By Karen Kraco, Mark Peterson and Cynthia Sowden
A special election has been called to replace Minnesota House representative Diane Loeffler, who died Nov. 16. The primary will be held Jan. 21 to narrow the field of Democratic contenders. (No Republican candidates have filed for office.) Marty Super, the Legal Marijuana Now candidate, will not be on the primary ballot, but will be on the Feb. 4 ballot. We have included his information here. Here are the 12 office seekers.
Mohamed Issa Barre 
Neighborhood: Bottineau
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: Mohamedbarre.com
Mohamed Barre has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Arts degree from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in the health and human services field. He works for Hennepin County’s Health and Human Services Department and has lived in the Bottineau neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis since 2003. In 2017 he ran for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and was not elected.
His overarching priority is a healthy community, which he says requires 1) affordable housing 2) universal health care and 3) funding for education. “Every human being has the right to have health benefits. Of course it requires funds, but at the end of the day, human life … is sacred, should be respected. We cannot allow our colleagues, neighbors, our citizens to feel pain while we are enjoying our life, those of us that have the privilege to have a job.”
He said that to get a healthy citizen, first one must invest in education, and free lunches are a key aspect of that. “That is essential because a healthy person can think, and work. In order to reduce disparities of the underprivileged children so that they aren’t left behind, you need to provide a free lunch for them.”
When asked what his style would be like if elected, he said, “I want to be everywhere. I don’t want to be missing in action. I want to be someone who presents to the community. Their vote is what will put me into office. And I will give back to them by being wherever they want me. It doesn’t matter whether it’s few or thousands of people there, I will be there for them.” If elected, he said, he would like to serve on the Housing, Health, Education, and Tax committees.
Why is he running? He wants to represent the community, “those who really need a voice. … “We should have highly diverse elected officials from Northeast Minneapolis. Of course I am an immigrant. But I don’t want to sit back. I like to get involved, show people that I appreciate America and I appreciate the second chance that I got. As a public employee, I serve people every day. I want to also represent our community.”
Piyali Nath Dalal 
Neighborhood: Audubon
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: piyalinathdalal.com
Piyali Nath Dalal grew up in Nebraska and moved to Minnesota for college, where she studied English and international relations at the University of Minnesota, and earned a Master of Public Policy degree at the Humphrey School. Between her undergraduate and graduate studies, she worked for the Minnesota state government, for a nonprofit organization, and in higher education. She lives in the Audubon neighborhood and has lived in Northeast Minneapolis for 20 years. Dalal is a writer, primarily for children, and also works part-time at Yinghua Academy.
She said her three top priorities are: 1) Working for the rights and services for the most underprivileged Minnesotans, which can include children, elderly, and people facing economic challenges. 2) Education. She wants to see the state of Minnesota have many exciting options for kids, starting with preschool and past high school graduation. 3) The environment. She wants to work to protect the natural resources that we have and try to understand better how we can prevent or combat climate change.
With respect to her style, “For me, it’s really important to identify who the stakeholders are in any situation and also to learn about the history of that particular issue. I would like to convene gatherings with a lot of different groups of people throughout my district. I feel that I bring the ability to facilitate a dialogue where everyone is both a teacher and a learner and what everyone has to say is equal.”
She explained why she is running: “I am at a place in my personal life where I can commit more time outside of the home. I was a stay-at-home mom. Also, I have a combination of skills that I’ve developed from different parts of my professional, educational and volunteer life. I feel like this is the most equipped that I’ve been to be in a situation working with legislators and groups from throughout the state in trying to create policy change.”
At the time of the interview, she had not contemplated the legislative committees she would like to serve on, saying she was unsure if the person elected would be assigned to Diane Loeffler’s assignments.
Amal Ibrahim
Neighborhood: Waite Park
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: amalformn.org
Ibrahim is a Somali native; she came to the U.S. in 1999, landing in California. As a child, she acted as interpreter for her parents and others, a skill she continues to use today.
She began her political activism in California, organizing students to pass the DREAM act and to lower in-state tuition. She has also worked with Grassroots Democrats, a California-based group dedicated to returning control of the White House to the Democratic Party in 2020.
