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City Cast Twin Cities

Roseanne Pereira

Sean McPherson

Adam Sage

*This is a free music festival on Nicollet Mall and inside the Dakota. It's a wonderful chance to get to see a show at the Dakota for free as tickets are usually a little pricey for me there. Last year I got to see Davina and the Vagabonds play the closing slot inside the club, and it was one of my favorite shows of the year. I also had the Dakota's pink peppercorn ice cream, which blew my mind. This year I'm looking forward to seeing another one of my favorite artists in the Twin Cities, L.A. Buckner, perform on the outside stage, and I'll head inside to see The New Standards close out the festival. Don't miss this! 

September brings a packed Twin Cities concert calendar, from outdoor shows and fall tours to orchestra performances and free music festivals.

Tips for a Better September in the Twin Cities

Tips for a Better September

Twin City Guides

Anna Weggel

Tiffany Bui

When are you going? This weekend? Next weekend? Text a pal and pick a date for the park because September is kind of a goldilocks month for getting outside in the Twin Cities. It's not too hot or cold, and it probably won't rain too much. Here in the metro area, it may be your last chance to comfortably wade through the ankle-deep waters of the Mississippi at 

 to look for critters and crawfish and to get a great view of the 

You can also get up close to the Mississippi south of the Twin Cities – if you've been sleeping on 

, try heading over and walking the 3.8-mile 

. You'll get to walk around an island on the river, and it's so gorgeous and secluded that it's hard to believe you're right next to the airport. You might get to see some beavers cutting down saplings and swimming under the Pike Island Bridge as September is a busy month for them preparing for winter. You'll also get to see the 

, or the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, which is a site of immense spiritual and historical significance to the Dakota people. On a clear day, you can see a distinct line where the brownish waters of the Minnesota clash with the relatively clear waters of the Mississippi. Seriously, make plans this month to get to one of these world-class parks that we have in our back yard. 

 deter you from donning that flannel. I’m ready to let go of summer with these autumnal celebrations. We have an unbelievable number of Oktoberfests; you can don your lederhosen and enjoy giant pretzels at 

, on Sept. 19, will feature live music from Gully Boys and others. For the competitive spirit, there’s a boot chugging contest. If you haven’t had enough hot dogs this summer, Insight Brewing is hosting 

, which promises “hot dogs falling from the sky.” The 

 also hosts their own celebrations in St. Paul.

I have the pleasure of editing each week’s 

 newsletter and when one of our writers, Winter, recently told me she found the lunchbox of her dreams, it’s pretty much the 

. As a mom of school-aged children, I want to challenge myself next year (because I failed big time this year) to shop local for school supplies. If it’s not too late for you to shop for your kids this year, or if you’re young at heart and can’t resist school supply shopping for yourself, check out Winter’s 

, Winter had the best recommendations. And I look forward to spending my money at these local shops next year! 

Explore Twin Cities parks, enjoy fall festivals and Oktoberfests, and shop local for school supplies at unique neighborhood stores.

Your Guide to September 2026 in the Twin Cities

 We'd like to welcome Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who is running for U.S. Senate. The primary is today, and this primary competition between Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Representative Angie Craig has been very heated and very expensive – if you've been trying to watch TV without running into these two, you have failed. Lieutenant Governor, thank you so much for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities on this very busy day for you. We appreciate your time.

 Now, Peggy Flanagan, you're no stranger to representing Minnesota – you've been the Lieutenant Governor – but I want to ask: how would your work as an elected official in the Senate most tangibly impact the community you live in?

 Sure. Well, I'd say a couple things. I'm running to make sure that people can afford the lives they want to live. I grew up in the community of St. Louis Park – it's where I still live with my family – and I grew up on the margins. I was a kid who carried a box of commodity cheese under my arm like a football. Section 8 paid the rent. SNAP is what kept food on the table for my family, and I'm alive because of Medicaid.

But what I also watched was my mom being a badass. She worked incredibly hard, and she went back to school – she got her certificate in phlebotomy, and we like to tease her and say she became a professional vampire. But I remember watching her walk across that stage and feeling like I was walking across it too, because I knew how incredibly hard she worked, for me and for herself. So that's what I'm bringing into this race – knowing what it feels like to stretch $20 through the end of the month, and fighting against the status quo.

I think the root of it – and Sean, you mentioned it – all of these ads, this is the most expensive Senate primary in Minnesota's history. $20 million has come against us so far: crypto, AI, tech billionaires, health insurance companies, AIPAC, and all these special interests. I'm not taking a dime of corporate PAC money because I want to be beholden only to Minnesotans. I share that with you because I think that's the root of so many things we don't have access to – like a healthcare system that works for everybody, housing, childcare, all of these pieces. As folks are struggling to afford their lives, the people at the very top are doing quite well, and that's a frustration many people share. I'm going to fight for the many and not for the money. That's what I plan to bring to D.C.

 And you talk in your own personal narrative – obviously there are a lot of ways government programs helped you and your family be more resilient and stronger, and we've seen a lot of that support fall away. A lot of what you needed and received at that time isn't as available now. I assume we're in agreement that we want stronger, more resilient communities. What can you do to make communities more resilient from your vantage point as an elected official?

 Sure, I'd say a couple things. I want to make sure that the way we've campaigned – we've done over 300 events in 112 communities – should also be the way that I govern, by being in relationship with Minnesotans, making sure folks feel like, "Oh, we know her, she represents us." That's why I'm fighting for Medicare for All. I think it's completely outrageous that I talk to families with $16,000 deductibles, who are paying 500 bucks for a med check, who are deciding whether to cover just the kids, or just mom. Our healthcare plan right now is basically to pray that nobody gets sick. Our time has come where folks no longer need to just pay for health insurance, but should actually be able to receive health care.

I'd like to get rid of prior authorization, because I don't think some person behind a desk – or worse, an AI bot – should determine whether or not you get the lifesaving healthcare your doctor prescribed. I want universal childcare capped at 7% of your income as a family. Childcare is the backbone of the economy, and incidentally, there are only four moms with kids under 18 serving in the U.S. Senate – and boy, can't you tell from the outcomes we're getting right now.

So those are some of the issues. I co-chaired the campaign to raise the minimum wage in this state when I led the Children's Defense Fund. At the time, folks said, "You're too ambitious, you're asking for too much" – to raise it and index it to inflation. But we passed that law, and over the last decade, people have seen their wages increase. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage hasn't increased in 17 years – it's still $7.25, which is completely impossible. I want us to raise the national minimum wage.

I also fought hard – I was one of the co-founders of Minnesotans for Paid Family and Medical Leave, back when my kid was still portable on my hip. We built that coalition, we organized for it, and it passed and was implemented this year – 75,000 people have now taken advantage of this program to bond with a new baby, care for a sick loved one, or care for themselves. That matters, and we need a national paid leave policy.

