Senate District 10 2026 Election Guide

Contributed

Party: DFL

Age on Election Day: 56

Community: Maple Grove Township

Employment: Frontier Integrity Solutions, Project Manager

Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.

My education and career have given me experience across very different worlds. My educational background spans the social sciences, physical sciences and applied technical fields. Separately, my military service taught me discipline, responsibility, teamwork and the importance of contributing to something larger than myself.

I’ve spent 14 years in the natural gas industry managing complex projects, people, budgets, regulations and compliance. That work requires bringing together people with different expertise, responsibilities and priorities, understanding how those pieces fit together, resolving conflicts and keeping everyone focused on a common goal.

I’ve also built a small business, created a nonprofit and volunteered in my community. Together, these experiences have taught me to listen, negotiate, build consensus, think strategically, manage competing priorities, solve problems and be accountable for results—skills I believe are essential to representing people effectively in the Minnesota Senate.

Why are you running?

I’m running because I believe government should bring people together to solve problems, not divide us into sides and tell us who to blame.

Throughout my life and career, I’ve worked with people with different backgrounds, responsibilities, priorities and points of view. I learned that we don’t have to agree on everything to listen to one another, understand what matters and build solutions that work for all of us.

I see too many people who feel unheard, too many families struggling to afford their lives and too much politics focused on winning the fight instead of solving the problem.

I believe in balance, accountability and remembering that we are people and Minnesotans before we are political parties. I’m running because I don’t want to simply complain about what government has become. I want to help make it work better—and leave something better for the people who come after us.

Why should voters elect you?

I haven’t held elected office before, and I won’t pretend that experience doesn’t matter. But there are different kinds of experience.

I’ve spent my life working in the real world, where decisions have consequences, budgets have limits, regulations matter and people with very different priorities still have to find a way to get the job done.

I know how to listen, ask questions, seek out people who know more than I do, weigh competing needs and take responsibility for the outcome. I don’t need everyone in the room to agree with me, and I don’t believe disagreement makes someone my enemy.

I’m not asking people to vote for me because I have all the answers. I’m asking them to vote for me because I will do the work to find good ones, tell them the truth, listen even when we disagree, and remember every day who I work for.

What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.

1. Democracy - If we lose this, we lose everything. Laws matter. Voting matters. All voices matter. I will represent the voice of the people, even when it is hard, in what I vote for and in what I bring forward as senator. 2. Strengthening local infrastructure - Rural schools, healthcare and EMT services are not options...they are a part of infrastructure and deserve representation as such. I will fight for rural counties to receive a fairer share of tax dollars and work for equalizing compensatory funding for schools and teachers. 3. Cost of Living and Rural Affordability - bringing back balance. This is not a Left issue or a Right issue, this is a People issue. We are not the Twin Cities. We don't have the same problems or the same lifestyle. I will work for reinvesting in rural communities.

Name a public leader you admire and explain why.

Maya Angelou. She led by awakening what was within people for greatness and she did not allow limits to define who she became or limit who anyone else could become either. She took negative energy and changed it into compassion, courage, and service. She saw the good in the darkness and that was her focus.

What natural resources policies do you support?

One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P), Agricultural conservation incentives and cost sharing, and sustainable forest management. My thought process here is this... there are important questions to ask when looking at all policies here. They are, 1. Does it protect the resource? 2. Is it based on good science? 3. Is it affordable and workable for the people affected? 4. Can government help with the transition or cost? 5. And does it preserve the farms, businesses and jobs that sustain our community?

What policies do you support to address concerns of widespread fraud in state-run programs?

The creation of the new independent statewide Office of the Inspector General and the Medical Assistance Protection Act (MAP Act).

What policies would you champion to help alleviate growing property tax burdens on residents at the local government level? 

I would champion to make the Homestead Credit Refund stronger, champion increasing the agricultural homestead credit and examining whether Green Acres adequately protects working farms from today's land-value increases, and also Minnesota already has tools like the Greater Minnesota Business Development Public Infrastructure program, Job Expansion Program, Minnesota Investment Fund, and rural revolving-loan programs that can help rural communities build infrastructure, grow local businesses, create jobs, and attract private investment. I want to strengthen and better target those tools so state dollars act as seed money—growing our local tax base and creating lasting rural wealth, so over time we can fund strong schools, roads, and public services without continually increasing the burden on homeowners, farms, and small businesses.

What does representative democracy mean to you?

It means everything to me and it is basically the entire reason why I am running summed up in two words. It means listening to the people and carrying those voices forward in every decision I make, in every vote I make, and every bill I write. It means people over party, it means doing things that are best for my district, even if it is hard. It means representing all people, not just some. It is why I am endorsed by both the DFL and the Forward Independence Party. The job of MN Senator is not about representing some people.... it is representation for ALL people. I believe in this so much that I even joined a coalition to "agree where I can, disagree where I must, and put the people of Minnesota before any political party."

Incumbent

Website: wesenbergforsenate.com

Party: Republican

KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.