Oct 5, 2024 | By: Matthew Freeman

MN House District 2A Candidates Discuss Key Issues Facing the Region

The Minnesota House District 2A race pits GOP candidate Bidal Duran against DFL candidate Reed Olson, who wants to flip the district blue for the first time in over 10 years.

The district includes much of Beltrami County and the cities of Bemidji, Solway, and Wilton, northern Clearwater County and the cities of Clearbrook and Gonvick, Lake of the Woods County and the city of Baudette, and the Red Lake Reservation.

Bidal Duran, a former Bemidji police officer and Hubbard County Sheriff’s deputy, believes higher tax rates and the state of education are some of the problems facing the area, but put a big emphasis on public safety.

“We have a lot of theft in our district,” said Duran in an interview with Lakeland News. “How can a business stay open if they have a huge theft? What are we going to do about holding people accountable is a huge thing, right? We have to hold people accountable. This isn’t, make people feel good anymore. We have to start developing programs that hold people accountable. We can’t necessarily say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it. You didn’t mean to steal that.’ No, you meant to steal that. Let’s hold you accountable.”

Reed Olson, a former Bemidji city councilor and Beltrami County commissioner who is currently a homeless shelter director, believes expanding health and child care would not only help families in need, but also bring more businesses to the area. However, Olson believes the housing crisis is the number one problem facing the district.

“We need to build more housing,” Olson told Lakeland News. “The state of Minnesota made about $1 billion available for workforce housing and supportive housing. And that, you know, $1 billion sounds like a lot until you try to spend it across the state. It’s really not a whole lot of money, given the size of the problem that we have, the size of the crisis, zoning throughout the state and indeed throughout the country can be really restrictive and hamper development. So we got to look at some of the city’s zoning policies and see if there’s some room there to allow for more housing.”

Duran recently has been at the top of headlines after being excoriated by a state judge for “intentionally or recklessly mischaracterizing the truth” on a pair of affidavits in a felony drug case. Duran was also given a written reprimand for turning off his body camera twice during an exchange with a member of the community.

“I can tell you that I’ve never lied to a judge, I would never lie to a judge,” Duran stated. “It’s just a huge misunderstanding between me and this judge at this point in time. I tried to explain the situation to this judge, he won’t hear me out. So he wrote off of what he believed the situation was instead of the actual truth.”

A review of the incident by the Becker County Sheriff’s Office found that Duran did not violate any department policy, and the Hubbard County Attorney noted he would still use Duran as a witness on the stand. However, Duran says he wants to open himself up the public for criticism.

“I hope they look into me,” he added. “I hope I’m someone that they can come to find out that I’m just a regular person inside their community looking to make it better. I’m nowhere above anybody. I’m not above reproach, definitely not above criticism, by no means.”

Olson has also been in the news after a Ninth Judicial District judge ruled in favor of former county commissioner Jim Lucachick and 30 other plaintiffs who sued the county about the way the Board of Commissioners selected its redistricting plan in 2022. Olson served on the board in 2022 and voted in favor of the redistricting plan that passed on a 3-2 vote. The judge ruled the board did not follow state statutes regarding minimizing the population shift between districts.

“We made a vote on maps that, we thought the maps were really, really good,” Olson stated. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have voted for it, and our colleagues disagreed and one of them sued us. What my reasoning is for the map that I voted for, it would have ensured a fairly equal distribution of seats based on – there would have been two urban seats, there would have been one suburban seat and two rural seats, and it would have really reflected the makeup of our county. It’s not the end of the world either way, it’s not going to change anything. We’re all going to have a representative.”

Both candidates may have differing opinions on what the main issues are in the area and how to solve them, but they have one thing in common: both believe they are the best person for the job.

“People can see that I’m looking to serve the people, and I’ve been able to deal with multiple different backgrounds of people. Poverty levels to, you know, some of the most wealthy people inside this area,” said Duran. “So I’ve dealt with a good wide range of individuals, but working through some of the bigger problems and some of the worst situations is what I guess is going to set me apart from anywhere else.”

“I have a proven record of trust, of working hard for my constituents, for my neighbors,” said Olson. “I think the people know that. I think that there are things that we can do to improve our quality of life: building more housing, getting more child care, bringing in more jobs, and increasing the median income in Bemidji and in other cities in the district, I think is really important, and those are the things I’m going to do. I think people know that I’m going to do that. I think people know that I’m a good faith actor and that they can trust me.”

Our Lakeland PBS Debate Night coverage begins next week, and our very first debate is the House District 2A debate between Duran and Olson. You can watch that debate at 7 p.m. on Lakeland PBS on Monday, October 7th.

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