Our Leadership Manifesto

Shakopee, Jackson Township, and Louisville Township are growing, evolving, and thriving with an incredible mix of rural, urban, and suburban culture. I am running for the Minnesota House District 55A seat to represent us in St Paul.

Running for the District 55A seat was an extremely hard decision. As Mayor, I witnessed first-hand the extraordinary partisanship, power struggles, and frustration that resulted in an inability to find solutions to the big problems facing our state.

This was particularly evident in the most recent Minnesota Legislative session where our elected leaders were unable to compromise and find solutions. The legislature sent an 989-page bill to the Governor with only a few hours to read it before legislators voted. We still don’t have a transportation solution. We still don’t have a tax solution. We still don’t have a solution to systemic inequalities.

Our problems are not solved by hiding and obfuscating from the public. The Legislature must work proactively and in full transparency for Minnesota.

However, I also met incredible people working hard to find compromises and reach solutions. That is what I want to do as your Representative in St Paul.

During my time as Mayor of Shakopee, we focused on Shakopee’s future.

Our mantra was to create a community where today’s kids grow up, experience the world, and return to Shakopee to raise families, start new businesses, and invest in the future of our community. Everything we did was centered around that philosophy.

At the Legislature, I want to work for you. I want to help focus our state government on the future for all of us and our next generations. To accomplish this, our State government must give power back to local governments. This is where the best decisions can be made— closest to the people. Local entities must have a voice on policy and how to best spend our hard-earned dollars.

Workforce of Tomorrow

Our workforce is the key to Minnesota’s future. We must protect and grow it.

As a State, we do not have the fundamentals in place to support future jobs and workforce development.

We must have a functioning transportation system with a mix of both roads and transit to accomplish our goals. We must have solutions for a Minnesota River crossing that is planned with the future in mind. We must have a wide range of housing that is affordable to people at every income level. We must have an education system that provides early childhood opportunities and does not put families and students in debt for 30 years.

Embracing Our Differences

Minnesota’s diversity is another key to our success. It is unconscionable to me that Minnesota can simultaneously rank second best in the nation for raising a family while also being second worst in the nation for racial inequities. This is a concern for all citizens and businesses in the state of Minnesota. We must stop simply talking about this issue and start actively working toward solutions.

Collaborative Government

None of this can happen without the ability to sit down together, find compromise, and govern collaboratively. During my time as Mayor, I was open to connecting with anyone who was willing to work hard to find solutions that were a win for them and a win for Shakopee. It never mattered where they were from, what they wanted to accomplish, or what party they represented. We worked together for the betterment of our community. Period.

This skill of collaborative governing is one of the most important things I want to bring to the Minnesota House. I want to work toward solutions that make Shakopee, Jackson Township, Louisville Township, and the State of Minnesota better. I want to work with anyone who shares this goal.

I am confident I am the best qualified candidate to deliver on these issues for our families and future. More than anyone else in the race, I have a proven record of achieving our stated goals. Over the next several months, I will be knocking on doors to better understand the issues you and your family face every single day.

I won’t just leave a brochure or mail you literature with bright colors and big, bold, polarizing statements. I will stop and listen. We likely won’t agree on all of the issues — and even though this is Minnesota — we shouldn’t. We will, however, find common goals and focus on ways we can work together for Shakopee, Jackson Township, and Louisville Township. That is more important than any single issue.

In the end, I hope you will take the time to connect with our campaign, think about the solutions we are presenting, and vote for me on November 6 to represent you in the Minnesota House.


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About Brad Tabke

Brad is 39 years old and married to Katy Tabke, a Shakopee high school teacher. Brad and Katy have two daughters, Jean (11) and Ila (7). Brad was the Mayor of Shakopee for two terms from 2012 to 2016, the Chair of the Shakopee Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Shakopee Park and Recreation Board, co-founder of the Shakopee Diversity Alliance, and a Shakopee Rotary member. Brad grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa and received a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from Iowa State University. He owns Grepoli LLC, a consulting company specializing in commercial real estate projects.