She has lived in the Waite Park neighborhood since 2012 and is a homeowner. She works as an interpreter in the public and private sectors and has worked in the U.S. federal court system. She sees herself as a bridge between cultures. “It’s important that people from Middle Eastern and East African backgrounds have a representative that looks like them and can get their message across,” she said. “Immigrants need a voice.” She seeks to build a multiracial coalition of students, seniors and people of color in Northeast.
Universal health care would be her top priority as a legislator. “As an interpreter, I have seen firsthand how complicated and inequitable our current system can be and the impact it has had on many struggling families,” she said.
She is also an advocate for affordable housing and racial justice, equity and inclusion. She would like to see more people of color in the legislature. “Immigrants are lagging behind.” She also advocates free college tuition and taxing the state’s top 1% earners to fund schools, mass transit and public housing. She would vote for the legalization of marijuana. She said Minnesota needs a Green New Deal to create jobs in a new green economy. She wants to address the pay gap between men and women, and “would honor Loeffler’s legacy of being a strong advocate for women.”
Jessica Intermill 
Neighborhood: Audubon
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: jessicaforeastside.com
Jessica Intermill is an attorney with her own practice, doing treaty litigation for tribal nations. Before becoming a lawyer, she worked as a server in a state where minimum wage was $2.13 per hour, and sometimes paid more to get to work than she made on a shift. She added, “I’ve known what it’s like to pay rent with a credit card, to balance parenting responsibilities, to live with a chronic illness and to start my own business.” She listed her priorities as patient-centered universal health care, stronger penalties for labor trafficking, and more funding for transit in District 60A.
She said that even with the Affordable Care Act in place, 25% of people are skipping care because of costs. She supports transit funding so people in need can get to jobs, and calls for living wages and family leave for all workers and their families. She supports criminal justice reform, the end of for-profit prisons and legalization of marijuana, both for tax income and to expunge marijuana possession crimes.
As a legislator, she would do for her constituents what she does for her clients: jump in, learn, listen and problem-solve in a way that respects their histories and futures. “I do that by asking about their goals and their values so that so I can craft a solution that works because it honors both.” She is interested in seats on the Health and Human Services Policy, Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division, and Transportation Finance and Policy Division committees.
Intermill said, “I was shocked when Representative Loeffler passed away. She leaves a powerful, powerful legacy. She showed up in big ways, in small ways; she was there with us when we learned how to door-knock down on Central. And I love the Eastside. For more than a decade, my family and I have made the Audubon neighborhood our home. Now I want to give back by advocating for the Eastside and working hard to ensure that Minnesota gives all our neighbors the same opportunities it gave me.”
Sydney Jordan 
Neighborhood: Northeast Park
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: sydneyjordan.org
Sydney Jordan has lived in Northeast Minneapolis since 2014, in the Sheridan, Bottineau neighborhoods and currently in Northeast Park. She said she is an environmental and union organizer. She has worked for the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, Jacob Frey, and currently is the state director for the campaign to Save the Boundary Waters. She said she has been working on progressive issues in the Minnesota Capitol since 2012 when she was an organizer for MPIRG and worked against the Voter ID amendment.
Jordan said she wants to be the education and environmental candidate. She outlined her top priorities: 1) Fully fund public education in Minnesota. 2) Make sure that we are combating and finding solutions to climate change and cleaning up industrial pollution and protecting Minnesota’s special places, such as the Boundary Waters and Lake Superior. 3) Standing up for everyone in terms of respecting human dignity, so standing up for basic human rights, like access to affordable health care, and workplace protections.
If she were elected, she said her style in the legislature would be that of an organizer. “I would be someone who would bring all of the diverse voices to the table to make sure that we’re leading for our district and for the state. I would make sure I’m organizing my fellow legislators and constituents to make life better for everyone across the state. It’s really important for me that everyone has access to the Capitol and their legislator, and I want to make sure that I am an open-door leader and a collaborative worker.”
Jordan decided to run because she wants to serve, she said. She grew up in a family of public employees. “Serving others and our community was something I grew up doing.” She wants to draw on her experience working with the legislature. If she were to have her choice of committees, she would like to be on the Education Finance committee and the Water subcommittee of the Legacy committee, and Taxes. “I know I would make a difference on any committee I was on,” she said.
Sonia Neculescu 
Neighborhood: Sheridan
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: sonianeculescu.com
Neculescu is a newcomer to Minnesota and Northeast. She came to Minneapolis five years ago to attend the University of Minnesota; she lived in Como until she “got priced out” and moved to Sheridan last year.
