Kari Rehrauer, Minnesota House 35B: Science teacher, union activist

By Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review editor

COON RAPIDS — “The presidential election of 2016 changed my involvement on many different levels, including in my union,” says Kari Rehrauer, a science teacher for 20 years. “Before that I was a busy working mom.”

Rehrauer is running for the open Minnesota House District 35B seat in Coon Rapids and Andover, endorsed by the Minnesota AFL-CIO and DFL Party.

The DFL incumbent, Jerry Newton, is retiring and has endorsed her.

Rehrauer currently is a member of the Coon Rapids City Council, winning election in 2020 to a four-year term.

In 2022, she ran for Minnesota Senate District 35 with AFL-CIO and DFL endorsement, losing narrowly to Republican incumbent Jim Abeler.

In running for the House this year, Rehrauer says, “I care deeply about preserving our freedom here in Minnesota, freedom to learn, reproductive freedom, freedom to love who we want, and making sure our union freedoms stay protected.”

Rehrauer grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, moving to the Twin Cities to attend the University of Minnesota. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and later earned a master’s degree in education. For 20 years, she taught middle school biology.

Her world was full as a mom and as a teacher, but after the 2016 election, she says, “all those things were under attack.”

“I took a more active role in the different things our union offered, lobby days and get-out-the-vote days.”

In 2020, she went to work full-time as field staff for her union, Education Minnesota, supporting 16 local unions including educators, custodians, bus drivers, and nutrition staff.

“I care about issues that are for putting people first,” she says.

Rehrauer is a 20-year resident of Coon Rapids, where she and her husband Dan raised their two daughters.

Website:
kariformn.com