Hauschild, Zupancich offer sharply different political visions

REGIONAL- In a race that could help determine control of the Minnesota Senate, incumbent Grant Hauschild and Republican challenger Andrea Zupancich offer sharply different visions for how state government should respond to the numerous pressures facing northern Minnesota.
Zupancich, the Republican challenger in Senate District 3, is campaigning on lower taxes, reduced spending and a crackdown on fraud, while emphasizing mining and logging as foundations for the regional economy. Hauschild, the Democratic incumbent, is making the case for targeted state investment in rural hospitals, EMS, schools, child care and economic development.
If elected, Zupancich said she would propose cutting taxes on Social Security payments, as well as cutting the gas tax and reducing property taxes. She also said she would look at how property assessments are calculated and change the homestead credit so it better tracks changes in home values. Zupancich said that the state surplus, combined with claims of high rates of fraud, shows that there are areas ready to be trimmed.
“If you’re cutting some funding from someone who’s just stealing it from you anyway, you’re not really cutting funding,” Zupancich said, adding, “You might hear that we’re cutting costs, we’re cutting spending, we’re cutting programs, but it’s really cutting the bleeding off.”
Zupancich said that the state government should focus on “basic necessities.”
“Government should be there to protect the people, provide health and safety. They should be there to provide services and for the well-being of the people that are paying their taxes, and that includes the protection, safety, you know, police, fire, ambulance, health, things like that, and all the basic necessities,” Zupancich said.
When asked what his first legislative priority was, Hauschild described a list of economic aid to the Northland, including relief for businesses affected by this summer’s fires, increased funding for rural schools, changing the state funding formulas for child care and mitigating the health care cuts from the “Big Beautiful Bill” that go into effect in 2027.
Health care is a strong focus of the Hauschild campaign.
“The big beautiful bill cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars, and I think that impacts northern Minnesota more than any other part of the state,” Hauschild said. “Again, because we have a higher level of Medicaid recipients.”
Hauschild explained that the region has five critical access hospitals that all rely on government programs.
“So at the state level, we have created the rural hospital stability fund to help provide uncompensated care for our rural hospitals when they’re facing these cuts. But the problem is, it’s just not going to make up for the cuts that are coming at the federal level, and so that’s where my voice, sort of talking to our federal delegation, is important,” Hauschild said.
Hauschild also pointed to rural ambulance services as a major health care issue, arguing that rural governments are often left to absorb the cost of providing ambulance services in areas where they are not financially profitable.
Zupancich echoed the importance of health care and argued for a private health care market that allows for provider choice.
“I would love to do whatever I can to help that because I think health insurance is very important. I also think that being able to choose who they get to use, as far as providers go, and get care in a reasonable time is important also. So there are different aspects that we need,” Zupancich said.
The election is taking place as people across the Northland find themselves facing increasingly challenging economic conditions. Both candidates acknowledge that people are struggling, yet their diagnosis and proposed solutions differ.
Zupancich pointed first to fraud, while also citing the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program and pressures on small businesses.
“I would first and foremost start with the fraud and how it’s affecting everything up in our district, along with the [Paid Family and Medical Leave] mandate, you know, and the smaller businesses were just all hurt, and it’s really tough to get going, and things are just going out of control,” Zupancich said. “I’m hearing even more than ever that people are just done with the state and leaving.”
She also equated northern Minnesota food prices to those in a state like Alaska, where remoteness drives up the cost of goods.
“As far as food that comes up here, that goes in line with transportation, similar to how Alaska’s food prices are so much higher than other places. It’s because of how you get the food there, right?” Zupancich said.
In regard to rising prices, Hauschild pointed to federal policies, arguing that high fuel prices caused by conflicts in the Middle East have a disproportionate effect on the Northland and that tariffs have hurt Minnesota industry by affecting the wider supply chain and lowering demand for taconite.
“People travel further for health care, for getting groceries and for shipping logging and taconite,” Hauschild said. “You know, people travel here for tourism. If gas is high, fewer tourists are going to visit our region. So gas and diesel disproportionately impact northern Minnesota more than other areas, and that really hurts our economy,” Hauschild said.
Hauschild explained that though steel tariffs help the region, tariffs on automotive manufacturing have had a negative impact on the demand for taconite, and without large purchasing contracts, taconite mines are struggling.
“Eighty percent of the taconite in our region is funneled to support the automobile industry. So if the automobile industry is lagging and we’re not selling cars or there’s rising costs because of tariffs, that impacts our ability to provide that supply chain,” Hauschild said.
Zupancich spoke favorably of the steel tariffs as well, explaining that she went to Washington to advocate for them.
“We have costs associated with everything that we make. So when other countries are able to produce it much cheaper because they don’t have the government standards that we do. I mean, it’s not a really fair and level playing field,” Zupancich said.
Where the candidates strongly agree is that bringing jobs to the region is key to combating economic pressure and that economic diversification is the key to a healthy Northland.
To Hauschild, this means investing state money in local communities as well as streamlining the permitting process while keeping environmental regulations sufficiently stringent. It’s an approach Hauschild wants to see applied to mining, helium, and data centers.
“I have worked really hard on permitting reform, making it so that that process is more transparent and more efficient,” Hauschild said, “but also fundamentally standing up for and protecting our environmental standards, our environmental law, our environmental review, not changing any of those,” Hauschild said.
Regarding data centers, Hauschild explained that he helped pass some of the strictest regulations in the country but that it is ultimately up to local communities to decide what they want.
Hauschild also pointed to additional state revenue generated by removing electricity tax exemptions.
“That was about $80 million over the biennium, or $160 million over the full budget cycle during the last budget last year that helped us bridge the budget gap that we were facing in the state of Minnesota,” Hauschild said.
Hauschild expressed frustration about a bill banning NDAs on elected officials during data center construction that was blocked by Republicans in the state House of Representatives. It was a point where he and Zupancich seemed to be in agreement. In relation to NDAs on elected officials, Zupancich said, “These are big decisions for a community, and the community should be aware of this stuff that’s happening.”
Where Zupancich differs from Hauschild is in the industries she sees as the foundation of the regional economy. While she supports bringing new industries to the Northland, she places greater emphasis on mining and logging and argues that tourism should not become the region’s primary economic driver.
“There are so many stories, and even from the old timers of how it used to be, and mining, tourism, and logging all together and thriving,” Zupancich said.
Zupancich believes the Northland has too great a focus on tourism.
“Tourism is great. Don’t get me wrong. You know, it should, but it should be the icing on the cake. It shouldn’t be the cake,” Zupancich said, later adding, “During the fires, they [the miners] were still working 24/7. During the floods, during the lack of snow, they were still working, and it was the tourism industry that was hit hard.”
Voters will choose between Hauschild and Zupancich in the Nov. 3 general election.
Editor’s note: Hauschild was interviewed individually for this story. Zupancich’s interview also included Rachel Aplikowski, a Republican media relations specialist assisting her campaign, who participated at points during the interview to clarify some of Zupancich’s comments.