign isn't about polarizing politics and how many points we can score by criticizing each other, it's about making progress for the people that put us in these offices.
The series "The West Wing" is very influential in my ideal word of politics. Particularly in the episodes where a compromise must be made and coalitions must be formed. The episode "The Supremes" is particularly impressive.
The ability to put what's best for one's self aside for the good of the people. Integrity and standing behind your decisions. We don't all have to agree but we have to be able to explain our actions. I will always answer why I vote for or against legislation.
My family has come from living in shacks to college graduates in two generations. That fear of losing everything never leaves a person and is passed down the bloodline. Even after I had a good paying job for a few years and was able to begin to pay down astronomical student loan debt, I still have the innate fear that I could lose everything in a few missteps. Someone from poverty learns how to make every step count and calculates their every move and what the consequences will be. I will think of how my every action affects my neighbors in ways someone from more affluent means would not. We can praise programs right to the point our taxes become too high for those with too little. We can tout fiscal responsibility all we want but it means little if our people are hurting while the rich are lavished on our labor.
To move the community towards a place where we're all presented with more opportunities. There isn't a short of talent and potential in rural Minnesota, there's a lack of opportunity.
The house and senate are best serving the people when they're split and forced to work together to pass agreeable bills. This is not always the case when the people elect a split legislature but it's what should happen. A political science professor of mine characterised the differences between them as the house being made up of citizens whose district is small enough they fight specific individual they've met in their district. A senator's larger district has them thinking about the communities and State as a whole.
I see both benefit and drawbacks to it. It would certainly be beneficial to have had experience in a municipal office or have worked on a prior legislators cabinet. However those things can leave a person with preconceived notions of how things should be done. A person jumping into politics for the first time has only their own values and the voices of their constituents guiding them.
I believe Minnesota will come to be seen as a leader of the country in terms of education and civil rights. The conversations we are now having will continue and grow into fruitful change. I think this will become a challenge as our once colloquial state known only as the setting for stories of brutal winters retains the national spotlight we currently are in. This is a pivotal time for us and we need to lead the way forward.
Everyone elected by the people should be working for the good of the voters. The legislature's role is to support the Governor when they are right and challenge them when they are wrong. No one person is perfect and for that reason we are not a monarchy.
Absolutely. when I am elected, I hope to build a close relationship with every fellow Senator on both sides of the aisle. The days of austere attitudes towards our fellow citizens must cease. We must work together for a better tomorrow. We must build coalitions not only within the Senate but with all branches of government.
I want to put redistributing into the hands of a third party. A coalition of citizens overseen by the legislature but not controlled by them. We need a fairer way of drawing the lines that define us.
I mentioned Paul Wellstone already but I also look to Minnesotans like Walter Mondale and fellow SJU alum Dave Durenberger. I think of the late Sen. John McCain and Rep. John Lewis. I desire to bring the conversation back to the place of coalition building and get away from the contemptuous way politics has been moving.
My sights are dialed in to helping here.
The story I keep hearing over and over is one my family is included in. The people of this district feel left out of conversations and elected officials have forgotten them. We've gotten so caught up in who is right and who is wrong that we've forgotten that we're all working towards the same goal: a better, safer, more economically stable place to live. The far left and far right are places few live. Being human is more vital than party.
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
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 25, 2020
Current members of the Minnesota State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Bobby Champion
Majority Leader:Erin Murphy
Minority Leader:Mark Johnson
Senators
District 1
Mark Johnson (R)
District 2
Steve Green (R)
District 3
Grant Hauschild (D)
District 4
Rob Kupec (D)
District 5
Paul Utke (R)
District 6
Keri Heintzeman (R)
District 7
District 8
Jen McEwen (D)
District 9
Jordan Rasmusson (R)
District 10
Nathan Wesenberg (R)
District 11
Jason Rarick (R)
District 12
Torrey Westrom (R)
District 13
Jeff Howe (R)
District 14
Aric Putnam (D)
District 15
Gary Dahms (R)
District 16
Andrew Lang (R)
District 17
Glenn Gruenhagen (R)
District 18
Nick Frentz (D)
District 19
John Jasinski (R)
District 20
Steve Drazkowski (R)
District 21
Bill Weber (R)
District 22
Rich Draheim (R)
District 23
Gene Dornink (R)
District 24
Carla Nelson (R)
District 25
Liz Boldon (D)
District 26
Jeremy Miller (R)
District 27
Andrew Mathews (R)
District 28
Mark Koran (R)
District 29
Vacant
District 30
Eric Lucero (R)
District 31
Calvin Bahr (R)
District 32
Michael Kreun (R)
District 33
Karin Housley (R)
District 34
John Hoffman (D)
District 35
Jim Abeler (R)
District 36
District 37
Warren Limmer (R)
District 38
Susan Pha (D)
District 39
District 40
John Marty (D)
District 41
Judy Seeberger (D)
District 42
Bonnie Westlin (D)
District 43
Ann Rest (D)
District 44
Tou Xiong (D)
District 45
Ann Stewart (D)
District 46
Ron Latz (D)
District 47
Vacant
District 48
Julia Coleman (R)
District 49
Steve Cwodzinski (D)
District 50
Alice Mann (D)
District 51
Melissa Wiklund (D)
District 52
Jim Carlson (D)
District 53
Matt Klein (D)
District 54
Eric Pratt (R)
District 55
Lindsey Port (D)
District 56
Erin Maye Quade (D)
District 57
Zach Duckworth (R)
District 58
Bill Lieske (R)
District 59
Bobby Champion (D)
District 60
Doron Clark (D)
District 61
Scott Dibble (D)
District 62
Omar Fateh (D)
District 63
Zaynab Mohamed (D)
District 64
Erin Murphy (D)
District 65
Sandra Pappas (D)
District 66
District 67
Foung Hawj (D)
Democratic Party (33)
Republican Party (32)
Vacancies (2)
