Following Justin Eichorn’s resignation from the Minnesota Senate, candidates are entering the race to fill his district 6 seat. Two of those candidates hail from the same city, Nisswa.

One of the candidates is Republican Keri Heintzeman. She is married to Rep. Josh Heintzeman, who represents district 6B in the Minnesota House. She previously worked as a district director for the Trump campaign in 2024. Some of her priorities include fiscal responsibility, personal freedom and government transparency.

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“Working as a district director for Trump’s campaign in 2024 gave me the privilege of talking with constituents across the district. Time and time again, I heard the need for a strong economy, fiscal responsibility, and confronting the woke agenda in education coming from St. Paul. These issues are important to the district and they’re important to me,” said Heintzeman.

“Let’s get government out of the way and let Main Street thrive. For one, our Senate district is one of the best places to live, work, and raise a family. We’re powered by tourism, mining, and recreation. Very diverse. We need economic policies that reflect that. And I support policies that serve both our people and our local businesses, not hinder them.”

Another candidate in the race is former Chairwoman of the Minnesota GOP and current Mayor of Nisswa, Jennifer Carnahan. Some of her priorities include lower taxes, supporting small businesses, cutting wasteful government spending.

“I just ran for mayor a few months ago and I went door knocking across the entire city of Nisswa multiple times over. The biggest thing I heard at the doors from folks and families was how much they are being stretched. We’re being taxed from every angle in Minnesota at a time when inflation is very high, energy costs are high, food has gone up, gas prices have gone up, and families are just too stretched,” said Carnahan.

“When you look at Minnesota, who has a rainy-day fund and a budget surplus, why are we hounding taxpayer dollars over in a piggy bank, so to speak, right? We need to be responsible with government. We need to look for ways to make government more efficient and work for the people and find ways to let people keep more money in their pockets.”

The candidates are still awaiting an official announcement from Gov. Tim Walz declaring a special election.