And after the year we've had, we need to rip ICE apart and hold this Trump administration accountable for the terror, chaos, and loss of life they've caused here in Minnesota. I think folks have heard me use the term "avenge" – and what that really means is that the $240 billion that's been given to ICE and CBP, while we've watched health care being taken from people and food being taken off the table to fund this lawless agency, along with trillions of dollars in tax cuts for people who don't need them – enough. This is madness, and we can do better.

 Now, Lieutenant Governor Flanagan, even if these things ring true with somebody, there might be a fear that if we send someone who's really on the Medicare for All bandwagon to D.C., we're sending them to a Republican-majority Senate. Are you going to be stuck on the sidelines because you can't reach across the aisle? Realistically, you're the more progressive candidate, and the candidate with less of a track record reaching across the aisle, at least in my reckoning. So I'm trying to understand: might someone with your values be wasted on a Senate that isn't ready to work on these things because it's controlled by Republicans?

 I would say – I think we have the opportunity to take back the House and the Senate, but as you mentioned, the Trump administration will also be there moving forward, at least for the next two years. But I'm proud of the work I've been able to do with folks across the aisle. When I was at the Children's Defense Fund, I sometimes got a lot of grief from my DFL friends serving in the legislature, because they'd say, "Hey, how come you didn't ask me to author this bill?" And I'd say, "Well, Republicans are in the majority, and I can't wait two years or four years for healthy babies and healthy birth outcomes for kids and their moms." So finding that common ground is important to me.

When I served in the legislature during one term, there were only two bills from DFLers in the House that got across the finish line – one of them was mine, because I'm pretty intentional about building relationships. Regardless of my occupation, I'm an organizer, and finding common ground – my job on day one in the U.S. Senate is to schedule 99 cups of coffee with my colleagues and find places where we can work together.

I'm going to push for Medicare for All, because frankly it's what people deserve. But along the way – banning prior authorization is at the top of my list, and that has bipartisan support; I actually think we can get that done. And things like making sure Congress lives up to its end of the bargain and funds special education – the commitment was always 40% under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and they've never met that commitment. That also has bipartisan support and is worth fighting for, for our public schools and for kids all across this country.

Those are the opportunities, I think. And as we've been doing this work, we've had DFLers coming to our events, but we've also had independents who say, "I don't have a political home, I'm just super freaked out by what's happening right now." And we've had Republicans who say, "Flanagan, I don't agree with you on everything – in fact, not a lot – but at least you're here listening to us." And I think that goes a really long way in this politics of noise and division, and just spewing absolute hatred from the White House. We can do things differently here, and we have in the past – in the way we showed up for our neighbors this winter. I don't think anyone was asking about political affiliation as they were simply trying to get food to their neighbors and make sure the people they care about weren't just scooped up off the street.

 There's a notable recent poll from the Star Tribune, KARE 11, and the Hubbard School of Journalism that found 81% of respondents worried about fraud in state government. If someone is worried about fraud in state government, why would they vote for somebody who was really high up in state government during this period of massive fraud?

 Well, I'd be really clear that fraud of any kind is completely unacceptable, and I know Minnesotans are angry – I am too, as a former executive director of an organization that served children and families. I find it completely infuriating that anyone would steal from taxpayers, but especially take resources from people who need them desperately. There's been work done to stop fraud and prevent it from happening in the first place – 60 people have been prosecuted, a hundred people have been charged. Aimee Bock, the ringleader of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced to 41 years plus 8 months. And to that, I say good.

What I also know is that Republicans are running against every Democrat on fraud – Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, the legislators. And just last week, there was an ad that popped up showing Congresswoman Craig and me side by side, attacking us both on fraud. She serves on the Ag Committee – that's why they're going after her. It's all political theater to distract from the fact that this president, right out of the gate, pardoned 70 white-collar criminals who've stolen billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid funds. He got rid of 17 inspectors general, whose whole job is to police corruption at the federal level. And this guy is making money hand over fist out of the White House – and for the folks who paid for his gilded ballroom, their reward was government contracts. Enough. I think whoever our opponent is in the fall – Michele Tafoya or whoever it is – it's clear to me they'll be a "yes sir, Mr. President" kind of senator. What we actually need is someone who's going to stand up to the Trump administration.

And I'd say that's also a distinction between me and my opponent, who has voted with Donald Trump more than any other Minnesota Democrat. We can do better, and I think Minnesotans are positioned to make sure we send someone who's going to take on the status quo and push back against the Trump administration. As a Minnesotan, as someone who's lived here my whole life, this state has invested so much in me and in my family, and I really look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the people of Minnesota, if that's their will, in Washington.

 Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, it's primary day, it's a busy day – you taking the time to talk with City Cast Twin Cities means a lot to us. Thank you so much for your time today.

We requested interviews from most candidates running in the major Twin Cities races ahead of the August 11 primary and November general election.

Meet Your Candidates: Peggy Flanagan for U.S. Senate

 We'd like to welcome Kendall Qualls, who's the GOP-endorsed candidate for governor. Today is primary day, and we're excited to talk to every candidate we can leading up to the election in November. Kendall Qualls, thank you so much for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities today.

 I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me, Sean.

 Now, Kendall Qualls, I wanted to ask you about how your work as an elected official would most tangibly impact the community you live in.

 Yeah, I think – not just for the community I live in, but for all communities – there are three basic things that transcend political parties. Number one, economic conditions. Everyone wants to thrive economically, not just survive, and there are things we can do in government to help with that.

Number two – look, Minneapolis has seen better days when it comes to crime. Forbes magazine rated it the number one safest city with the best quality of life back in October 2009, and we're going to get that back. That's truly the character of Minneapolis – it was never a Detroit or a Chicago. Crime is rampant in the metro as well as the surrounding suburbs, and we want to get that back.

And number three is our public school education. We used to have a marquee public education program that benefited everyone – for people like me, coming out of poverty, education could be a gateway to a very different life. Now we've seen real decline – we're near the bottom-middle of the nation, our test scores are out of whack, and there's all this other foolishness going on in our public schools. We want to get that back too. So: improving economic conditions, safer communities, and quality education for everyone.

 You mentioned in your biography a really unique history and path – you spent time as a child in Harlem and then in Oklahoma, two vastly different places. You've also talked about the importance of education, and really helping people at every stage of life, particularly if they're born into poverty. Beyond the first three things you mentioned – sure, economic opportunity, safe streets, access to education, these are all big – what else can you do in office to build strong communities where people really thrive?

