Brad Tabke, Minnesota House 54A: Leader on transportation issues

By Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review editor

SHAKOPEE — “I’ve been having a lot of really good substantive conversations on the doors about substantive issues in Minnesota,” says Brad Tabke. “Especially having Governor Walz in the race [as running mate for Kamala Harris] has really put a large spotlight on the work we did.”

Tabke is running for re-election to the House District 54A seat in the Shakopee area with the endorsement of the Minnesota AFL-CIO and the DFL Party.

In Tabke’s two non-consecutive terms in the Minnesota House, he has earned a 100 percent lifetime voting score from the Minnesota AFL-CIO on working families issues.

This year’s election follows two years’ legislative sessions with historic progress on a wide range of worker-friendly policy issues and investments in the public good.

Tabke has been vice-chair of the House transportation committee and notes that the 2023 transportation bill, investing in transit and transportation projects— and creating thousands of jobs — “is huge for all our friends in labor.”

“If I’m lucky enough to get re-elected, my plans are to work on roadway safety,” Tabke says, “especially local roads unsafe for pedestrians and bikes.”

He’s not leaving re-election to luck, however. Tabke says he personally has knocked on 45,000 doors. His team has knocked another 40,000 doors. “We make sure to talk to everybody,” he says.

“We are one of the GOP’s top targets in the state,” Tabke says. “This is a big race,” one of four seats the Republicans are trying to flip.

“Our union and labor friends, they understand how much work we did for workers in Minnesota,” Tabke says.

Tabke is a former two-term mayor of Shakopee. His wife Katy is a Shakopee teacher and serves as vice-president of her Education Minnesota local.

Website:
tabkeformn.com