Windom Park resident Doron Clark filed his bid for the late Sen. Kari Dziedzic’s seat in the Minnesota Senate on Dec. 30, one day before the filing deadline and his birthday.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, he was elected to fill Dziedzic’s seat by a 7,783 to 746 win over Republican challenger Abigail Wolters. “Abigail and her team really worked hard,” Clark said. “It was surprising how many times she’d been someplace before me” during the short campaign.
He was raised on a sheep farm in southeastern Minnesota, near the town of Eyota. His father died when he was young and his family moved into town, where he and his siblings were able to receive free lunches at school. He moved to the Twin Cities to attend college at Hamline University; he’s lived in Northeast for more than 25 years.
Clark has been an active participant in neighborhood affairs, chairing the planning committee for Northeast Park’s new recreation center and ball fields. More recently, he has helped Windom Park residents get loans and grants to make homes more energy efficient.
He ran for Minneapolis City Council in 2009, and served as chair of Senate District 60 DFL in 2022.
He said one of his neighbors said, “Oh, you’re doing politics.” But Clark doesn’t see it that way. “I just go to neighborhood meetings to find out what’s going on. When you do that, you find out how the system works, and you see things that the government needs to do better. It’s about being part of the community.”
One of the things he’d like to see done better is an unfunded mandate that he says hurts Minneapolis Public Schools.
“It’s called cross funding,” he said. “The state funds 44% of the cost to educate a special education student, and Minneapolis picks up the rest. If that student leaves the district, the state continues to pay its 44%, and Minneapolis continues to pay 56%, even though the student is no longer in the school. The state has never fully funded this mandate. The same thing happens with English Learner programs. Minneapolis money goes outside the district when the student leaves.”
His election to the Minnesota Senate once again puts the DFL party in a one-seat majority. “We have to work together, and it may take time to get things done. I’m happy to share my perspective.”
Specifically for District 60, he wants to get the reconstruction of University and Central Avenues rolling. He’d also like to do something about senior housing. “There are people in their mid-70s in my neighborhood who are looking for a place where they can age in place.”
Clark works at Medtronic, where he is a senior director of the company’s ethics program. Previously, he worked at Target, often traveling to Canada during that company’s ill-fated attempt to expand beyond the U.S. He said he’ll work “very part time” at Medtronic when the Legislature is in session.
A long-distance runner, he’s participated in the Grandma’s, Twin Cities, Boston and Chicago Marathons as well as the Twin Cities 10K and Boom Island 5K races. He coaches cross country at Yinghua Academy. He’s also active on the Edison Activities Council, serves on the board at Hamline and is the finance manager for Northeast United Methodist Church.
He and his wife Molly have two daughters; Sylvie attends Edison High School, and Cora, Yinghua Academy.
He expects to take the oath of office by Feb. 3, and said, “I’m ready to go to work.”