 Well, I think the biggest thing right now is that people sense there's no accountability in elected officials – that we've lost our sense of community, our sense of belonging to each other. Is there a common denominator that brings us all together? Right now, unfortunately, we work and walk and think in tribes of left versus right, and that's wrong in a lot of ways. We didn't used to live like that. I want to bring that sense of commonality back, and we can do that.

But the accountability part is very important. The fraud issue in our state is way beyond out of control – it's a national embarrassment. We don't need special offices to fix this. This is called leadership. This happens in the private sector all the time – it's called embezzlement, and we handle these issues within a single calendar year. Someone's fired, someone's held accountable, someone goes to jail. For embezzlement, it doesn't take eight to ten years and an Office of Inspector General and all these other layers of government – it's called leadership. That's how we bring accountability back, integrity back, and a sense of pride to be able to call ourselves Minnesotans again, because that's been lost for a lot of the population in this state.

 Do you think the Office of Inspector General is unproductive in rooting out fraud, or do you think it just requires leadership above that station to make sure things actually happen? I'd assume even at a business level you need boots on the ground to root out embezzlement. So I'm asking: do you see usefulness in inspectors general, or do you see it as unnecessary red tape?

 It's unnecessary red tape. Listen, this could have been handled day one – Tim Walz could have fired someone. No one – I think one person resigned in the last few months, but he's fired no one. We have $9 billion that's been accounted for by Joe Thompson, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney, and I believe there's a lot more. No one's been held accountable. It starts with the leader of the executive branch, which is the governor.

And like I said, even in the private sector, this is handled quickly within your finance department – not a special department, a finance, accounting, and audit department. These guys are full-time, they do their jobs. We don't hire outside help unless it's really serious. This isn't that – we've had whistleblowers telling us about this stuff for years.

 I want to switch gears a bit and ask about the struggles state government is having with the federal government right now, and how negative that impact can be for Minnesotans – specifically, $199 million in Medicaid payments that were recently held back. I want to ask what you'd do to improve that relationship, because – Kendall Qualls, I think you and I land on pretty different parts of the political spectrum, but on the other hand, I really don't want to see people not getting Medicaid payments they're counting on. So how can you bring that relationship back so these payments get fulfilled and people get what they need to live?

 Sean, you're assuming we're on different parts of the political spectrum – I'd bet we agree on probably 80% of the issues. Let's reverse that question: do you favor Medicaid-ineligible people getting payments of millions of dollars? No, of course not. Those payments were intended for the most vulnerable of our citizens. And right now we have people getting those payments who aren't even citizens of our state – they're in different states, all these different things. So, yes–

 –but we have people who are citizens of our state not getting the payments.

 Okay, all right. So look – I'm all in favor of making sure our vulnerable citizens get the funds they need for care. All in favor of that, because I used to be one of those kids growing up. So the compassion is there, but I disdain people who take money intended for the weak, vulnerable, and sick, and use it to live a lifestyle better than the average American Minnesotan. That's wrong in a big way.

All we have to do is tighten up the ship. We need strong leadership, and then we won't have to worry about the federal government stepping in, because we're doing the right thing locally. We fix our own ship. We're a sovereign state – we take charge of our own things. The reason we have this intervention in the first place is that we've had lousy management for the last eight years.

 Thank you for that. I want to ask a bit about your path to electability – specifically, on Almanac recently, you referred to the metro as an Achilles heel for Republicans, but said you believe you can unify the state. What would you say to somebody who thinks the metro area is going to stay an Achilles heel for Republicans if they put up candidates who won't strongly and clearly speak out against ICE and its actions during Operation Metro Surge?

 Well, again, Sean, I'm going to push back on that, because people in the metro aren't saying, "Oh, ICE is too–" They're dealing with the highest level of carjacking we've had in years. We've had the highest property taxes, even as the value of commercial buildings has decreased – one building was sold for $6 million when it was originally purchased for over $90 million less than 10 years ago. Guess who's making up the difference in property taxes? The people you're referring to in the metro. That's why their property taxes are going up, their car insurance is going up because of the increase in car theft and carjackings. Everything is going up.

Our household income – this is according to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce – the growth of household income in this state over the last 10 years ranks 46th out of 50 states. The biggest issue Minnesotans across the board, including in the metro, are facing is tough economic times, on top of the headache of crime. Why isn't someone doing something about it? Nothing's changed in Minneapolis except the leadership, and they're paying dearly for it. They want their kids to have a decent education – they're not fixated on ICE, or these "No Kings" rallies.

When I look at the population of people protesting ICE and protesting "No Kings," I call them "no Black folks" rallies, because there's hardly any. You guys are narrowing in on very specific leftist programs and forgetting the people in the middle. You're forgetting the Bill Clinton Democrats, and only focusing on the Hillary Clinton Democrats.

 Do you think there's some percentage of the population that's both frustrated with ICE and also unhappy about carjackings and where public education is at – some Venn diagram that includes people with both of those complaints?

 Oh, I'm sure there are, but I think that Venn diagram is very narrow. You know why? Statistics and facts bear that out – the carjackings, the crime, the schools, those have been chronic problems for years, but the ICE surge only happened in the last 12 months.

And by the way, Sean, here's the one thing I want to bring up about that surge you keep bringing up. Where were those protesters when Joe Biden let 10 to 15 million people into this country through a southern border mass run – unvetted, from a hundred different countries? Where were the protesters then? There's no precedent in American history where we've let people come in unvetted and unchecked like that. And right now in this country, the Democratic Party didn't bring a budget with them for the health care, the education, and all the other services that population needs – and that's a population the same size as the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin combined. There's no protest for that.

 I hear your question, and I'm letting it hang there, because I don't have an answer for you today. But I do want to switch gears again and ask something a little more human to human, because I understand there probably are a ton of things we're on the same page about. If you find yourself with a day off in your district – you realize, "Oh, I've got some time, I can hang out with my family, or do whatever I want" – what might be on your itinerary?

 I'll tell you what – I really enjoy spending time with my family outdoors. I think we have the best outdoors of any state in the country, and that's what I want to make Minnesota – the family destination vacation spot across the country, I really do. I love Gull Lake, Lake City, some of these others.

But here's the thing for me, Sean. You're looking at a guy who grew up, as you mentioned, in a broken family in Harlem, and then later with my father in a trailer park in Oklahoma. I was able to break that cycle of poverty, thank God, and for this country and the blessings I have now. I have grandchildren, and to see all of my children come back here as adults – four out of five of them are now married, and now we're having grandchildren – that generational blessing just warms my heart. I enjoy spending time with them. We don't have to do much, but I can tell you it's always loud.

 Yeah, sometimes when you're with family, the lighter the agenda, the better – you can actually just find out what everybody's been up to and touch base. And to some extent, Kendall Qualls, I feel like that's what we've been doing today, trying to get an understanding of your campaign on this primary day, which I know is very important for you. I appreciate your time, I appreciate your patience, and thank you for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities.

