Minnesota Rep. Erin Murphy wants to “stitch Minnesota back together again.”
The St. Paul DFLer made her third visit to International Falls Monday as she travels the state seeking election as Minnesota’s governor.
Murphy’s message to Minnesotans: We’re stronger together than apart, and we’re more alike than different.
Murphy said she’s proud she carries the DFL Party endorsement earned in June after six ballots, moving ahead at the party convention of state Auditor Rebecca Otto and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.
Along with the endorsement comes party infrastructure, such as field offices, field agents, voter lists and other resources that Murphy said she’ll use to get her message out in the next months.
“It just augments the work we’ve been doing for the past 19 months building a campaign from the ground up,” she said.
Murphy said connecting with Minnesotans across the state is important for the state’s leaders.
“We’re at a point in this country and Minnesota where we are at times really divided against each other,” she said Monday. “I want to use the power of the kind of politics that is about stitching us back together again. And that means showing up in communities across the state and staying present with the people of Minnesota, so that they know that I am going to be here in all our communities to fight for us.”
She also visited with people in Hallock and Roseau, where Minnesotans voiced concern about the “extraordinary cost of health care, the lack of access to mental health care, commodity prices, and the need for broadband (internet service) to support businesses.”
And she recalled a conversation with a man who told her “’It’s important for us to come together as Minnesotans again for Minnesota,’ and I couldn’t agree with him more.”
She said she hears more and more that Minnesotans desire to come together as Minnesotans, “in contrast with what we see coming out of the state’s capitol and the nation’s capitol, which is really about dividing people, using hate and fear to separate us from one another, and that’s no good for us. And I believe in the opposite. And I will continue to use those tools of practicality, bringing forward a full vision for Minnesota.”
Along her travels across the state, Murphy said she’s been impressed by “the steadfastness of Minnesotans, their sheer care for each other, their willingness to stand up for each other — it’s really evident. The desire for us to recognize that we all benefit if make sure all our communities are stronger, the real desire on the part of Minnesotans to be heard, and the belief that we can solve the toughest issues ahead of us if we really work on them and invest in ourselves.”
Murphy said she’s always learning.
“I think when you’re in a relationship with the people of Minnesota, you’re in the best position to lead,” she said. “There is so much good that I’ve gotten from this experience, and I see so much power.”
She will rely on what’s worked for her leading up to the Nov. 6 general election, when she expects to face off with former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, she said.
“I’ve already taken him on and beat him in 2010 when he tried scrapping general assistance medical care, I know what he did to the state’s budget and to communities across the state...”
And, Murphy said, she’ll “offer a strong alternative about what we’ll do together instead...
“Politics, for me, has always been about people, our lives, how we improve them, and I am determined not to get separated from the real human connection — it is the lifeblood of our campaign and certainly the lifeblood of any successful governor.”
