One of the most watched races in the Minnesota House--a swing seat which is predicted to play a major role in determining which party will control that chamber-- is District 14B.
Bluestem noted the reappearance of the Republican candidate in a May 31 post, After many years, Republican Sue Ek makes second try at St. Cloud MNHouse district.
Residency requirements forced her to withdraw from the 2005 race.
At the St. Cloud Times, Corey Schmidt reports that some of her positions from that race never went away--and they haven't been forgotten by people in the district.
In St. Cloud's MN House candidate discusses her long-term pro-life, anti-LGBTQ+ stances, readers learn:
Minnesota House District 14B candidate Sue Ek looks to bring a Republican voice to the DFL-controlled statehouse. As the familiar face canvasses the streets of St. Cloud, constituents are reminded of her 2005 campaign, which focused on anti-LGBTQ+ and pro-life legislation.
“I don't think the Defense of Marriage Act is enough because it (opens) the door for marriages between two men done in a different state to be recognized here,” Ek said in a 2005 St. Cloud Times article. She also said, "We need to do everything we can to protect life from conception to death."
Now, nearly two decades later, the St. Cloud Times sat down with Ek to see where she stands on these issues as she seeks office yet again. While her current pitch to voters varies slightly from her 2005 run, her opinions remain consistent.
Ek’s opponent, incumbent DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott, 33, alleges her views are extreme even among pro-life and anti-LGBTQ+ advocates, and criticizes Ek for trying to bring national politics to St. Paul rather than focusing on local issues. Attacks against Ek’s stances come in part after she spoke against birth control pills and abortions on religious talk shows like "The Good Fight." . . .
Now, nearly two decades and a supreme court ruling protecting same-sex marriage later, the St. Cloud Times asked Ek about her current beliefs. To which, Ek said LGBTQ+ people deserve basic respect but not marriage.
“I (still) believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Ek said. “I believe that all life should be protected, including the homosexual life." . . .
Read the rest at the St. Cloud Times.
The District 14B race makes an appearance in the Minnesota Reformer's The key 2024 races that will determine control of the Minnesota Legislature, and MinnPost’s 2024 Minnesota House Races to Watch,
though the latter article described Ek as ". . . the GOP challenger this year, a first-time candidate who has served on a local transportation advisory board and on her church council." Regardless of what anybody in St. Cloud seems to remember about her being a candidate in 2005.
Photo: Ek in 2021, from the Central Minnesota Catholic Magazine of the Diocese of St. Cloud article, St. Cloud woman to receive ‘Humanae Vitae’ award July 29.
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