 Thank you so much. Great, thank you. Appreciate it.

Meet Your Candidates: Kendall Qualls for Governor

 We'd like to welcome Representative Angie Craig, who is running for U.S. Senate. The primary is tomorrow, and we're excited to talk to every candidate we can ahead of the big election in November. Representative Craig, we really appreciate your time today. Thank you for joining us on City Cast Twin Cities.

 You're no stranger to serving constituents, since you're a U.S. representative right now. But I want to ask: in your work in the Senate, if you were elected at that level, how would your work most tangibly impact the community you live in?

 As a U.S. senator, I'm going to focus on three things. How can we lower costs and create more opportunity for folks in my community? How can we pass legislation that keeps our community safe? And the third big area is that Washington is broken – we have a systemic issue there, from campaign finance reform to senators and members of Congress being able to trade stocks. Those three big buckets are my priorities as a U.S. senator, and I'm happy to talk more about that, Sean.

 I agree with you to some extent that Washington is broken, and there are times I feel like we're doing plenty of the breaking ourselves locally at the community level. It's hard to have strong, resilient communities – some of that comes from within, from figuring out how to make those bonds stronger. But some of it comes from elected officials, and that's what I'm asking: as an elected official, how could you help build more resilient communities across Minnesota, and as a senator, across the nation?

 Well, look, there are specific policy issues that, as a U.S. senator, I can fight for that will help us build more resilient communities – let me start at the individual level. I grew up in several different mobile homes and mobile home parks. My mom was a single mom who at times relied on what was called food stamps then, and is SNAP now. Sometimes we didn't have health insurance in our own family.

So when I think about building resiliency and creating economic opportunity – people should be pissed off at Democrats and Republicans that the federal minimum wage is still $7.25. Why hasn't either party prioritized bringing that up? As a U.S. senator, I'm going to prioritize doubling the child tax credit in this country to at least $6,000 a year. Raising a kid in this country, choosing to have one, has become way too expensive. The average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old in this country – we've got to dramatically increase the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

But beyond that, we've got to look at the systems in place. Why can't we build a greater supply of housing at a lower cost in this country, whether that's on the permitting side or through some of the really fascinating stuff happening in modular housing these days? When I look across the spectrum, these are all ways of building resiliency by creating economic opportunity.

The other side of that is fighting the asinine policies coming out of Republicans in the Trump administration right now – from across-the-board tariffs that, by the way, the Supreme Court deemed illegal, but now they're returning that money to corporations instead of to people, to a war in Iran that had no strategic objective to begin with and drove up costs for working families, to the attacks on needy families – the SNAP program, for one. As the head of the Ag Committee, I'm responsible for fighting directly back on the Trump administration's $187 billion in cuts to the SNAP program.

So building resiliency starts with creating economic opportunity for individuals. But to do that, you've also got to focus on broader things – like making sure we have good public schools. Why isn't the federal government providing the 40% toward special education that we promised in this country? When it doesn't, that puts more pressure on local school districts and the state to make up the difference.

So building resiliency is about creating opportunity from an education perspective, and it's also about taking on the big interests that are jacking up costs for people. This is something I've focused on as a U.S. House member, and it's certainly what I'll focus on as a U.S. senator.

 Representative Craig, I align with a lot of what you just said. We don't know exactly how uphill your battle will be if you're elected to the U.S. Senate, because we don't know who will hold the majority. Some of the things you want to do are truly at loggerheads with what a lot of Republicans want. So if Democrats aren't in the majority, what common legislative ground do you think you can find with them to still get things done, even if you can't get everything done based on the balance of power?

 Well, Sean, that's a really good point. The only way we make progress in this country is by winning governing majorities, and the only way we do that is by making sure the right people are running in the right seats – people who will win these elections. I'm 100% supportive of a big-tent Democratic Party; that's the only way we're going to have governing majorities.

I served in the majority for four years. During that time, we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which had some great legislation – mine capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month and let Medicare start negotiating its drug pricing. But I've also been in Congress for four years in the minority, and the only way you get anything done in the minority is by working across the aisle.

That's the bottom line: I'm the kind of member of Congress – and would be the kind of U.S. senator – who knows when to make a fist and metaphorically throw a punch at a policy (I won't say a person, but at Republicans, candidly), and knows when to extend a hand and work across the aisle. That's what I did in passing a number of bills dealing with mental health resources in our community. I worked really hard on allowing Narcan to be available in our community, because this is a personal issue for me – my goddaughter is four years into recovery right now, and my own oldest son's birth mom, he's adopted, died of an accidental overdose.

You meet people in the community, and if I can save one life by working on an issue where Republicans might be willing to find agreement with us, that's the kind of U.S. senator I'm going to be. But don't mistake that for one who's going to compromise our values – I will not compromise our values, and I know when to metaphorically throw a punch.

 Angie Craig, you started your career as a journalist, so I'm going to try one of those beloved fluff questions before we get into some points of disagreement and tension we've already heard about in your race. But first, a little fluff: a day off in your district – what's on the itinerary if you open your calendar and, surprisingly, there's just nothing on there? What are you doing?

 Well, that isn't happening right now – period, full stop. But I actually did negotiate a late start recently on my calendar; 9 a.m., just so we know, because my wife and I wanted to get outside and get on our e-bikes. We haven't spent enough time outside this summer because I've been all over the state working and running for the U.S. Senate. But you'll find me outside, on some paved trail in Minnesota. We're so lucky to live in a state where we've invested in all these state parks and trails – you'll probably find me on my bike.

And I don't want to sound like I can't bike on my own by saying I have an e-bike – it's actually opened up the state to us. I can ride a bike a long way, but we get to go so much further and see so much more of this great state on an e-bike.

 What I would not recommend is being in a relationship where one person has an e-bike and the other doesn't – which is true in my marriage right now. My wife has an e-bike, and for a minute I was looking at her back, and then I hadn't seen her for the last three miles. So I'm glad you and your wife are both on e-bikes.

Okay, fluff out of the way. I want to ask about something a lot of people have been asking you about – your about-face on the Laken Riley Act. You've said you regret your vote for it, and I think critics have dismissed that as just a shift in position because of the office you're running for now. When you were running to represent the area you currently represent, voting for it was a strategic, savvy move, and now that you're running statewide, it might feel different. Was this a change of heart, or was it a cold political recalculation?

 My voters in the 2nd District have always known that I'm going to tell them the truth, and I truly regret giving the Trump administration any additional authorities on immigration enforcement. As I stood at the Whipple Detention Center with probably 50 ICE agents staring down Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and me, how could I not regret that vote – even though they weren't using it under Operation Metro Surge? There's no one more furious than me at what the Trump administration has done under Operation Metro Surge, and I will spend the rest of my political career taking on any administration that wants to treat our immigrant neighbors – our Black and brown neighbors – as others, any administration that doesn't understand that they make our communities stronger.

