The 2024 general election is Tuesday and to help viewers make informed decisions, WDIO News is conducting candidate interviews so voters can hear directly from those wanting to represent us in St. Paul.

In the Minnesota house district 8b race, voters will choose between the incumbent, DFL Representative Liish Kozlowski and Republican challenger Shawn Savela.

What are some of the things that you’re hearing that are important to us in Duluth? we asked Shawn Savela. “Well, it was again, the prices of food, the prices of taxes, the property taxes, although we don’t have a lot to do with property taxes at the State level. But people are very upset about them and taxes in general,” Savela said. “And then the mandates and all the spending that was done this last time, where we had a 17 and a half billion dollar surplus and that was spent. And then they increased the taxes and other $10 billion, growing the government by 40%.”

We asked Liish Kozlowski the same question. “I would say that the big issues continue to be the little issues that trip up Duluthians, trip up Minnesotans,” she said. “And that’s affordability, economic security, good wages. People want to make sure that we have strong public schools. People want to be able to live and work and play in the communities of their choice, near their work, near their friends and family, and near outdoors. And so housing, as we’re facing a national housing crisis, continues to rise to the surface.”

Other priorities Kozlowski shared during our one-on-one interviews are recruiting and retaining a healthy workforce, the climate and holding polluters accountable, paid family medical leave, and being a voice for the voiceless.

“It’s also coming back to our fundamental freedoms, like an inclusive democracy,” she said. “So protecting our democracy and access to it, as well as our fundamental freedoms, like reproductive justice. As the only two-spirit legislator in the entire country, gender-affirming care, these health care decisions that are really about making decisions that are best for people’s families and best for their futures are what we’re going to continue to protect and make sure we don’t roll back,” Kozlowski said.

Other priorities mentioned by Savela include balanced spending, less government, clean energy jobs, addressing what he calls rampant government fraud, and ending unfunded mandates impacting employers.

“For example, I was told as a small business that congratulations, you’re now going to give 48 hours of time off to people. And that’s okay. I can deal with that,” Savela said. “But I’m looking at a nursing home that says I not only have to find somebody to work during that time, but I have to pay that person as well, and on top of the 48 hours, they still get their vacation and sick time. And that’s the thing that’s driving nursing homes out of business is all these unfunded mandates are very heavily regulated,” Savela said.

Then we asked the 8B candidates what they think they personally bring to the table to make them the best candidate?

“Well, I think it continues to be the things that sent me there in the first place,” Kozlowski said. “And having deep relationship with our community, whether it’s working with our local elected officials and up to our federal delegations, to community leaders and business leaders. When I ran the first time, I said that I was going to work with anybody. And you talk to anybody in Duluth and Minnesota, and they’ll tell you that that’s true,” Kozlowski said.

Shawn Savela answered that question by touting his extensive business experience.

“So I’ve been in business for myself for 26 years and I’ve been working in the market since 1990. I’ve worked with many people to make deals and I know how to make negotiations and make disparate people work together so that you take a number of people that have a bunch of different priorities, you have to get them together and make them agree that you may not get everything you want, but we’re going to try to get you as much as you can and everybody is happy and everybody is unhappy at the same time,” he said. “But I bring those skills to the table to work with people and I am a very moderate conservative. I don’t have extreme agendas,” Savela said.

The general election is Tuesday, November 5th.