Ronald Thiessen's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
Key
Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.
Ronald Thiessen did not provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2022 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Minnesota State Legislative Election 2020 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support legalizing abortion when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe abortion needs to be regulated after the fetus reaches the age of viability at about 22 weeks. Abortion after 20 weeks is rare and should always be a medical decision. Non medically necessary abortions after 22 weeks should not be allowed. This is essentially what we have since Roe v Wade except that viability happens earlier now due to medical advances. | |||
| No | a) In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions? | ||
| Yes | b) In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket? | ||
| I believe that ordinary Americans have little input into the tax code. It is written by the wealthy, for the wealthy. Politicians in both parties have been complicit in allowing this in exchange for political donations. We need to return to a progressive tax system, just compensation for essential workers, and a more equitable distribution of wealth in this country | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a limit on campaign contributions to state candidates? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support automatic voter registration? | ||
| Yes | f) Should Minnesota move toward a ranked-choice voting system? | ||
| I think ranked-choice voting would make the system less polarized. I believe that voting is an obligation of citizenship and all citizens should be automatically registered and expected to vote as a social norm. | |||
| No | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Should an individual under 18 accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | c) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| No | d) Do you support the use of private prisons in Minnesota? | ||
| No | e) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the legalization of recreational marijuana? | ||
| In the case of violent offenders under the age of 18, I believe the decision to prosecute as an adult should be in the hands of an accountable body that exercises discretion and is subject to review by the Court. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | b) Do you support lowering state income taxes as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| No | c) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring welfare applicants to pass a drug test in order to receive benefits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage of Minnesota? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring employers to provide paid family leave? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support providing financial relief to businesses AND/OR corporations negatively impacted by the state of national emergency for COVID-19? | ||
| I would limit that to small businesses, their displaced workers and farmers. The wealth of the top 1% has increased during this pandemic. They need to pay in, not take more out. | |||
| No | a) Do you support adopting federal education standards in Minnesota? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing teacher salaries AND/OR benefits in Minnesota? | ||
| Yes | d) Should immigrants unlawfully present in the United States who graduate from Minnesota high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| I don't like politicians setting education standards. Charter public schools for testing different approaches to education are ok. Funneling public money to private schools is harmful to the public education system. Private schools should be privately funded. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, geo-thermal)? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support increasing state funding for clean drinking water initiatives? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state regulations on fuel economy standards? | ||
| Our future existence on this planet depends on maintaining the health of our environment. It is the overriding #1 issue of our time. To our knowledge, this is the only inhabitable planet available to us. We need to stop exploiting it wealth and start preserving it as our only home. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you generally support gun-control legislation? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| No | c) Should teachers be allowed to bring guns into the classroom after passing gun safety training? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun ownership? | ||
| Guns should not be banned. Guns should be regulated in the public interest just like everything else. I hunt, as do many Minnesotans. I think our gun problems relate more to a breakdown in social norms and less to the guns themselves. I think guns for hunting and personal protection are fine with training and licensing for things like concealed carry. Highly lethal military weapons should not be in the public sphere. Ranges on military bases or regulated private shooting ranges where the guns are stored permanently would be ok for those who are trained in their use. | |||
| Yes | a) Should the state government increase funding for treatment facilities to combat opioid abuse? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support Medicaid expansion through Minnesota's health care programs? | ||
| No | c) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| No | d) Do you support legislation that grants citizens the right to choose to die through euthanasia? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support eliminating religious exemptions for vaccinations? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring businesses to provide paid medical leave during public health crises, such as COVID-19? | ||
| I strongly support publicly funded Universal Healthcare Insurance while leaving healthcare providers in the private sector and subject to competition for their services. I don't support active euthanasia but, as a nurse, I am a strong supporter of Hospice Care and I believe that administering adequate pain medication and sedation to a dying person is reasonable and necessary even if it may result in them dying sooner. Euthanasia is unnecessary in the face of death and is a slippery slope to be avoided in dealing with distressed people who are not dying. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Minnesota's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | b) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Minnesota's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support greater efforts by Minnesota state government in closing the pay gap between men and women? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support expanding anti-discrimination laws to include hair textures and protective hairstyles? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support legislation that prohibits sexual orientation conversion therapy for individuals under the age of 18? | ||
| I oppose all laws or societal norms that separate us into any legal category but human. All humans deserve to not be discriminated against. All humans are equal under the law. None of the above questions would be necessary if we simply afforded all human beings the same human rights as our Founding Documents promised. | |||
| I am running for a seat in the Minnesota House however, our politics, at every level, is now dominated by our deeply divided national parties and by the monied interests who own them. These sharp divisions are being exploited by a man who used them to take over our democracy and who now threatens to turn this nation into a soviet style sham democracy, when in truth he is establishing an autocracy. I am less focused on winning my election and more focused on insuring that America wins in November and our Democracy survives. | |||
| I see infrastructure spending as our top need in Minnesota at this point, especially rural Minnesota. I see that as spending on physical and social infrastructure. Physically, we need road, bridge and dam maintenance and broadband access throughout the state. Socially, we need investment in universal healthcare insurance and affordable education to allow the rural parts of Minnesota to compete with urban areas. I would focus on investing in the people of our state. That is where we would get the highest return on investment. I would tax the wealthy because they hold a disproportionate amount of our wealth. |
Vote Smart does not permit the use of its name or programs in any campaign activity, including advertising, debates, and speeches.