Along with a number of other U.S. senators – Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Mark Kelly, a lot of presidential contenders – I voted for that same bill. But there's no way I couldn't regret it, and I believe I owe it to my constituents, and to Minnesotans, to be honest with them. I will spend the rest of my career working toward comprehensive immigration reform – giving our Dreamers a path to citizenship, giving undocumented neighbors the opportunity to have legal status. If you've worked, if you've paid your taxes, if you've been part of this community, you deserve a path to legal status in this country. We don't have to choose between safe and secure borders and being a nation of immigrants – I fundamentally reject that premise. And as the next U.S. senator, what I can say to Minnesota is that there's no one who will work harder, or do more, to help our immigrant neighbors and work toward comprehensive immigration reform.

 Clearly you're in company with other people who voted for this act, and you mentioned a number of them by name. I don't expect politicians to see the future, but I want to ask you to speculate: what do you think the people who voted against this act saw that you, Raphael Warnock, and others didn't? Because I think a lot of people said it was clear as day that things like Operation Metro Surge were coming, and would be supercharged by the Laken Riley Act. What do you think they saw that you missed in making that vote?

 Donald Trump promised he was going to come after the worst of the worst. That particular bill isn't what's being used in Operation Metro Surge – they weren't detaining undocumented individuals who'd been accused of committing a crime. They were detaining undocumented individuals simply because they were undocumented. You go back and look at the data, and that's exactly what happened.

When we looked at that legislation, it wasn't about deportation, and it didn't take away from due process upon detainment – it had to do with someone who had committed a crime. This was three days into the Trump administration; he'd promised to go after the worst of the worst, and that's what I was thinking at the time. But I can promise you that's not what they did here – we know that.

That regret I have over voting for Laken Riley fuels me every single day. It fuels my rage against the Trump administration, and it will fuel my work toward comprehensive immigration reform.

 Here comes a segue – something else that fuels your work, but that you're against, is big money. Like so many politicians, you want big money out of politics, but you also get support from corporate PACs. I'm trying to figure out how we can believe you're willing to change corporate and political money in politics while also relying on it to power the campaign you're currently running. How can we hold those two things together?

 It's the same with gerrymandering in this country. I 100% support Gavin Newsom gerrymandering California after Texas did it first. We can't play on a different field than Republicans, and Republicans have $300 million staring down us. If Democrats unilaterally disarm and tie a hand behind our back – on gerrymandering, or on the money-in-politics piece – we lose. I'm literally a co-sponsor on the constitutional amendment that would end Citizens United. My belief is that we shouldn't have corporate or corporate PAC money in politics at all. But until Republicans don't have it either, we're unilaterally disarming, and we're putting ourselves at risk of not having the resources to compete and win elections – which puts us at a disadvantage in building governing majorities and passing progressive policies.

So I don't see those two things as separate at all. I'd lightly point out that my primary opponent, the lieutenant governor, was actually outraising corporate and corporate PAC money as chair of the very super PAC that's now spending in her race. So – okay.

 Fair point. And again, I wasn't trying to paint you as a unicorn for being involved with corporate PACs – honestly, it's infested so much of this.

 It would be better, Sean, if we just outlawed it. Let's ban it – and let's ban gerrymandering too, for both Republican states and Democratic states. Let's ban PAC money and corporate money for Democrats and Republicans.

 Representative Angie Craig, you have a very full calendar, including another appointment to get to. Thank you for being generous with your time – we really appreciate you. The primary is tomorrow. Representative Angie Craig, thanks for visiting with us on City Cast Twin Cities.

 Great to be here, and thank you so much, everyone. Would love to have your support.

Meet Your Candidates: Angie Craig for United States Congress

 We'd like to welcome Cedrick Frazier, who is running for Hennepin County Attorney. The primary is tomorrow and the election is in November, and we want to hear from every candidate who's willing to talk to us. We're actually going to start this conversation with a bit of a correction. Cedrick, before we get into things, I just want to establish that on our July 17th episode, we were talking about the Hennepin County Attorney race, and we said that Ellison endorsed both Hao Nguyen and you. But if I understand it correctly, Ellison rescinded his endorsement of Nguyen in May and is now endorsing you exclusively. I just want to verify that so it's on the record, City Cast Twin Cities.

 That is correct, Sean. Thank you for that clarification.

 Absolutely. Now I want to get into some questions, because I don't think I need to tell people this is a really important job, especially for Hennepin County residents and Minneapolis residents in particular. I want to ask you: how will your work, if you're elected to this office, most tangibly impact the community you live in?

 I think one thing I have to do is give a quick background – my origin story of how I ended up here.

 My family – my grandparents were born and raised in the Delta, down in Mississippi. My grandfather, growing up, was working on a farm and got attacked by one of the farm's owners, a white guy. He fought back, knocked him down. That night, his mother put him on a bus and sent him to Chicago to save his life. That's why I was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. And I was born and raised at a time when crack cocaine had just started hitting urban communities – so you can imagine what that was like: gang violence, drug trafficking, gun violence. That's the backdrop of what I was born into and raised in during the '80s and '90s, growing up on the South Side of Chicago. The one thing I've always taken away from that experience is perseverance – living through that, making it through that, and getting to where I am now. Statistically, I'm not supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to go to college, wasn't supposed to go to grad school, wasn't supposed to go to law school, wasn't supposed to be a lawyer, wasn't supposed to be an elected official. So I bring all of that – overcoming those things – into this role as Hennepin County Attorney.

But growing up in that moment, in that time, a lot of folks in our community didn't feel safe. The systems that were designed to protect us weren't protecting everyone. There was law enforcement out there, people were being arrested, large numbers of people were going to prison and being incarcerated, but we still didn't feel safe. And part of the reason I ran is because I want to make sure we have a system that's working for everyone, that's working with the community, and making sure people can trust that system and feel safe in it. What I mean by that is: for decades, communities – people who look like me, with lived experience like mine – haven't trusted this criminal justice system to protect them. And when they've gone through the system, they haven't felt treated with decency and humanity. That should never have been acceptable. And this will be the first time that in this county, voters will have the opportunity to elect someone who has felt the brunt of that system when it's not working right – and it hasn't been working right for a very long time.

 One thing I really believe is possible in this job is building stronger, more resilient communities by how you choose to prosecute and how you run your office. You've been in this work, but this would put your fingers on a lot more things, with a lot more control over the overall services. So what could you, in this role in Hennepin County – serving Minneapolis and more – do to build a more resilient community here?

