Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Minnesota, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

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• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A

Walter Hudson defeated Sonja Buckmeier in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 30A on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Walter Hudson (R)	62.7	12,728
		Sonja Buckmeier (D)	37.3	7,570
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	18

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,316
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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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.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Sonja Buckmeier (D)

A SAFER, HEALTHIER MINNESOTA

AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

INVESTING IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Walter Hudson (R)

You own you. You are your own boss. You decide what you will do, who you will do it with, on what terms, and while assuming your own risk. You are a grown up. You shouldn't be ordered around, and you aren't looking to be coddled, comforted, or tucked in. You have no privilege to check. You don't owe anything to anyone, except those you claim as your own. And you ask nothing of no one, except to be left alone.

Democrats in Minnesota largely agree with Virginia’s now ex-governor Terry McAuliffe that parents should not control their children’s education. They think they own your kids. As state representative, I would champion legislation banning the practice of critical race theory in public education. I would oppose the sexualization of students via comprehensive sex ed. And I would pursue a ban of anti-science gender ideology which denies basic biological fact. Most importantly, I would pursue the empowerment of parents through an expansion of curriculum transparency and total control of state funds attached to their individual student. The power of the purse is the power to decide, and it's been held by the state for too damn long.

Everything's upside-down. Criminals are heralded as saints and martyrs. Our men and women in law enforcement are vilified as murderers and fiends. Violent thugs are protected. Law-abiding citizens have to think twice before defending themselves. It can be truthfully said that you are at greater legal risk defending your family than assaulting one. This is unconscionable, and must immediately end. As state representative, I would champion legislation protecting the right of residents to protect their life, liberty, and property. I would intervene in efforts to undermine public safety. And I would hold activist prosecutors and judges accountable for their crime-enabling failures.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Sonja Buckmeier (D)

Public education. Schools are the beating heart of our communities. Investing in our students is investing in our community’s future. For our family, school was also a connection to friends and activities. I love our schools, and I am grateful for the excellent education they provide all students. I support Education Minnesota and its mission to give every student regardless of where they live, what they look like, where they pray, or who they love, a safe and welcoming school environment. I will continue to advocate for fully funding our schools at the state level. Teachers and staff need our support, now more than ever, to help lower class sizes. We need to hire counselors and social workers to improve access to mental health resources for students. Furthermore, attacks on school curriculum and equity policies violate one’s freedom to learn. As disinformation and “alternative facts” divide our country, teaching children how to think for themselves has never been more crucial. Teachers are equipped to shed light on our nation’s complicated past while empowering students to formulate their own fact-based opinions. I support our educators who teach the skills needed, including critical thinking, to our students so they can pursue jobs and careers. Public education is an essential investment in society.

Walter Hudson (R)

The state of Minnesota currently proceeds under an illusion of democratic process. Bills are introduced and heard, but rarely voted on individually. It has become standard practice to wrap unrelated legislation into giant omnibus bills which stifle transparency and accountability, poison good bills with bad tack-ons, and forward bad bills by attaching them to items with broad support. This practice leads to gridlock which often prevents things from getting done by the end of regular session, resulting in special sessions where the outcome is negotiated behind closed doors by the governor and legislative leadership. The effect is oligarchy in place of democracy. It has to end.

Parents stand as the guardians of their children, both by nature and by moral right. The education and upbringing of children should be entirely governed by parents. Unfortunately, the compulsory nature of public education has enabled radical activists to coopt the system as a means to intervene and interfere in childrearing, seeking to spread perverse values though the classroom in defiance of parental wishes. We need to give parents 100% control of dollars going to education, restoring the proper relationship between parent and educator.

Democrats in Minnesota have sacrificed public safety upon an alter of "social justice." Often, even when a criminal is apprehended and charged, their career is facilitated by activist prosecutors and judges who go out of their way to set them free. It must end.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Walter Hudson (R)

There are different answers from different contexts. Ultimately, as a Christian, my model is Jesus Christ. As the incarnate God, he offers the perfect example of how to conduct oneself, what to value, how to advocate for truth, and how far one should be willing to go in pursuit of righteousness.

A secular modern model is Ayn Rand, whose philosophical achievements are unrivaled. She effectively completed philosophy by first identifying why we need it, then discerning its sound foundation, and demonstrating how to apply it practically in our lives.

Locally, I look up to Congressman Tom Emmer and former Congressman Jason Lewis. Each stand out as great communicators who have found ways to navigate institutions effectively while championing individual liberty.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Walter Hudson (R)

An elected official must understand and respect the limitations of their office, what they are there to do, and what they properly must not do.

Government exists to uphold the rights of those within its jurisdiction. Every action taken should fit that mold. There is no "greater good" than individual rights. Actions taken to the contrary will necessarily sacrifice people to groups.

