Candidates in District 57B offer contrast: Jeff Wilfahrt
Jeff Wilfahrt says he makes decisions based on data
Jeff Wilfahrt
Jeff Wilfahrt, the DFL candidate in House District 57B, came to the race through a very personal reason.
The much-publicized story of his U.S. Army soldier son’s death in Afghanistan in February 2011 put Jeff and his wife, Lori, into the spotlight when they felt it was important to tell his story as the Legislature considered a constitutional amendment ballot measure to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
Jeff testified against the measure and told lawmakers about his son Andrew, who was gay.
“I took that as an affront to my son,” Wilfahrt said of the amendment, which will be before voters in November.
He said the state constitution should be about expanding rights, not inhibiting them.
Through his involvement in the amendment debate, Wilfahrt said he was asked by many people to run for the state House, including DFL state party Chairman Ken Martin of Eagan.
“I didn’t go looking for this,” the retired 3M scientist said of his entry into politics.
Although he has strong feelings about the proposed constitutional amendment, Wilfahrt says there are many other issues with which he is concerned.
Wilfahrt describes himself as someone who is tight with money and has voted for both Republicans and Democrats in the past.
“I make my decisions based on data,” Wilfahrt said. “I let the information lead us in the right way.”
That approach has led him to support state bonding bills because the jobs they create increase demand for other goods and services.
He said his father owned a hardware store and that the business didn’t thrive because of tax breaks.
The state needs to invest more in living-wage job creation and invest in secondary and higher education to bolster the workforce, Wilfahrt said. He sees equality as an overriding issue in reference to access to education, tax policy and economic opportunity
“I believe in Minnesota,” he said. “It is a state with a long history in progressive politics. … It is not about one of us, it is a matter of all of us.”
He concedes that his district is not favorable to Republicans, but he says he is a candidate who can attract a wide range of voters.
“I like to think that I am a reasonable man,” Wilfahrt said. “I am a common man, not well polished.”
The Wilfahrts, who met while attending high school in New Ulm, have lived in Rosemount for the past 28 years. Their three children graduated from Rosemount High School.
They have a daughter and son, who attend graduate school at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and the University of North Carolina, respectively.
Wilfahrt, who worked for 3M for 15 years before accepting a buyout when he was 39, has been largely self-employed since 1992, working as a contractor in software engineering.
He earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Minnesota at Morris.
More information about his campaign is at www.wilfarht.org.
Tad Johnson can be reached at tad.johnson@ecm-inc.com or facebook.com/sunthisweek.
Mr. Wilfahrt seems like a nice enough guy but it seems like he is only running for one reason. I understand that gay marriage is the most important issue to his family but it’s not for mine. I need to know I will have a job to go to before I worry about social issues. Ms. Wills just seems like she’s more in tune with what the priorities are for people in this district.
Bob, actually gay marriage is NOT the most important issue to my family. This is a common misconception. Our argument is, and will remain, that if this amendment passes over 200,000 of my fellow Minnesotans will be denied the opportunity to stand before the MN Supreme Court and contest the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA.
It is this fundamental right of legal redress that will be denied and which we find to be an affront to what our son died to defend, the constitution guarantees this right.
It may well be that the MN Supreme Court will uphold DOMA, and we will accept that position. But to deny a fellow citizen the third branch of government, namely the judiciary, well that is just plain un-American. If this amendment passes that is exactly the effect that will occur. Remember, the proponents of this amendment are afraid of “activist judges”. Law is all that binds us, and the courts are where we defend and claim our citizen rights. That is what the constitution is intended to defend.
So you misunderstand our position Bob. Please correct yourself and get it right. My opponent is among the party fearing the courts.
As for other the other issues I think you should read what I have written, both on the campaign website, my blog on Rosemount.Patch, and other locations before you declare me out of touch with the area politics.
I trust SunThisWeek will alert you to my rebuttal.
Jeff Wilfahrt has had both a successful career with a major Minnesota Forbes 500 Company AND his own privately-owned contracting business. As he is quoted in the article: “‘The state needs to invest more in living-wage job creation and invest in secondary and higher education to bolster the workforce,’ Wilfahrt said. He sees equality as an overriding issue in reference to access to education, tax policy and economic opportunity.”
I am sure that Ms. Wills is a nice enough person, too, but she has spent the last few years involved in the same legislative mess that has concerned itself more with social issues than in the economy. Bob, how, exactly, are her priorities more in tune with the people in this district?
Still no useful commentary from Wilfahrt on jobs and the economy. The marriage amendment is on the ballot and will have been decided by the time the new legislature meets. What will he do about the myriad of other issues?
By the way, The Williams Institute at UCLA found just 563 same-sex couples in Dakota county (& just over 10,000 state-wide) in an exhaustive study of 2010 census data . Far from the 200,000 that Wilfahrt cites.
Jeff appears to be just another one-track pony. Gay marriage, Gay marriage, Gay marriage, Gay marriage. That’s all we ever hear out of him. He appears to have no plans for anything else, despite his claims to the contrary.
Guess what Jeff, gay marriage will have been decided by the voters before this is all over. So really nobody cares what you think on gay marriage, it has no relevance on who is elected to this position.
Meanwhile your opponent his views on things other than gay marriage and I don’t have to pull teeth to find out what those views are.