 Well, the way I see this role, as a leader, is that the community is going to have access to their leader. They're going to be able to share information and talk about what they need to see done in their community so they feel safer, and so they can be vibrant and thriving. And I mean every single community – any crime that happens anywhere in the county is an issue. If people are feeling unsafe, I don't care whether it's 55411, 55428, or 55427 – whatever that space, that place, that city is, we're going to take it seriously. We're going to be in the communities having those conversations, understanding how we can work together with the community and any other public safety partners, along with elected officials – mayors, city council members, county commissioners – and use that input and feedback to make sure we're making those communities safe.

One of the things we have to do is build trust within that system, because if communities feel like the system is working with them and not against them, they're more likely to engage – more likely to have those conversations, so we know exactly what's going on, what they're feeling, what they're experiencing, and we can draft and develop policies and practices based on that. And when communities see that, it builds trust that we just don't have right now. A big part of this campaign has been about building trust, and as a leader, you have to listen before you can start doing that. That's one of the big things I'm going to bring in to build those relationships: listen to the community, then start making decisions based on that.

 The paper of record in our area, the Star Tribune, described you as the progressive favorite to replace Mary Moriarty. Moriarty has plenty of fans, but she also has plenty of detractors, with particular focus on her policies on prosecuting minors and on ending pretextual traffic stops. When you hear these criticisms of Moriarty's tenure, do you think there are actually some things you'd change under the hood, or would you continue with those positions lock, stock, and barrel – and even push further in that direction?

 Well, I definitely think there are some things I'm going to keep. The Conviction Integrity Unit is a big one – we've had two people exonerated who were wrongfully convicted and sent to prison; one individual lost over 20 years of his freedom. When you look at things like that, these are the things that lead to the distrust we have in the system, particularly for Black, Brown, and poor communities. There are more individuals like that in this county than people realize, and I want to make sure we have a system that's working to ensure those things don't happen – and if someone raises an issue that it may have happened, that we can go back, look at those cases, admit what happened, and do what we can to fix it.

Now, again, we're not going to give people back the years of their lives, their freedom, that they lost. But it goes a long way for a system to say, "There was a mistake, there was a wrong done here, we're going to correct that, we're going to give this individual his freedom back and put him back in the community." And then the state is on the hook for that – taxpayer dollars. The state pays claims when people are wrongfully convicted; we paid out one this past year. I'm co-chair of our finance committee at the state level, and we paid out a claim of almost $5 million – most of it went to one individual who was wrongfully convicted and later exonerated. Those are very rare cases, but we need to make sure we have a tool and apparatus in place to address those situations when they come up.

So something like that, I'm absolutely going to lean into. There are some other things too – there's a wage theft division that I really want to lean into, treating wage theft like the crime that it is, because that's what it should be. When working families are working two or three jobs, earning those wages, and not getting paid, it destabilizes the family, which destabilizes the community, which leads to public safety issues.

I look at this from a much broader perspective than any other candidate in this race, because I've seen it from a much broader perspective. My lived experience, coupled with my professional experience – including my experience as an elected official – means I'm looking at the whole board, in terms of how everything impacts public safety, not just the narrow lane of prosecution and the punitive process in our carceral system. To be clear, that's part of it – it's a tool we can use to disrupt violence and for deterrence, but it's not the only tool we have. Investments in programs that give people, particularly our young people, access to opportunities and resources upstream will help us avoid having to deal with these issues reactively on the back end – which we all know hasn't worked for us.

 Speaking of things not working for us – I think none of us is a stranger to working a job and thinking, "Man, if I were in charge, I'd do things a little differently under the hood." You've actually worked in the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, and I'm sure whenever you all get done for the day – which I'm guessing is something like 9:40 p.m., given your caseload – you've thought, "If I'm in charge, I'm doing this differently." So I'm not talking about philosophy here – I'm talking about things like office layout, structure, management, parking spaces. When you were actually working in that office, what did you think, "When I'm in charge, this is going to be different"?

 Well, one of the things I think about is that relationships are important – relationships with the bench, with law enforcement, with other elected officials, with communities, community leaders, and advocacy groups. Those are important because they really color the perspective people have – whether they believe you, and whether they trust that the system is going to treat them with decency and humanity.

You mentioned 9:40 at night – that's usually about the time, on a good day, that I might be leaving the jail after a long day in court, working with clients. I'm leaving the jail because I've had to visit a client who might be up for trial in a couple of days or the next week, and we're preparing for that. That's one of the things I want to work on with the bench – figuring out ways we can be more efficient moving cases through the system.

Oftentimes we have individuals – and this ties into conversations about how we handle bail, not just in our state but in our country. Bail was originally meant just to ensure someone would come back to court to continue the process. Right now, bail is very punitive – if you're poor and can't afford to pay it, you're sitting in that jail. And if you're sitting in that jail, there's collateral damage. You're not working, you're not bringing in a paycheck anymore. You're not able to pay the bills. You're missing out on your kids' activities.

If you're one of the caretakers, you're missing out on getting your kid ready for school. You're disrupting an entire family, which destabilizes things, which leads to more issues in public safety. So I want to work with the bench to figure out ways we can be more efficient in moving cases along, to limit the impact of bail situations where people can't afford to get out. But overall, I want to create – some of the conversations I've had with workers in the office right now show that morale is low.

One of my big priorities going in is making sure we create a working environment that people feel good about – that they feel good coming to work every day, and feel good when they leave at the end of the day, and feel good telling people this is the work they do and why they chose to do it. Because in most cases they chose to do this work because they want to find a way to give back to the community, to protect people and give back – and this is how they do that, as public servants, as line attorneys or prosecutors in that office, or as staff in victim services. All of those folks do this work because they feel it's a good way to give back to the community. So I want them to have the best environment possible to do that. And I've been very clear that I plan to be the most labor-friendly attorney they've ever seen in this state, and hopefully, when it's all said and done, in this country. That comes from my background – for the last 10 years, I've been a labor attorney, working with workers and standing side by side with them.

 Let's move from 9:40 p.m. to 9:40 a.m. You open your calendar and realize you have a completely blank day – no responsibilities, no litigation, nothing. What are you doing to fill up your day in your district?

 That sounds incredible – those days are very rare now. I've been an elected official at the state level for the last six years, and those are very rare days, because we're part-time legislators here – we also have full-time jobs. But on a day like that, the first thing I'm probably going to do is go to the gym and get a workout in, because that's important – it helps with the mental and physical side, keeping the energy up. I'll figure out what my wife's got going on that day, and hopefully she's got some free time, either for lunch or after work, so we can go hang out.

