Republican Alex Moe does not mince words when speaking about his DFL opponent, Matt Norris. Running to win a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Moe is hoping to unseat incumbent Norris and swing control of the House back to Republicans.
The House seat Moe and Norris are competing for is located in the north metro area. The district, House District 32B, contains much of Blaine as well as all of Lexington. In 2022, Norris won the district by just 413 votes. As such, this north metro legislative seat will be one of the few competitive seats that will determine which party wins the House majority.
Alpha News reached out to both candidates for this story. Moe responded, Norris did not.
Moe told Alpha News that Norris has been a “terrible representative for his constituents.” The Republican candidate further explained that Norris “raised taxes, spent the entire $18 billion surplus, and increased government spending by 40%.” Furthermore, Moe described himself as more in touch with Minnesotans because he has “actually worked middle class jobs and knows what the middle class needs and what they want, unlike my opponent.”
A court operations associate in Anoka County, Moe has worked in manufacturing, corrections, retail, and security. Should he become a member of the House, Moe wants to improve education, address crime, and tackle inflation.
The Republican candidate said he hopes to “get rid of the new taxes that the Democrats passed the past two years and eliminate as much wasteful government spending as we can to reduce the tax burden.” Additionally, Moe said he wants to enact policies that will lower both the gas tax and the price of gas.
On education, Moe said “about 50% of students cannot read and do math at grade level.” Calling this “an extremely concerning statistic,” the Republican candidate said action needs to be taken immediately to address this issue. Moe told Alpha News that school mandates which do not contribute to academic success need to be removed, and the funds used on those mandates should be redirected to reduce class size, retain teachers, and provide necessary resources.
While Norris did not answer any questions for this story, he did participate in a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters. In that forum, Norris said he wants to “make life more affordable for Minnesotans” by reducing the cost of childcare, health care and senior care.
However, Moe says the way Democrats “have acted the past 21 months has been nothing short of ridiculous and an affront to democracy.” The candidate blasted the Democrats for increasing government spending, changing the state flag “without so much as a single actual vote,” and behaving in a partisan manner with no effort to “reach across the aisle.”
Democrats currently have a 70-64 majority in the Minnesota House. As such, a change in just four seats could hand the chamber to Republicans.
This article is part of a series called “Swing-District Spotlight” in which Alpha News examines competitive state legislative seats across Minnesota.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Moe as a “court administrator.” This story has been updated to reflect that Moe works in court administration as a “court operations associate.”
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
