Suzanne Cekalla

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Suzanne Cekalla

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

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Suzanne Cekalla (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 10. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Cekalla completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2022

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota State Senate District 10

Nathan Wesenberg defeated Suzanne Cekalla in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 10 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nathan Wesenberg (R)	72.4	28,395
		Suzanne Cekalla (D)	27.3	10,719
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	102

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,216
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 10

Suzanne Cekalla advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 10 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Suzanne Cekalla	100.0	2,236

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,236
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 10

Nathan Wesenberg defeated Steve Wenzel and Jim Newberger in the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 10 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nathan Wesenberg	36.8	3,730
	Submit photo	Steve Wenzel	32.5	3,290
		Jim Newberger	30.7	3,114

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,134
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Brent Lindgren (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Suzanne Cekalla completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cekalla's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Growing up on a family farm with her six brothers and one sister, Cekalla learned early to work hard, put her faith in God, and take care of her community. After attending a one-room school in North Prairie and graduating from Royalton High School, she put her faith into action: first becoming a nurse and then leading a regional Community Action Program initiative aimed at protecting children and young adults in Central Minnesota. Cekalla opened a small business, became a founding member of the Rice Chamber of Commerce, and got her Masters Degree of Divinity--winning the Horace Bushnell Award for Christian Education along the way--all while raising three children. But her faith brought her back to healing, first as a Pastor, then Hospital Chaplin in St. Cloud, and finally calling on her faith to help those in great need as a private grief and loss coach.

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?

• Provide Equal Public Services for Rural MN
• Fight Partisan Gridlock Which is Causing Rural Minnesota to be Ignored
• Universal Affordable Broadband in Rural Minnesota

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Fairness. My background isn’t in public policy but it doesn’t take a career politician to see that the benefits of our economy aren’t being distributed fairly and Central Minnesota is getting the short end of the stick. I look around and I see people who want opportunities; to start businesses, learn trades, to create wealth and security for their families. Because the people of Central Minnesota are often ignored in St. Paul, those opportunities are becoming harder and harder to find in our communities.

Running the Community Action Project I saw what a difference the right job at the right time could make. We helped prepare teens and young adults for good-paying jobs that gave them safe opportunities to change the lives of their whole families. Programs like this--and dozens of others--still exist in the Metro area, the people of Central Minnesota deserve the same opportunities.

I know business owners who do most of their work remotely who would love to move back to the communities where they grew up--and bring more jobs and commerce with them when they do. But without reliable high speed internet service, it isn’t possible. Most of the infrastructure already exists, the State Legislature just needs to focus a little less on shouting across the aisle and a little more on shovel-ready projects that will help Minnesotans right away. I am determined to make that happen.

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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Candidate

Minnesota State Senate District 10

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Footnotes

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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

Robert Farnsworth (R)

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

Michael Holmstrom (R)

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

Heather Gustafson (D)

District 37

Warren Limmer (R)

District 38

Susan Pha (D)

District 39

Mary Kunesh-Podein (D)

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

Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger (D)

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

Clare Oumou Verbeten (D)

District 67

Foung Hawj (D)

Democratic Party (34)

Republican Party (33)