One of our favorite spots is Pub 42, right in New Hope, a few blocks from us – we'll go hang out, have a drink, get something to eat, and just spend time together. Because I've got to tell you, there are sacrifices to being a public servant, and a lot of the time you miss out with your family and your partner. You've got to find ways to make sure you stay connected. I used to tell Melissa Hortman this during session – I'd try to sneak away for a long weekend with my wife, and she'd ask, "What's the occasion? A birthday? A family thing?" And I'd say, it's–

 It's relationship maintenance. It's making sure we stay connected and find that time, even in the midst of so much chaos going on in your life and work. So that's probably what my day would look like if I had some free time.

 Well, Cedrick Frazier, I'd love to send you back to marital maintenance, but I imagine I'm actually sending you back to more interviews and more planning with the primary coming up tomorrow – you've got a lot on your mind. But I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to clarify your background and some of your policies with City Cast Twin Cities. It's been nice to get to know you a bit more. Thanks for your time today.

Meet Your Candidates: Cedrick Frazier for Hennepin County Attorney

We requested interviews from most candidates running in the major Twin Cities races ahead of the August 11 primary and November general election. Below, you'll find their answers in their own words on the issues facing the Twin Cities, their priorities if elected, and why they're running. We'll keep updating this page as more interviews come in throughout the fall, so keep checking back.

Cedrick Frazier for Hennepin County Attorney

Some interviews might be edited for length/clarity.

Meet Your Candidates: City Cast Twin Cities' 2026 Election Interviews

, who is running for Hennepin County Attorney. The primary is less than a week away, and we want to shed some light on these candidates for what is a very important role in the Twin Cities. Thank you so much for joining us, Hao.

 Hi, Sean. It's a pleasure to be here. I really appreciate you taking the time and offering the space, and I appreciate everything you do.

 A big part of City Cast's philosophy is about being a good neighbor. I want you to think about how your work as an elected official would tangibly impact the community you yourself live in.

 Well, Sean, one of the things is that for the last 10 years I've been the board chair of Asian Women United Against Domestic Assault. We run domestic assault shelters here in Minneapolis and St. Paul, providing mothers and their children a safe place where they can thrive and take the next step when they're experiencing domestic assault. For me, that's part of being a good neighbor – making sure we're all safe and taken care of, so we don't have to worry about violence and can focus on how to thrive.

I'm also a board member of a children's hospital here in Minneapolis and St. Paul. For me, living in the community is important, but being part of the community – and the resources that come from that – is equally important, if not more so. I live in the Regina/Powderhorn neighborhood in Minneapolis, right off 35W South and 46th Street. And there are just good things about being a good neighbor: I live by St. Joan of Arc Church, and every Sunday there's a lot of traffic, so I move my car off the street and park it on the slab in back so people can park in front. Small things like that – mowing your neighbor's lawn, picking up trash when you see it. Things of that nature.

 That sounds like a lot of good work in the community – and frankly, I'd love more neighbors who'd park on their slab instead of taking up spots. But when you get into office, if elected, how do you think your work there will impact the community – not through moving your car or serving on a board, but through actually doing the work of the attorney?

 Yeah, I've got over 20 years of experience in the criminal justice field. I was a correctional officer beforehand, working in the jails as a CO. Then I became a police officer, patrolling in a squad car. And now I've been a prosecutor for over 16 years. I live in Minneapolis and raised my kids in Minneapolis, but my experience as a criminal prosecutor spans everywhere from St. Cloud to Ramsey County in St. Paul.

I'm the division director of our criminal division, and I supervise around 40 trial attorneys and prosecutors. I also supervise two assistant directors, paralegals, legal secretaries, and everyone in between. I know how to manage a prosecutor's budget. I know how to hire and fire people. I know how to advocate when judges are too harsh on our attorneys, but I also know how to correct attorneys when they need to do a better job.

I've done everything you can imagine in the criminal justice field, from beginning to end. I know how to investigate cases as a police officer, and I know how to charge cases as a prosecutor. I also understand what it means to be a prosecutor who walks a victim into court and says, "Look at me – I've got you," because they're about to face the person who did that horrible, terrible thing to them. We're talking about sexual assault, aggravated robbery, child sex abuse cases, and everything in between.

I know what it's like to look at a jury and know they're working hard to do their civic duty – deciding whether I've proven my case beyond a reasonable doubt. That's such an important duty for the jury. And I know what it's like to look at the defendant and see that, too often, these are people with scarce resources – poor folks, people of color – who've become entangled in our criminal justice system. They have every right, like the rest of us, to be protected under the Constitution, and the Fourth Amendment is so important. I understand that part too.

So for me, it's a whole career of public service – making sure our communities are safe, that victims are heard and their voices uplifted, and that we look at defendants as if they were our own friends and family members, our neighbors – because the truth is, most people who are incarcerated do come back into our community. So we have to treat everyone with respect.

 That is – I mean, you've had an incredible career arc, one that tells the story of somebody who's seen a lot of different sides of the justice system, and of our world. I imagine that shapes your priority list if elected. So given the life you've lived, what are some of the top issues on your list if you're elected to this office?

 I think one of the biggest things right now – there's no denying it – is that our community, specifically here in the metro, has been impacted heavily by Operation Metro Surge. ICE's involvement in our communities was profound, violent, negative, and will have lasting impacts.

For me, I'm the only refugee and immigrant in the race – period. If you look at the slate of candidates, nobody else has that experience. I was born in Vietnam, raised by a single mother. We fled Vietnam with nothing but the clothes on our backs and lived in refugee camps in the Philippines for about two years. I believe, by the grace of God, we won the lottery when we were sponsored to come to the U.S. Catholic Charities sponsored my mom, my brothers, and me to come to St. Cloud, Minnesota. There, I learned what it's like to grow up poor in a trailer park – English as a second language, EBT, food stamps, translating for my mom – clawing my way through school, becoming a police officer, and then a lawyer.

But to get back to your question – and that's a long way of answering it – I've lived every aspect of what the county attorney's office touches. It reaches a lot of poor folks. It reaches immigrants and refugees who have language barriers. It reaches people who, especially with the ICE situation, don't know if they should report a crime because they might be undocumented – though just because someone's undocumented doesn't make them illegal. They could be totally legal, but their papers have expired and all they need to do is renew them. But there's a language barrier that scares them away from doing that.

So I've lived all of those parts of society, and if I get elected, it would be an honor to give voice to those experiences personally, not just academically. I'm also the only candidate right now actively investigating ICE and looking at potential prosecution. There's a case involving the man who was taken from his home in his underwear in the middle of winter – a U.S. citizen. I'm leading that investigation as the head prosecutor, working with law enforcement to investigate that case, among others. So while other candidates are talking about what they'll do once they get there, I'm actually doing the work right now.

