Ray “Skip” Sandman is the Green Party candidate in the 8th District Congressional race. Sandman is a Vietnam vet, spent 25 years as working in corrections, and now serves as an elder and spiritual healer for the Fond du Lac Band. He was in Cook County last week campaigning.
He isn’t as well known as 8th District congressional incumbent (DFL) candidate Rick Nolan or Republican candidate Stewart Mills III. Nor does he have millions of dollars to spend on ads, but Ray “Skip” Sandman believes the time is right for voters to select a Green Party candidate to represent them, and he believes he is that person.
Sandman is running on a platform to ensure sustainable economic growth, to produce renewable clean energy, to expand living wage jobs, to give veterans the care they need, gender equality and equal rights for all, and for clean air and water.
He is especially opposed to mining that produces sulfide ore that can pollute water, which he said will harm plants and animals and people if it escapes its holding areas.
“I am against the sulfide mining because of what it does to the water. My opponents say it will bring jobs but I look at it a different way. What will happen when the sulfide chemicals escape—and they will escape—and reach our rivers and lakes and poison our water? What then?
“It’s up to us to save the environment and to ensure our children, grandchildren, and their children have clean water, clean air, and a sustainable world to live in. Say no to sulfide mining. Say no to poverty. Say no to letting our veterans go without. Say no to Minnesota being the 4th highest in the nation regarding student debt. Say no to not being heard,” said Sandman.
Instead, said Sandman, “Say yes to clean water. Say yes to affordable education, to clean water, to a living wage, to veterans having the best care and say yes to a Green future.”
Sandman was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1953, and grew up on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Brookston, Minnesota, graduating from Albrook High School in 1953. After high school Skip enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served two tours of duty in Vietnam.
Coming out of the service Sandman took a job as a corrections officer and worked 25 years at the North East Regional Correction Center before retiring. Retirement led him back to work for 12 years serving the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe before he rejoined the Fond du Lac Band where he now works in the Mash Ka Wizen Treatment Center as spiritual advisor and a traditional healer.
Sandman lives in Duluth with his wife Babette where they spend time with their children and grandchildren. They have been foster parents for decades and because of this have a large, extended family.
“I would like to thank all of the people that I have met in Cook County for their friendship and support,” said Sandman. “I am not a career politician. I am a visionary and I have my eyes on leaving a good and bright future for all of our children and their children to come,” said Sandman.
If you would like to learn more about Skip Sandman’s views and his candidacy, go to skipsandman@gmail.com.
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