State Rep. Igo reflects on 7A win, GOP losses and 'October surprise' newborn

The midterm elections ended Nov. 3, but for winning candidates throughout Northern Minnesota, Election Day was only the beginning.

State Rep. Spencer Igo of Wabana Township will head back to St. Paul in January for his fourth term. The Republican defeated DFL challenger Erin McCabe Ningen in House District 7A.

Igo also found Election Day victory in a constitutional amendment boosting school funds. Igo led the bipartisan effort to bring the measure in front of statewide voters, who overwhelmingly approved the ballot initiative.

But Igo will face an uphill battle in a newly blue Legislature as DFLers regained a trifecta in Minnesota.

On the day after the election, KAXE Arrowhead reporter Emma Krab spoke with Igo about his victories, his strategy for the upcoming term and how it felt to become a new father just days before Election Day.

Edited for length and clarity.

Emma Krab: My first thing for you is the school fund amendment. I know you played a really pivotal role with getting that off the ground. What does that mean to you to have this amendment come through?

Rep. Spencer Igo: It's a pretty humbling and powerful, like, reaction to see that change happen.

I mean, me and Sen. [Mary] Kunesh coming together a year and a half ago saying, "Yeah, let's start working on this thing," working with the task force, passing it through the House unanimously, getting it through the Senate bipartisan-ly.

And then bringing in partners from all around the state to have essentially five months to get this done, and then to see over 2 million votes come in for the thing.

Elections

MN constitutional amendment to boost school funds has support across party lines, geography

Emma Krab

Listen • 4:15

I mean, it's just incredible stuff, and that's a moment I'll never forget.

And it's not only going to help the kids in Minnesota and education right now. It's going to help the future kids in Minnesota.

When I went in to go vote yesterday, I was able to bring my 5-day-old son, and he sat right next to me in his carrier while I voted for this constitutional amendment that is going to benefit his future education.

EK: What was that experience like, getting to bring your newborn son to the polls with you and have him there while you were casting your ballot?

SI: I mean, it's hard to put it into words.

I started running when I was, you know, 24 years old, and was unmarried and just starting my life. And to blink and now, it's six years later, and I've just been elected in my fourth term and to be holding my son there and be with my wife — it's just, it's why I answered the call to serve — to leave my home, my state, my country in a better position than I found it in. I'll never forget it.

It's like a moment that you think is always going to be there, and then you're finally in it, and it just fills your heart.

EK: You're coming back for another term. What is front of mind when you're thinking ahead to January and the term beyond it?

SI: I think, right now, it's strategizing on the top concerns of the district, right?

And here in Northern Minnesota, it's all going to be about costs. That's something I heard on the campaign trail: bringing affordability back, whether that's in housing, whether it's in energy.

It's also going to be making sure to advocate for our businesses, our way of life — mining, natural resource-based industries — but also making sure that our rural voice is at the table.

And I already started this morning. I have colleagues, friends who serve on the other side of the aisle. I've already been talking and texting with them saying, "Hey, congrats on your outcomes, but I look forward to hopefully finding ways we can work together."

I think that's going to be the secret sauce and something that the Range delegation has a history of doing. And I want to keep doing that work.

EK: You know, we're seeing a flip here in the Legislature at the state level, and I'm curious about how that is guiding how you're moving forward with this next legislative session.

SI: It's another Democrat trifecta. So it's not just like I'm in the minority. It's being almost a super minority, right? My vote really won't be needed to pass anything in Minnesota here for the next two years.

What it's going to come down to is having relationships. This is a time where the real meat and potatoes of what a constitutional republic is, having statesmen and policymakers work together past the partisan line.

If we can find a way in one party trifecta to have fingerprints of all parties there and show compromise and good faith efforts that are going to make the lives of people — whether you're in Hibbing or whether you're in St. Paul — better, I think that's what will do the voters best.

That's what I'm going to be trying to do.

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EK: Is there anything else on your mind about the election as we wind down from the midterms?

SI: What I'm seeing as I read between the lines of what happened last night is people voted because, they wanted a change in how things operate and how things worked.

That doesn't necessarily mean they want a full-on Democrat approach. It means they want politics to be about what it's supposed to be, which is about people.

They want affordability back in their life. They want safety and security in their cities and in their communities. They want a state government that they can trust, that isn't going to be full of fraud or full of barriers and hurdles.

They just want to be able to live full lives, and I think that's what this election showed us.

I'm hopeful that I can be a part of that message and work with this new Democrat majority to try and be a policymaker and an influence with them as they now lead the legislative process.

We can accomplish the goal that we're all set there to do, which is pass the budget and just keep Minnesotans' lives moving forward in an equitable and profitable way.

That's what I think I'm taking away from this. And the Range itself has always been good at doing this, and we're going to continue to be good at doing it.

EK: Well, thank you for speaking with me, sir, and congrats again on being a new dad.

SI: He was, my wife and I, he was our little October surprise.

EK: (Laughs) That's great.

SI: This last week has been an absolute blur, right?

I just, I'm looking at things so optimistically and hopeful that good things are on the horizon, and just because your party doesn't win doesn't mean that bad things are going to happen. Good things can happen.