And I say that with a heavy heart, because it's very important work – and it informs what will need to be done with Alex Pretti murder and Renee Good's murder, prosecutions the current county attorney won't be able to continue because she's stepping down. The new county attorney needs to hit the ground running. Right now, I'm the only one doing the actual work of ICE investigation and prosecution. That's one of my biggest priorities.

 And you're doing that work right now from your position at Ramsey County. In your time as an attorney, could you think of a case from before Operation Metro Surge – something you worked on years ago – that best exemplifies the philosophy you'd bring to the position of Hennepin County Attorney?

 Yeah. There are so many cases – I've had about 16 years of prosecution experience, so there are a lot. Sean, when you ask that question, so many faces flash through my mind. But if I had to pick quickly, there was one case involving two sisters who were very close – I want to be respectful, so I won't mention names. They went to a local college here; one of the sisters was really good friends with a football player. That football player ultimately committed criminal sexual conduct in the first degree against the sister's younger sister. It happened on a college campus – first degree involves forced penetration and injuries. It's pretty bad stuff.

One of the complicated things about crimes like that is the family and friendship dynamics, especially in a college setting – people start having rifts, one sister might not talk to the other, friends take sides. It's complicated. Most sexual assaults don't happen in front of everyone; they happen alone, just between the perpetrator and the victim. Those sisters had a really hard relationship during that period – they'd been so close, but that closeness wasn't there anymore during the prosecution.

One memory I'll always hold dear: at the end, both sisters walked out of court hand in hand, hugging each other – they were sisters again. There had been some distrust, some doubt about whether one sister had really suffered the harm. But you have to believe people when they say something's happened to them, and you also have to follow the facts and the evidence. I was ultimately proud to obtain a conviction against that football player, who committed – and I can say now, committed – sexual assault. Seeing those sisters come back together, seeing the justice system help heal people – that was a big moment for me. There are some magical things that can happen if you let people find their path to it.

 Hao, I understand you've been an attorney for 16 years. I've been a podcast host for 11 months, so I don't have the experience to make a smooth transition to a fluff question. You just gave a very thoughtful answer about a serious case, and I appreciate that – but I also want to get to know you a little as a human being. Let's say you're in South Minneapolis on a rare Sunday off – no traffic, because St. Joan of Arc isn't hosting a service – plenty of parking. What are you doing to fill the day?

 Yeah, actually it's pretty simple. It starts with a really nice cup of coffee – I'm a big coffee nerd, so I like to grind my own beans and do a pour-over. Then, if I'm able to, I like to sit down and write – something I haven't been able to do in years. I write short stories, poetry, things like that. Then a walk around the lakes – pretty calm. And if the kids are done with school or other activities, we'll get onto the soccer field together, and maybe draw some anime with my youngest – she really likes drawing anime. That's my perfect day. Doesn't require too much.

 Sounds like a pretty great day. I want to ask about your background, specifically your experience as a CO working in the jails, because it's rare for attorneys to have experience as police officers – but to have actually worked inside a correctional facility is quite rare. I consider incarceration to be one of the most problematic parts of our society, and people on the inside – whether working there or serving a sentence – have a unique perspective. Everything about your story brings uniqueness to what you do, but I want to focus specifically on what working inside a jail makes you think about the rest of the justice system. You saw that side of it early in your career, and now, as a prosecutor – and presumably in this new role – you're the one sending people to prison. What does that experience do for you?

 Yeah, well, thanks. So as a correctional officer, I worked at the Stearns County Jail for several years. Here's the deal: there are usually two COs to a pod of dozens of inmates, so you learn very quickly that if you don't treat people with respect and dignity, it can become a really dangerous situation for you and the other inmates. You learn to say, "Yes sir, no sir" to the inmates – "How are things going? How are you doing today? I noticed you might be a little down – what's going on?" You learn quickly that you need to treat everyone with respect and dignity.

And here's the other part: fairness. If you treat one person differently than others, people see it and know it, and that erodes trust. That was one of the biggest things I learned right away, and it was such a blessing to have that experience. Another thing I learned is that these are people with lives – kids at home, grandparents, mothers, sisters, aunts. You'd ask, "Hey, how's it going? You doing okay?" And they'd say, "Yeah, I'm doing pretty good." "Nothing going on?" "Nope – everything's good, because next Wednesday" – and this is real – "next Wednesday I get to get out for my mom's," or "my grandmother's 90th birthday. I'm going to be able to make that party. They're going to be so surprised when I show up – they don't even know I'm getting out." It's real – people with families, friends, and relationships that matter to other people.

You also know these are folks serving their time to society. They've committed a crime, they've been found guilty or pled guilty, and now they're serving their sentence. I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who've taken their punishment – whether they pled guilty or exercised their right to a trial and were found guilty. That's fine; you have the right to a trial. But once you're serving your time, you should be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. That's really important.

I've been a prosecutor for 16 years now – murder cases, sexual assault cases, auto theft, aggravated robbery, everything in between. If I started counting the years of people I've sent to prison, it would frankly – but prosecution isn't just about incarceration. It's a necessary component of it, but there are also people I've prosecuted that I think about, and I hope they're doing okay. They needed to go to prison – you don't get to stab someone and leave them dying on the side of the road without taking some responsibility for that. But I still hope they're doing okay. I hope they're out now, I hope they've gotten their GED, I hope they've been able to start the family they wanted. It's not as simple as just incarceration.

Being a correctional officer really teaches you that these are people, Sean. Between you and me, some bad decisions away, we could be incarcerated very quickly. And there's this whole other area – mental health, addiction – that leads people into lives where they ultimately get incarcerated. It's not something they ever really chose. I tell my kids all the time: when you're driving and you see something happening, nobody chooses that life. No one wants to wake up every day without medical insurance, begging for food, struggling with addiction, ultimately becoming a victim of crime themselves – because they're vulnerable on the streets – or maybe committing crimes out of necessity.

So for me, I think we need a lot of humanity in what we do. That doesn't mean we don't prosecute – that's still necessary, because victims of crime have to have their voices heard and uplifted too. Anyway, I'm very passionate about this. I could go on forever.

 Well, Hao, I appreciate what you've shared with us, and I appreciate the perspective you're bringing to this race. Hao Nguyen is running for Hennepin County Attorney. We appreciate your time on City Cast Twin Cities, and thank you again for spending time to talk about your positions and your background.

 Yeah, and Sean – I know you've been at this for just a little while, but I'll tell you one thing: I've done a lot of interviews, and you make a person feel comfortable. That's probably the most important thing a podcast host has to do.

Meet Your Candidates: Hao Nguyen for Hennepin County Attorney

Try out this Twin Cities crossword and put your knowledge to the test!

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Can You Solve This Twin Cities Crossword?

Roseanne Pereira

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