The labor-endorsed candidate in a special election March 11 that will determine control of the Minnesota House of Representatives is a longtime member of SAG-AFTRA, the union of media professionals.
David Gottfried, who is running in House District 40B, which includes Roseville and parts of Shoreview, signed his union card in 2011. Although he has since moved on to work in the legal field, Gottfried said he’s kept his SAG-AFTRA membership current to show solidarity with the labor movement.
“I’ve seen firsthand how being in a union improves the lives of workers and their families,” Gottfried said. “I want everybody to have access to that same opportunity.”
Both of Gottfried’s parents worked union jobs while he was growing up, his mother as an educator and member of Education Minnesota and his father as a state employee.
That background also instilled in Gottfried an appreciation for the critical role public services play in local communities. His mother, who now works in the Minneapolis Public Schools, saw firsthand the impact of a new state law that makes all children eligible for free breakfast and lunch, Gottfried said.
“She told me it was like a light switch went on,” he said. “For a lot of her students, having access to those meals, having a steady source of food is incredibly important. And I know it really does take off a lot of pressure on working families.”
Expanded access to school meals is just one of many accomplishments the so-called “DFL trifecta” – Gov. Tim Walz and majorities in the House and Senate – made in the previous two years, an agenda Gottfried said he will fight to defend if elected March 11.
That outcome would lift the DFL into a 67-67 tie with Republicans, who already have set out to dismantle or delay one of the signature achievements of the last Legislature, a paid family and medical leave law scheduled to launch in 2026.
“I think the reality is it’s going to be more playing defense, which is not a position we want to be in, but we have to make the most of it,” Gottfried said, adding that he will defend the family leave law “tooth and nail.”
The special election campaign comes at a time when most public attention is on the chaos in Washington. To make sure a key legislative race doesn’t fly under the radar, volunteers with the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation (SPRLF) have been working the phones since January to get union members to the polls.
“Minnesota has accomplished too much over the last two years to let Republicans and the corporate lobbyists who fund them take it all away,” SPRLF President Kera Peterson said. “Union members have each other’s backs, and we’re proudly working to support our union brother, David Gottfried, in House District 40B.”
As he reaches out to his neighbors in the district, Gottfried said, “every single one” mentions the crisis unfolding in Washington. He tells them that solidarity will be critical to meeting the moment.
“We’re entering a very scary time,” he said. “We need to take care of each other, and one of the best ways we can do that is to really invest in relationships with our union siblings and, beyond that, looking out for our neighbors.
“Take care of each other, and I will do what I can at the State Legislature to take care of my union siblings too.”
Union Advocate 