The Minnesota House race for seat 3B—representing a district covering Duluth, Hermantown, Proctor, Rice Lake, and Two Harbors—is one that has been decided by razor-thin margins in recent years.
It didn’t start that way, as DFL Rep. Mary Murphy held the seat for 46 years from 1976-2022. She was the longest-serving female legislator in Minnesota history. When Murphy was defeated, it was only by 33 votes. After Republican Natalie Zeleznikar narrowly ended Murphy’s run in 2022, she was reelected in 2024, this time winning by only 160 votes.
Now, DFL-endorsed candidate Aaron Schweiger is taking on Zeleznikar, prioritizing affordability, fighting for Northlanders, and healthcare access for his district. “Northland families shouldn’t have to choose between healthcare, housing, groceries, childcare, or senior care. I’m here to make sure they can have them all at a reasonable price,” he said.
Need for accessible, affordable healthcare
A big topic in this race has been the need for accessible and affordable healthcare in the rural district. Right now in neighboring district 3A, the Aspirus Health Lake View Silver Bay Clinic is preparing to close. This closure will require residents to travel at least 30 miles for primary care going forward, potentially overloading other nearby hospitals, like those in 3B.
Schweiger says the closure is “directly because of Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill.” While he wouldn’t be able to make decisions regarding Silver Bay in 3A if elected, he says there are a lot of other promising solutions for the area to consider when it comes to healthcare.
Duluth Public Schools faced a $4.2 million deficit this school year, and Schweiger attributes 80% of that deficit to overwhelming healthcare costs. “It’s gotten to the point where those costs for families, students, and businesses are starting to bankrupt us,” he says. As a small business owner himself, he’s faced up to these costs first-hand.
Schweiger believes that moving toward universal healthcare should be the goal for Minnesota, and that he would like to sign legislation for reforms like what’s included in state Senator John Marty’s Minnesota Health Plan. Marty’s proposal would provide Minnesotans with insurance to cover all medical needs without co-pays or deductibles. As of now, the bill remains stalled in committee after being presented in this year’s legislative session.
Another potential solution to high medical costs in Minnesota that Schweiger backs would be to pass the 340B legislation, which would provide hospitals and clinics with cheaper prescription drugs. The bill rose and died this legislative session after passing the Senate 42-24 and failing to even reach the floor of the evenly split House. The kicker? Schweiger’s opponent, Zeleznikar, wrote the bill and then voted against it.
As Zeleznikar, the bill’s House sponsor, explained to MinnPost, the “decision [was] made by legislative leaders and so was out of her hands.” But the bill died in the House’s Health and Finance Policy Committee, where Zeleznikar actually voted against passing her own bill. As Schweiger sees it, “She voted against it because Big Pharma told them to kill it.”
While that is speculation, the observation lines up with lobbying by pharmaceutical companies as well as hospital executives against the bill. Schweiger asks voters to “take Zeleznikar at face value,” alleging that if she can kill her own bill for outside interests, she will do so again.
The razor-thin race for 3B
With the primary election just a few weeks away, Schweiger said he’s personally knocked on 15,500 doors in the district. What he says he’s heard from voters makes him optimistic about his chances. “People aren’t happy about the economy and feeling like there aren’t elected officials standing up for them,” he said.
What used to be a reliable blue district is now decidedly purple, which Schweiger chalks up to the wave of Trump supporters in his first presidential election in 2016 which shifted voting in his district because the Iron Range–which leans mostly Republican–spreads out most Democrats in the district, “even with Duluth being one of the most liberal cities in America.” Secondly, Schweiger says the “social wars the GOP drum up play a big part” in that divisiveness.
Schweiger is clear that this doesn’t mean a Democrat can win the seat again, but said that it does require a shift in strategy. He pointed to state Senator Grant Hauschild, a Democrat who won district 3 in 2022 when the incumbent retired, and said Hauschild “proved this is a winnable district by being more centrist.”
Schweiger says he now finds himself in the same position, but added that this doesn’t mean he is forgoing core progressive values. “I’m going to stand up to special interests, billionaires, and Wall Street…We’re going to make sure we have an equal, level playing field where our families aren’t getting screwed over,” he said.
While the margins of winning or losing in the district tend to be thin, Schweiger says he isn’t going to take anything for granted as Election Day draws closer. “We’re hoping to fight for every vote, support from every neighbor. I’m excited and I think we can do it.”
