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There’s a DFL primary race for the state House and Senate seats representing the northern half of West St. Paul, the West Side, downtown, and more. The winner in each race will advance to the general election in November. We’ve asked the candidates a series of questions to see where they stand on the issues. We’ll share one question and the responses at a time leading up to the primary election on August 11.
More: See our 2026 primary voters guide for more. We also asked the candidates about local issues and how they’ll make progress in a divided legislature.
What are your two to three top priorities as a state representative/senator and how will you address those issues? What made you decide to focus on those issues in particular?
We posed this question to all candidates. Here are their responses:
Candidates for State House District 65B
Sebastian Ellefson
My top priorities are creating and maintaining affordible and dignified housing, supporting small businesses, and responding to the federal government’s retaliation against the State of Minnesota and its residents.
Elena Mena
(no campaign)
[No response]
Candidates for State Senate District 65
Natasha Bennett
[No response]
Robyn Gulley
I come from a working-class family. My father drove bus for metro-transit and my mom taught dance. I am also a mom to four children in a beautiful, blended family right here in West St. Paul. In my experience, the biggest issues that squeeze working-class families have been the costs of childcare, housing, healthcare, and college tuition. Once elected I hope to be appointed to serve on the committees that will tackle these issues so I can apply my experience and background to improve the lives of working families. In order to make these priorities real, I support renewed focus on eliminating fraud from our public programs and focusing state resources on these areas that would have the greatest impact.
Specifically, I support the Kids Count on Us coalition effort to create a childcare system that actually works by funding the Department of Children, Youth and Families, expanding access to Early Learning Grants and our state’s Childcare Assistance Program and investing in childcare workers directly through Great Start Compensation Support Payments.
I also support universal, single payer healthcare to lower costs and expand access to care in our state, and I hope to extend the North Star Promise that currently provides tuition free college to students from families making less than $80,000 per year to families making less than $150,000 per year. I also hope to make it easier for cities, counties, and our state to invest a portion of our financial reserves in affordable housing projects!
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