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District 4B 2024 Election Guide

Jim Joy and Thaddeus Laugisch are running to represent District 4B, which includes most of Clay County and part of Becker County, including Detroit Lakes.

KAXE contacted every candidate twice using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.

Candidate responses have not been edited and are published as submitted.

As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics, though responses have not been uniformly fact-checked. With our small team of three, we are unable to proactively fact check every statement made by candidates. But we will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.

Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.

KAXE's Election Guide only includes candidates in contested races. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else is on the ballot.

Election Guide Homepage


Jim Joy

Incumbent: Yes
Party: Republican

KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.

Thaddeus Laugisch

Thaddeus Laugisch is running for House District 4B in the 2024 election.
Contributed
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Thaddeus Laugisch
Thaddeus Laugisch is running for House District 4B in the 2024 election.

Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 40
City/township of residence: Kragnes
Party: DFL

Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Kava Construction Inc. Designer and Safety Director

Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
In my career, I've spent 16 years designing commercial ag facilities and process lines throughout the western side of MN and eastern ND. Every design needs to meet the needs of the client and industry, as well as future growth. Simply put, I work to fit ten pounds of grain in a five pound bag at the budget for two. As our communities of district 4B require solutions for their demands, such as access to childcare, healthcare, and senior services, along with a need of funding for EMS and Fire services, I am willing to work on existing policies to meet our current demands without raising the cost to live in our homes.

Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
To cast aside personal beliefs and desire to serve their community by meeting with and listening to the constituents of their district. To then carry the voices of their communities to St. Paul and work with fellow peers to create solutions that resolve the needs of their constituents.

Why are you running for office?
I've witnessed the removal of services from our communities throughout the western side of the district where some communities no longer have access to basic needs including adequate food. This has created sleeping communities of individuals looking to get away from the city, but also those who are locked in their homes as they can not afford to abandon with no offers to sell. As this decline continues, it's beginning to effect our greater populated townships and with the decline of active homesteads, we continue to see our access to other services decline as well. This will take work and thinking outside of simple 'tax cuts' to get the job done. I feel I would be a great addition to the district of 4B to provide the action that matters most for house district 4B.

What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
My top priorities include improving access to affordable childcare for working families,
working to support and improve public school education, working to improve eldercare
for seniors, including finding ways to increase funding for emergency services for our
urban and rural communities. Finally, I intend to work to increase support for small
businesses in order to expand job employment opportunities.

Across the region, renters and owners are struggling to afford housing. If elected, what would you do to address the issues of availability and affordability for your constituents?
I would work to secure bills like HF684 and SF365 for our existing properties and structures. I'd also work to provide a balance in House to prevent streamlining and macro based zoning, such as HF4009 suggests. As our trade industries have declined over the last 10-15 years, I propose financial assistance and grants for students in construction, civil and structural engineering courses to meet our current demand for project approval and construction. As we have a demand to build, it is vital to ensure existing infrastructure will meet the new project demands as we must inspect the new projects to ensure they are built to code to withstand our temperatures and be used for multiple generations.

From our audience: What effective policies will you support that will prepare your district now, next year and in the future to improve resiliency against climate change?
I'd support legislation that focuses on reducing demand for finite materials while limiting the use of chemicals that can further hinder our land for future generations. I support methods to help reduce soil erosion while introducing practices that can provide nutrients back into our soil without hindering market demand. I support current efforts in place to maintain and reduce our green house gases and I'm open to methods of capture for use and fund research for renewable energy sources.

High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively?
First we need to be transparent with and how all funding is used. We as a state have defaulted on increasing property tax to meet the demands of the communities we live in where I feel we need to restructure our property tax to encourage not only long term ownership, but to provide a reduction in tax rather than a yearly increase. With payment options similar to an escrow account, one could reduce the fixed property tax value based on the condition of the structure on the date of purchase until a static municipal service and infrastructure tax, remains.

How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in government?
To improve transparency, you need elected officials who are willing to be transparent and vote for transparency. I feel we need to enforce the oaths of office so that we do not have elected officials voting strictly based on personal or lobby intent. I feel that any elected official should disclose and sustain from practicing fair market trades during their term as an elected official. Within a two week period, an elected official should disclose any payments received from and entity for public speaking at the capacity of an elected official as well as any donations they may receive from a company, group, organization, or PAC.


Return to Election Guide

Still have questions for the candidates? Contact information for all those who've filed to run for office can be found at candidates.sos.state.mn.us.