A first-generation American (her parents immigrated from Romania), she received her degree in political science and Spanish in 2018, and has wasted no time getting into politics in Minnesota. She worked on the campaigns of Ilhan Omar and Raymond Dehn as a student organizer and said she feels an “urgency” to run for office herself. Yet, “there are a lot of barriers to office,” she said, that she’d like to knock down, namely money.
Her primary work is the political action director of Women for Political Change (WFPC), a multiracial, youth-led organization that cultivates the leadership and political power of young women and trans and non-binary Minnesota residents. She quit her side job as a restaurant server to campaign.
“A lot of young people and working families are struggling to make a living. When 70% of your net income goes to rent, it’s not acceptable. Why are property taxes going up so much?” she asked. She would add a fifth tier to Minnesota’s income tax structure that would tax the top 1% of earners in the state. She also supports a $15/hour minimum wage with no tip credit and said Northeast needs a representative with a working class history.
Neculescu favors public education and would like to see a moratorium on charter schools. “We’re cannibalizing the public schools,” she said. She would also push for free college for all.
She feels confident she can get things done in the legislature, and would like to work on the Taxation committee. “Whoever gets this job will have to start right away. I’ve been building relationships at the Capitol,” she said.
Aaron Neumann
Neighborhood: Holland
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: fornortheast.org
Before Aaron Neumann had his own real estate business, he was a community organizer, a congressional aide for then-Congressman Keith Ellison and a journalist covering local issues. He is currently the vice president of the Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association and founder and organizer of the annual Hotdish Revolution and Empty Bowls NE. He has raised over $50,000 for three local hunger causes and works on environmental issues related to Northern Metals and the GAF roofing plant.
He has a long list of priorities: Securing legacy funding for the Minnesota State Arts Board and regional arts councils with the long-term goal of increasing the Arts & Culture Legacy Fund; housing for all, specifically $300 million in bonding for Housing Infrastructure Bonds (HIB) and General Obligation (GO) Bonds to support the production of affordable homes in communities statewide; $38 million for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide emergency shelter, supportive services and programs for homeless families, housing that supports Minnesotans with severe mental illness, and Renters’ Rights legislation such as the Pay or Quit Eviction Protection (HF 1972) and Tenant Protections (HF 1511), which grants protections to mitigate homelessness and housing instability.
Neumann said, “I will also work to restore the MPCA Citizens’ Board, support legislation that would require that the state of Minnesota to convert its vehicle fleet to a hybrid or electric low-or-zero-emission vehicle fleet, support the Minnesota Green New Deal … and work for legislation that provides financial incentives and educational programs that encourage conservation and reuse of water, low-use water systems, and reduced use patterns in all residential and commercial buildings.”
Neumann says, “I’m passionate about our Northeast community and am proud to have played a part in contributing to our vibrant arts culture, in building our neighborhood camaraderie, in enhancing our livability and protecting and promoting our river. My style is cooperative, persistent and cheerful. On my first day, I’ll bring hotdish to the leadership at the Capitol – both DFL and Republican – to promote the Hotdish Revolution and to be known as someone who’s there to work together to get things done.”
Aswar Rahman
Neighborhood: Logan Park
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: aswar.us
Rahman was born in Bangladesh and came to the U.S. when he was six years old. He grew up in the Bottineau neighborhood. His mother owned and operated a store nearby. They lived next door to the Minneapolis Police Federation offices, and he used their phones on more than one occasion to let his mother know he had locked himself out of the house. “I came to know the police as good people, here to help,” he said.
There were no mosques in Northeast when he was a kid, so he received his early spiritual guidance by attending the Polish mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church. He attended Holy Cross, Sheridan and Edison and played football and softball in Bottineau Park. He worked his way through the University of Minnesota and started his own business, a social media firm, last year. At first, his firm worked for non-profit organizations, but has shifted over to politics. He is the social media director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s presidential campaign.
After the 2016 presidential election, he “took a deep dive” into politics himself and ran for Minneapolis mayor in 2017. Although he found himself somewhat overwhelmed by the experience, he said he realized that the rest of Minneapolis thinks differently than Northeast. He said he understands the Northeast ethos of hard work and family and would carry that attitude to the Capitol.
