Nystrom makes case in county

DFL Congressional candidate Quinn Nystrom made a campaign stop in Cloquet Saturday as part of a whistlestop tour across every county in the 8th Congressional District.

Nystrom addressed close to 30 masked and mostly socially distanced supporters at the gathering in the parking lot between Premiere Theatres and L&M. She started by being thankful for the sunny fall weather.

"After announcing this 18-county tour, we didn't know if it was going to be more of an 'Amy Klobuchar announcing a [presidential campaign] with snow,' or if we were going to get sun, so we're very grateful for this," she said.

Nystrom is running against U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, a Republican from Hermantown who is just finishing up his first term in Congress.

Nystrom, of Baxter, said her campaign is personal, and was prompted in part by the difficulty she and her brother - both Type 1 diabetics - face in affording insulin every single day to stay alive, and by her disappointment that Stauber has not done more on the issue of affordable prescription drugs, protecting people with pre-existing conditions, and other health care issues.

She called insulin "the poster child for a broken down healthcare system."

She didn't wait long to outline their other differences.

"We need people who are going to stand up for people and not the corporations," she said. "Because the corporations have continued to get these tax breaks while the middle class and regular people, we're paying way more in taxes than the president of the United States," she said, getting a lot of laughs and a few jeers from those in attendance.

Nystrom also touched on the issue of the pandemic, telling the DFL faithful there that they need a candidate who will listen to facts and health care experts, and quarantine if they know they've been exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid-19, and who will support a strong federal response to the disease, working with the states. Support for small farmers is another issue - along with food security - that she touted, along with strengthening unions.

She stressed that the DFL must do a better job of getting out the vote this election.

"One of the big reasons we lost this seat in 2018 is that we had the very lowest voter turnout in our 14 bluest precincts in this district," she said, asking people to do one thing every day toward getting others to vote in the Nov. 3 election, calling it a "life or death" election.

District 11A state representative Mike Sundin and District 11 senate challenger Michelle Lee also addressed the crowd Saturday.

"All I want for Christmas is the [Minnesota] senate," Sundin said when introducing Lee. "And here's going to be the best addition we've ever had."