Our state legislative debates continued tonight on Lakeland PBS with a focus on District 9. Our debates this year are being done using the Zoom platform with candidates participating remotely.

The Senate District 9 race has incumbent Republican Paul Gazelka facing DFLer John Peters. Those two met tonight in a debate that hit on various topics, including whether they support defunding the police as some have suggested.

Our second debate tonight was for the two candidates seeking to win the House District 9A seat. Republican incumbent John Poston faced DFL candidate Alex Hering, and one topic they discussed was the projected state budget deficit, which could be between $6 billion and $10 billion dollars next biennium.

Our local debates wrap up on Lakeland PBS on Friday night when we shift our attention to District 10 for three debates. At 7 PM, DFL candidate Gaylene Spolarich will debate incumbent House District 10B Republican Representative Dale Lueck. At 8 PM, we’ll have the District 10 Senate debate between incumbent Republican Senator Carrie Rudd and DFL challenger Steve Samuelson. That will be followed at 9 PM by the House 10A debate between incumbent Republican Representative Josh Heintzeman and DFLer Dale Menk.

By — Lakeland News