If elected, he would make reducing property taxes one of his priorities. He said he wants to see people stay in their homes and be able to invest in them, and he wants renters to be able to afford their rent. “Development should not displace people,” he said.
He also wants to lower prescription drug prices, and supports proportional police staffing. The police have a hard job, he said, and they need more support than they get. He’s interested in light rail
(“Bangladesh has a better transit system,”) and would like to serve on the Transportation committee.
Saciido Shaie
Neighborhood: Holland
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: saciidoforhouse.com
Saciido Shaie is the co-founder and executive director of Ummah Project, a nonprofit outreach organization that assists the Somali Muslim community in Minnesota. She is a recipient of the 2006 National Community Award and has been a community leader and political activist for the last 10 years. She is on the steering committee for the Parent Leadership for Child Safety and Permanency with the Minnesota Department of Human Services and PCAMN. She is also a member of the Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, a Holland neighborhood member of the Minneapolis Neighborhood and Community Engagement Commission, and a member of the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council.
She worked on Paul Wellstone’s last campaign for U.S. Senate in 2002 and Keith Ellison’s first campaign for Congress in 2006. As a result of these experiences, Shaie said, “I fell in love with how the system works; when you don’t like something, you don’t wait for someone else to do it for you. You go ahead and be part of the change-makers.”
Her top concerns are housing, especially for families with children; rent stabilization; and health care. Shaie is a renter herself, and is worried about the lack of affordable units in Northeast for people who are unable to finance home ownership.
Shaie feels that she is well-suited for working in the Legislature: “I’m a people person, and I like creating ways to collaborate with all kinds of people. I always talk to people to ask the ‘how’ and ‘why’ before I act, and I believe that community comes from relationship-building.” She added, “I am running because I want to continue to serve and make a bigger impact– to give something back. I have learned that my deep love of Northeast Minneapolis inspires me to do all I can to protect and strengthen this community.” Her choices for legislative committees are Health and Human Services and Jobs and Energy.
Marty Super 
Neighborhood: Northeast Park
Party Affiliation: Legal Marijuana Now
Contact: marty.j.super@gmail.com
Super got into the legalize marijuana movement ten years ago when his wife began treatment for an incurable brain tumor. He said she tried marijuana when other methods could not ease her nausea and pain. “Within 15 minutes, she was able to eat again,” he said.
His political activism began after she died. He has been working with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for the past ten years. He ran for the Minnesota Senate in 2016 under the Legal Marijuana Now party banner against Kari Dziedzic and garnered 22% of the vote.
Super grew up in Northeast – his grandfather was one of the original settlers of old St. Anthony – and graduated from Edison. He attended the University of Minnesota and Anoka Technical College, where he studied electricity. He retired in 2008 from Illbruck, a North Minneapolis company that makes acoustic foam. Super lived outside the Twin Cities after retirement, but returned to Northeast a few years ago.
If elected, his first priority would be to make use of marijuana in all its forms legal. He’d like to see a constitutional amendment to that effect.
Although he hasn’t given much thought to legislation beyond legalizing marijuana, he would “get with” other, like-minded legislators – “you can’t go it alone” – to work on health care; he likes Sen. John Marty’s plan. “Northeast has a lack of affordable housing,” he said, indicating another issue he’d like to tackle. He’s also in favor of raising the minimum wage and would advocate for free college tuition.
“As a freshman legislator, I probably don’t have a committee choice, but I would like to serve on Health and Human Services,” he said.
Zachary Wefel 
Neighborhood: Waite Park
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: zacharywefel.com
Zachary Wefel is the president of Wefel Law Firm. He is a past president of the Windom Park Neighborhood Association, and co-founded the Northeast Minneapolis Tool Library, now the Minnesota Tool Library. Wefel managed the organization as it grew to include over 1,000 members and thousands of tools. Wefel said that the Library’s two branches empower people across the Twin Cities with access to tools, workspaces, and classes, and that as State Representative, he will, “Continue to empower the people of District 60A with the tools to build on our collective strengths, cultivate resilience, and renew our community.”
