I believe our time calls for a shift from centralized control and efficiency to distributed systems and redundancy, and with that from large national policies to small local ones. This thinking drives my decision-making process.

Make Rural Life Affordable Again

Minnesotans once freely built homes and farms on the property they owned. That all changed 50-60 years ago with the introduction of county zoning laws that froze rural living. In our district, you typically need 40, 80 or 160 acres to be allowed to live on your land and start a small farm.

We don't need more rental acreage for ethanol and Chinese soybeans – we need locally-produced vegetables, eggs and pasture-raised meat to weather global supply-chain disruptions.

I call for legalizing farmsteads across Minnesota. Any family with an agricultural property ten acres or larger shall have the right to build a home and farm their land. And I will end the restrictive building codes on agricultural farmsteads to make natural homes legal and enable a new generation of housing experimentation.

Let's restore our basic freedoms and make housing and food affordable again!

Stop Private Fraud Altogether

I default to a bottom-up approach to governance. Providing government money to individuals or corporations in order to accomplish a top-down goal is bound to fail. Of course there is fraud and misuse.

Yet the establishment Republican candidate in this race simply touts the additional layers of bureaucracy they added last session. The real solution to fraud is free markets and public services. We simply can't afford to allow private corporations to be funded by tax-payer dollars.

I say we start with our future, and fund universal childcare that's managed through our existing local school districts. The right top-down solutions provide direct services from state payments with strong local management and oversight.

Let's end fraud altogether and start investing in our future the right way.

Kick Hyperscale Data Centers Out of Minnesota

Not all data centers are created equally. There's a world of difference among the little facilities powering the core internet infrastructure, the small data centers running business and government operations, the larger data centers streaming videos and media, and the hyperscale data centers sucking up energy for their proprietary AI models.

I will cap the special data center sale tax exemption in Minnesota at $10M per year so that we continue to support our existing good-neighbor data centers, while taking away the economic advantage that makes so many data centers want to call Minnesota home.

And if that doesn't dissuade them, I well also ensure that any backup power source is non-emitting and that the entire operation is free from harmful low-frequency noise that damamages our communities and livestock.

Let's protect our farms and stand up against hyperscale data centers!

Get Rid of Screens in Schools and Let Teachers Teach

I love technology, but it's time to end our experiment with screens in schools. And I don't just mean banning phones in the classroom. Our kids deserve a hands-on, phonics-based education free from tablets and digital instruction. The future demands it.

The Minnesota Constitution states:

The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

But today that uniformity is specified in thousands of pages of dense legislative code. And total education funding is approaching $20k per student per year! Not so efficient.

I will make the good faith argument that it is in all of our best interests — children, teachers, parents, and communities — to substantially reduce the complexity of our education code and requirements, and let teachers teach!

Let's raise a new generation that's prepared to meet the challenges of a changing world!

Unite Minnesotans Under One Flag

Two things can be true at once: the old state flag needed to go, and the new state flag won't work. Our state flag needs to unite us, but the new flag did not accomplish that.

It's important to realize that the old state flag was both offensive and a poorly designed flag. But the new one was developed at a time and in a manner that too many folks are deeply unhappy with, and ultimately don't feel it represents their state well.

I call for Minnesota to put the Northstar Flag up for a vote, and let Minnesotans collectively choose our next flag through direct democracy.

Let's choose to end this partisan divide together!

Restore Trust and Participation in Democracy

Our legislatures are ineffective, and I believe the two-party system is to blame for our limited trust. We can fix that with proportional representation and an expanded legislature that is more connected to the people.

We can also increase trust with a good faith voting system that pairs freely available universal IDs with a weeklong election period, paper ballots, and mandatory sampling. Our state and country deserve it.

And while we're increasing our trust in democracy, let's end the absurd notion that corporations are people and kick their money out of our elections.

Let's honor our country's 250th birthday with renewed civic engagement!

End the Income and Inheritance Taxes

The establishment Republicans talk about lowering taxes all the time, but do they ever get anything done?

The bottom-up solution to our tax situation is to replace income taxes with a wealth tax on the richest. I will convince Democrats and independents to drop the income and inheritance taxes in exchange for a wealth tax that can be ignored by 99% of our district.

Our tax policies span thousands of pages and put the largest corporations at an advantage over our small, local businesses. End the friction that drags on our community businesses and shift that burder to the shareholders in the 1% and their well-paid accountants.

Let's reignite our engine of opportunity is this country!

Prioritize Local Businesses

Did you know it's considered unconstitutional for Minnesota to tax a business owned by shareholders in California or Dubai differently from one owned by someone living in our state?

They call it the "Dormant Commerce Clause" because the actual Commerce Clause only says that Congress could write that law if they wanted to. But they have not. And so this means that the price of your rent and real estate will continue to rise until it is has been fully globalized.

I will challenge the Dormant Commerce Clause, and make the argument that capital moves too fast these day to not permit local protections.

Let's bring business home and celebrate our great state!

But none of these arguments get made unless you can help me win the Republican primary on August 11th and replace establishment thinking.