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I support Michelle Lee for Senate District 11 and will be casting my vote for her. I encourage everyone to do the same.

My fundamental reasoning concerns who she is, and who her opponent is. Michelle Lee is endorsed by the vast majority of unions, over her opponent. In northern Minnesota, union endorsements aren’t handed out without a lot of scrutiny regarding which candidate most strongly supports them.

Lee also supports Minnesota Care for all Minnesotans. As a relatively young person who was hospitalized this year for about a week due to Covid-19, medical care and coverage is something I believe we all need during a global epidemic. Michelle Lee also stands with reservations, and values their tribal sovereignty. As an enrolled member of the Red Cliff band of Ojibwa, and a person who grew up on the Fond du Lac reservation, that is important to me.

My biggest issue with her opponent — and the main reason I wouldn’t vote for him — is his stance on Covid-19.

In a MinnesotaPost article, Lee’s opponent pushed herd immunity as a strategy to combat Covid. The ignorance and destructiveness of this kind of assertion can’t be understated. Doctors have noted herd immunity has never been and should never be practiced without immunization. This idea is statistically horrifying. If only 60 percent of the United States population were infected at the current rate, more than 5 million mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and loved ones would die. Yet this is something that an elected official believes in?

Don’t let ignorance lead in our region. Vote for leadership that supports our workers and lets science and sense guide our response to the pandemic. Vote Lee for Senate District 11.

Robert Peacock,

Cloquet