Wefel lists his priorities as “investing in the Eastside, where we need safe streets, affordable housing, and community institutions that lift us all up; investing in health care and our families because high-quality, affordable healthcare is essential for Eastside families. I will work to make enrollment easier, provide a public option, fight for reproductive and gender justice in healthcare, and support reforms that reduce costs for consumers; and invest in our kids and our schools, because the best way to ensure an inclusive, equitable, prosperous community is to make sure every child goes to a school with the funding and infrastructure they need to succeed, including universal pre-K, wraparound support services, and support for our teachers.”
Wefel said he would be collaborative, stay grounded in the community and make his decisions based on the best available data, “Because we need to pass legislation based on evidence instead of slogans.” Asked why he is running, Wefel replied, “because of the difference good government has made in my life. Growing up in a union household, my family relied on union-won benefits and protections. I got a world-class education at a public high school because of the Minnesotans in the past who invested in education. My friends and family have relied on the protections of the Affordable Care Act. I want to work to make the changes we need so everyone has the government protections and benefits they need to succeed.”
Wefel said he’d like to be on the Education Finance, Health and Human Services Finance, Government Operations-Subcommittee on Local Government, and Education Policy committees.
Susan Whitaker 
Neighborhood: Marshall Terrace
Party Affiliation: DFL
Contact: WhitakerforHouse.com
Susan Whitaker majored in communications and secondary education at the University of St. Thomas and currently works in human resources for Hennepin County. In the 1980s she was a co-founder of the Concerned Citizens of Marshall Terrace. In 1990s and 2000s she helped to write the neighborhood revitalization plans for Marshall Terrace and St. Anthony West. She served on the city’s Capital Long Range Improvement Committee, where she was the chair of the Human Services, Health and Safety committee. She’s been a Marshall Terrace resident for 54 years.
Whitaker outlined her three top priorities: 1) Affordable health care. She supports a single payer system and would like to focus on reducing administrative costs within the state Medicaid program while maintaining the current level of Medicaid funding. Adequate funding of health insurance for state employees and cost containment measures with respect to pharmaceuticals are also goals. 2) Education. She feels that the state needs a diverse teaching workforce and would support bills like HF 824, which would have provided hiring and retention of out-of-state teachers willing to serve in hard-to-fill districts and increased the diversity of teachers. She would work for measures that would alleviate student debt and protect against predatory lenders. 3) Public transportation. She wants to make sure that public transit is properly funded so that people of all incomes have reliable transportation throughout Minnesota. She supports environmentally sound modes of transportation, reducing emissions and the stress on our roadways and highways.
She said that she is “a very ethical person” and has a collaborative, progressive style. “I’m always going to work for the solution, not get derailed by the differences that we have. No matter what issue I’m talking about, no matter whatever side I take, even when I’m discussing issues with people who take the opposite side, I do have a knack for finding some common ground.” She would be interested in being on committees on education and healthcare and is open to others.
Whitaker said is running because she wants to be sure that the Northeast and Como neighborhoods are well represented and that underrepresented groups such as students and senior citizens are given a voice. I have a real good pulse on what the residents are concerned about. I’m an active listener. I get out there and have meaningful conversations with people.”
For further research
• As we learn of other opportunities to meet and listen to the candidates, we will update our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/mynortheaster/
• Senate District 60 DFL asked candidates to fill out an exhaustive questionnaire. Responses are posted at: https://sd60dfl.com/
• Senate District 60 DFL held a forum Saturday, Jan. 11, taped by The Uptake http://theuptake.org (it is in two parts due to a technical difficulty)
• The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District and five neighborhood organizations held a forum Monday, Jan. 13. Video from the forum: https://www.facebook.com/minnesotacommunitynetwork/videos/478224446228432/
To vote early
Here is early voting information that is found at http://ci.minneapolis.mn.us/VOTE/voters/WCMSP-221860
Early voting at: Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services, 980 E Hennepin Ave., Mpls. 55414
Hours for Special Primary: 8:00am – 4:30pm on weekdays through Monday, Jan. 20
Saturday, Jan. 18: Open 10 am – 3 pm
Monday, Jan. 20: Last day of Early Voting 8:00am – 5:00pm
Special General: 8:00am – 4:30pm on weekdays Tuesday, Jan. 28, thru Monday, Feb. 3. Saturday, Feb. 1: Open 10am – 3 pm
Monday, Feb. 3: Last day of Early Voting 8 am – 5 pm
Vote by Mail is available for the Special Election. Fill out the special Absentee Ballot Application to receive a ballot through the mail.