Elected officials must be committed to this truth, or they will be easily tempted to wield power for short-term political glory at the expense of long-term social wellbeing.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Sonja Buckmeier (D)

One that sticks out is the fall of the Berlin wall when I was in high school.

Walter Hudson (R)

I remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall. I was 11 years old at the time. The significance of that event was not lost on me. I grew up knowing the Soviet Union as an existential threat. Their collapse was a testament to superiority of western values, the value of liberty, and the trajectory of history in favor of those who stand for good.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Sonja Buckmeier (D)

My first job was as a cashier at Cub Foods. I worked at Cub Foods all through high school and college.

Walter Hudson (R)

My first official job was working at a gas station in my hometown as a high school student. It lasted a matter of months. I often think back to the relative simplicity of that job and long for carefree times.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Walter Hudson (R)

As the chief executive of the state, the governor is tasked with executing laws passed by the legislature. He or she has a veto when bills are deliberated. Beyond that, a governor's responsibility is to uphold state law.

The veto and the bully pulpit place the governor in a strong position to influence which bills advance, and which become law. But that influence should never circumvent the legislative process, as it did when Governor Tim Walz unilaterally shutdown the entire state and told six million Minnesotans they could not work, attend church, or send their children to school.

The legislature must reclaim much of the authority it has abdicated to the executive branch, both via the governor's executive powers, and via the administrative state governed by unelected bureaucrats who wield rule-making authority like czars over a peasantry.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Walter Hudson (R)

Minnesota must choose whether to continue on a course toward becoming a colder California, burdened by high cost-of-living, high crime, and unreliable energy grids, or toward parity with surrounding states who embody midwestern values of grit, determination, and common sense.

Crime was never a defining aspect of Minnesota life in decades past. Now, we're known throughout the world as a state which lets its cities burn. Carjacking has doubled in recent years. Violent crime has increased dramatically across the board. Minnesotans are too often victimized by perpetrators who were previously caught and released by a lenient system which values "social justice" above actual justice. We need to hold prosecutors and judges accountable for their failures and skewed priorities.

Minnesota has always been a compassionate state, but we've failed to pair our empathy with an acknowledgement of practical reality. We can do more with less in terms of government spending by trusting Minnesotans to work hard in pursuit of their own values. Between an aging population and a demoralized generation of young workers, we're on a path toward unprecedented crisis if we continue to rely about pay-as-you-go redistributive wealth schemes. We must replace false guarantees with competitive opportunities in order to motivate workers while funding essential institutions to maintain public safety.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Walter Hudson (R)

It is beneficial for state legislators to have experience reconciling idealism with reality, whether that experience comes from previous public service or from other occupations.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Walter Hudson (R)

Of course. Legislating is a joint enterprise. You cannot pass legislation without the support of fellow legislators. That I why I look forward to developing productive relationships with as many of my colleagues as possible, in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Walter Hudson (R)

I suspect that a system could be devised to objectively draw district lines in a manner which would not favor one party or another and facilitate meaningful competition for legislative majorities. I would like to investigate/pursue a means to redistrict mathematically rather than by arbitrary human decision, creating districts defined in as random a manner as possible.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Walter Hudson (R)

My preferred committees, in order, would be: Education, Public Safety, and Energy.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Walter Hudson (R)

There are many past and present legislators who I admire, but none who I would seek to perfectly emulate. I admire the feisty rebellious nature of representatives like Jeremy Munson, Cal Bahr, Erik Mortensen, and the like. But when I look at track records of affecting public policy, I recognize wisdom in the approach of folks like Tom Emmer, who ascended from the Minnesota House of Representatives to the United States Congress and has become instrumental in shaping national policy. My goal is to find a spot in between where my personality meshes well, a place where I can advocate for policy which may be ahead of its time, yet still achieve what is possible in the moment.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

Walter Hudson (R)

I have no aspirations for higher office at this time. My plate is full dealing the my current calling. I have much to learn, and much to offer in this role if voters allow. I do not believe one can effectively serve if they are motivated by ambition for future advancement; so I hope to keep my eyes on the ball in play.

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

Walter Hudson (R)

Executive emergency powers should be granted for extraordinary circumstances with strict limitations on their duration and scope. The proper role of an emergency power is to enable government action when legislative deliberation is impractical or impossible. As a general rule, that is never the case for longer than a handful of days. The governor can call special sessions. Modern technology allows for remote deliberation. There is simply no reason why an executive should have broad unchecked executive authority.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Walter Hudson (R)

Within a specific framework. Compromise is the natural result of any deliberative process where conflicting interests or differing worldviews must resolve into a course of action. However, there are certain absolutes which are not subject to debate. All men are created equal, with inherent rights to life, liberty, and property. We may compromise within that boundary, not to its determinant. Two wolves and a sheep will not soon compromise on what's for dinner; in situations analogous to that, the wolves will not get what they want, and shouldn't.

See also

More about these elections:

• Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022

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