On Tuesday, Sept. 30, CarlDems held their first talk of the year with State Rep. Kristi Pursell and Democratic State Senate candidate Mark Legvold. They discussed a wide variety of both state and national issues.
One prominent discussion topic was gun violence. Minnesota witnessed the assassination of State Sen. and Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, earlier this year. Pursell spoke of the concerns she had following the killings and explained that her name was on the list of legislators targeted by the assassin. Pursell said that many of her colleagues considered stepping away from their legislative roles, in hopes of avoiding risk for themselves and their families.She herself considered stepping away from politics but ultimately decided to stay involved.
“I still feel like I have work left to do,” said Pursell.
The assassination of Hoffman and the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church this August have raised the possibility of Gov. Tim Walz calling a special election to address gun violence. Any bill addressing gun violence, however, would need buy-in from the House Republicans who share power with the Democrats, which is not guaranteed.
“To my knowledge, no one [Republican] has publicly said that they will vote with us, even though there are very few things that are a 60–40 issue and doing something about gun violence after the summer and fall we had — 60% of Minnesotans want that,” said Pursell.
Pete Hegseth’s leadership at the Department of Defense was another topic of discussion. Hegseth has attracted controversy for his lack of qualifications, partisanship and sexual assault allegations. Legvold, a veteran, voiced these complaints, arguing that Hegseth’s and Trump’s leadership is tarnishing the reputation of the military and United States.
“I think changing the name to the Department of War is really missing the point on what’s really important and how America projects power. It should be defense,” Legvold said.
“My concern with what Pete Hegseth is doing within the department is he is rebranding it in Fox News’s image,” he added.
“Trump is not a diplomat, and that’s the other thing that is so scary… There’s no sense of partnerships that we have had that have made us so strong as a country. Our partners have made us strong. And now we’re just throwing them out. It’s the America first way of doing things, and it weakens our country,” said Legvold.
Much of the event focused on how students can get involved. CarlDems President Bea Culligan ’26 talked about the importance of phone banking for upcoming legislative and gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.
Transgender rights also came up in the conversation. Both candidates expressed support for
the issue, even though it has been largely ignored by national Democrats. Pursell said that her stance has been influenced by family.
“I have trans family and friends who are incredible humans. I used to just say, like, ‘Who cares what’s in someone’s pants?’ and now I’m like, ‘Oh no, the trans people in my life are incredible.’ They have had to work hard to be who they are, and not just sort of go along to get along,” she said.
“I feel really happy that Governor Walz has never backed down… Gender-affirming care has not changed one iota in Minnesota versus, you know, with whatever executive orders and [expletive],” she added.
Minnesota is currently being sued by the federal government for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing trans athletes to participate in sports.
“Bring it. Our Attorney General has sued and won against the Trump administration a dozen times already. We’re going to protect Minnesotans regardless of your immigration status, regardless of the color of your skin, who you love, what’s in your pants, your political affiliation,” said Pursell.
