Republican candidates hold meet and greet at the HUB

Kimber Wraalstad, Chief Executive Officer & Administrator at North Shore Health Hospital asks Republican candidates Roger Skraba and Andrea Zupancich what they could do if elected to help critical access hospitals like North Shore Health. Skraba and Zupancich were in Grand Marais last weekend meeting the public at the Hub, senior center. Staff photo Brian Larsen

Two Republican candidates, both Iron Range Mayors who are running for higher political offices, were in Grand Marais last Saturday at the Hub (senior center) to meet the public and answer questions.

Ely Mayor Roger Skraba and Babbitt Mayor Andrea Zupancich spent a couple of hours laying out their thoughts and ideas for what they would do if elected.

Zupancich is a candidate for Tom Bakk’s Senate District 3 seat. Bakk announced his retirement at the end of this session and endorsed Zupancich, who is running against Grant Hauschild (DFL), a city councilor from Hermantown.

Asked for an introduction, Zupancich said she is first a wife and mother of four, has served for eight years as Babbitt’s Mayor, has served as a Fight for Mining Member, Mining Minnesota Member, and an Up North Jobs Board Director. Andrea also owns and runs UpNorth real estate company, and her husband is a 4th generation Zup’s family grocer, which has been in business for over 100 years.

Roger Skraba is running for the Minnesota State Representative District 3A seat against incumbent Rob Ecklund.

Born and raised in Ely, Skraba is in his fourth term as Ely Mayor and was on the city council for three terms. He is a graduate of Ely High school and has a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management and a minor in Political Science from North Dakota State University. Roger also spent nine years in the U.S. Army. He currently works as a canoe fishing guide, and when not guiding, he works as a carpenter.

In addition to his mayoral duties, Roger is the Chairperson of the St. Louis County Planning Commission and Vice-chair of the Board of Adjustment. He is also the current trail administrator for the DNT Grant in aid Tomahawk Snowmobile Trail and Ely to Lake Vermillion Lake snowmobile trails, as well as the President of Club Mesabi, which promotes the Mesabi Bike Trail.

If elected, Skraba said the first thing he would do was introduce a bill to limit the governor’s (any Minnesota governor) executive power. He was critical of Governor Walt’s use of executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the closing of some businesses and schools and the mask mandate.

On the topic of immigration, Skraba said he was in favor of legal immigration, and he supported the J-1 Visa program. However, he noted he wasn’t in favor of giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses or the right to vote.

Other issues Skraba talked about included setting term limits for legislators, voting to make Minnesota a constitutional carry state, and a promise to work to protect all Second Amendment rights.

Offering his thoughts on mining, Skraba said he backs mining, including copper-nickel mining operations. When asked if copper/nickel mining was safe, Roger cited the Eagle Mine in Marquette County, Michigan, which is mining copper and nickel safely.

Additionally, he supports state identification for voters, and he says critical race theory fosters racism and is a concept that shouldn’t be taught in schools. Regarding funding for schools, Skraba said, “I believe we should allow the state-allocated money for students to follow the student,” adding he thinks “the education system should be reformed.” Finally, Skraba cited declining test scores by students to back up his assertion that schools need to rethink how they teach students.

Abortion, said Skraba, isn’t worth fighting about in Minnesota. “It’s in the state constitution, and if you could get the legislature to overturn it, the state Supreme court is made up of liberal judges who would overturn the ruling, and abortion would be legal again. So it’s not worth fighting about.”

When asked about the state’s $9 billion surplus, Skraba replied, “don’t be too surprised to find out it’s really more like $12 billion.” He said a priority would be to find out why the state is accruing so much of the public’s money, and then he would like to lower people’s taxes for an extended period instead of sending checks to people. However, he said he would be open to other ways of reimbursing the public who pays taxes, even sending checks to them, but he wasn’t in favor of sending checks to people who don’t pay taxes.

Zupancich echoed many of Skraba’s thoughts but also talked about school reforms, noting two of her children graduated with college credits. In contrast, two others struggled in high school because of disabilities. She said she would like to see more of a push for kids to get steered into the trades- electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc., saying not everyone was college material and there was a significant need to replace retiring workers in the trades.

On this issue of affordable housing Zupancich said the City of Babbitt had made 16 one-half-acre lots available for sale for $16,000 each, adding the lots had access to running water and electricity. So far, only four lots have sold, she said, but hopefully, the low price will attract young families to a community that has seen declines in school enrollment and has a tough time finding service workers for area shops and industry. “Lack of affordable housing is an issue that runs across the entire district,” she said.

A strong proponent of law enforcement and strong supporter of police, Andrea was happy to accept the endorsement of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, adding she will always “stand and defend officers who put their lives on the line every day.”

The Minnesota Social Security tax should be abolished, said Zupancich, wondering aloud how the state could place a tax on money that has already been taxed.

So far, Andrea said she has knocked on anywhere from 12,000 to 14,000 doors. Not everyone is friendly, but most hear her pitch or tell her what they want to see from their representatives. The big concerns, she said, are taxes, social security taxes, education and low kid’s scores on testing, the rise in gas and goods– inflation in general– and the lack of good paying jobs. She told the audience on Saturday she could help steer the state’s economy back in the right direction. She would fight for kids and seniors, the middle class, and the wealthy. She said she would represent Republicans and Democrats, the entire district, to the best of her ability if elected. And on this point, Skraba said he would do the same.