David Wiester
Other | Minnesota
Candidate Profile
Liberal
BIOGRAPHY
Name
David Wiester
Party
Other
Election Year
2020
Election
General
Race
State Rep., Dist. 63A
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Benilde-St. Margaret's High School, St. Louis Park, MN, HS diploma, 1989
WORK & MILITARY
Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Certified Nursing Assistant, 2005
AFFILIATIONS
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), Member since 1995, Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign
Campaign volunteer in 2015 and 2016, SEIU (Service Employees International Union), Member since 2006
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, Monthly donor since 2009, Grassroots Party of Minnesota
Candidate for MN senate 1996, U of M NORML, Member and volunteer, 1990-1993
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
MN Senate, 1996
Minneapolis Mayor, 1997
Race
ENDORSEMENTS
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
Legal Marijuana Now Party
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (1)
Bernie Sanders (2019)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Disagree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Disagree
I support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which requires health care providers to provide life-saving treatment for infants who survive an attempted abortion.
No Answer
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Abortion should only be allowed when a uterus-owner wants to have an abortion.
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Agree
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Agree
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
If I was running for federal office, I would greatly reduce military spending and foreign aid. At the state level, my proposed criminal justice reforms, would hopefully reduce our spending on incarceration. Re-legalizing marijuana and imposing a modest excise tax on it would reduce enforcement costs and generate revenue.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Governments should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Disagree
Governments should define marriage as between one man and one woman; no other definition of marriage should be legalized or supported with taxpayer or public funds.
Strongly Disagree
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Agree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
No Answer
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and render unto God that which is God's It means that religious institutions and people should not use government to impose their religious beliefs on others. People of faith have a right to practice their chosen lifestyle. It is equally important, though, that others have an equal right to not practice someone else's religious lifestyle. If a church chooses not to perform same-sex marriages, that's their prerogative. If they want to legally impose that preference on people who are not members of that church, then that's a problem. Laws should be based on secular facts and values, not on ancient tomes or subjective spiritual experiences.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Agree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
I strongly support Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All proposal. However, that is a federal issue and I am running for state office. Since we're not likely to get Medicare for All from either Biden or Trump, I support full funding of health plans administered by the MN government. I also support increasing the tax break that employers receive for providing their employees with health coverage.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Strongly Disagree
IMMIGRATION
I am in favor of construction of a wall and other necessary infrastructure on our border that gives complete control over entering and exiting the United States.
Strongly Disagree
State and federal funds should be denied to any public or private entity, including but not limited to sanctuary cities, that are not in compliance with immigration laws.
Disagree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
I don't have a fully-developed position on who should be allowed in. I think that Trump's proposed border wall will be about as effective at keeping Central Americans out of the U.S. as the Maginot Line was at keeping Germans out of France (i.e. not effective). I am concerned that deporting millions of illegal aliens will also sweep up many U.S. citizens and legal aliens who get wrongfully accused. However, I don't like that the illegal aliens are an easily exploitable caste of untouchables. Thus, we should allow illegal aliens to perform 6-12 months of public service (e.g. fighting forest fires, constructing affordable housing, assisting with daycare services for the working poor) in exchange for a 5-year visa. I am not opposed to enforcing immigration law. However, there is no justification for the overcrowded unsanitary concentration camps that our government ran.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Agree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Disagree
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Agree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I believe that A Course In Miracles was dictated by Jesus to the mind of Professor Helen Schucman and, thus, is the most accurate representation of his word that has been published. As Jesus teaches us, in A Course In Miracles, all suffering is caused by the mistaken belief that we are separate from God and from one another. When we eliminate our barriers to knowing our Oneness with God and with one another as thoroughly as Jesus did, this world will cease to exist to our perception and we will wake up in Heaven where we have been all along.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Liberal
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
'Very liberal' is how I am generally described by others. My views on foreign policy are libertarian (i.e. the best way to defend America is for our government to stop committing crimes against people in other countries and, thus, provoking hatred and terrorism against us.) The public posts on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/david.wiester) and my campaign's Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/WiesterForMNHouse), over the past few years, validate that I agree with Bernie Sanders on most issues other than gun rights. They also show that I used to be a libertarian but transitioned in a more progressive direction in the early 2010s.
What education or experience qualifies you to hold the office for which you seek election?
I took some political science classes at the U of M in the early 90s. I'm not planning to win. I'm mainly using this candidacy as a platform for publicly promoting marijuana re-legalization and for expressing my views on a number of other issues that are important to me.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No, I have not.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I support increased funding for public defenders so as to reduce wrongful convictions. I support replacing cash bail with GPS trackers so that (a) suspects can be located if they don't show up for court and (b) suspects who can't afford bail or bond don't lose their jobs and apartments while sitting in pre-trial detention. We need to invest more in renewable clean energy. We need to fully fund education. I support labor unions. The state should provide guns and training to people who cannot afford them. Companies that use prison labor should be required to hire at least 50% of the ex-cons who worked for them while inside. Ex-cons need steady jobs so they're less tempted to return to a life of crime. Prison labor should not be used to undercut the jobs of people who are not convicts. People with pedophilic urges who have not acted on them should be allowed to participate in sex offender rehab so as to prevent crimes against children.
JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY
I support the use of Sharia law as a basis for legislation and judicial decisions in the United States.
Strongly Disagree
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Disagree
2ND AMENDMENT
Should teachers be allowed to carry guns at school?
Yes
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
I don't support permitless carry. However, since the cost of the class required to get a carry permit plus the fee for getting a carry permit might be a financial barrier to some, the state should provide tuition assistance for the class for people making less than $35K/year. The $100 fee for applying for a carry permit should be waived for applicants who opt to perform 5-6 hours of community service in lieu of the fee.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Agree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Strongly Agree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Neutral
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
Re-legalize marijuana and expunge all past convictions for non-violent marijuana offenses. Require personal liability insurance for cops and assign a permanent prosecutor to address crimes committed by law enforcement. Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, provide a wage subsidy to businesses grossing less than $1 million/year to help them with the increase, and abolish old racist zoning regulations that impede the construction of more affordable housing. (Housing and minimum wage are intertwined - wages are too low and the rent is too high.)
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Yes it is. Because of racism, People of Color don't get to enjoy their rights as fully as I do. Racism, past and present, limits the economic and educational opportunities of People of Color. Racism in the criminal justice system makes People of Color more likely to be wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn't commit and to receive harsher sentences than White people receive for the same offenses. It's not just overt racism that is causing problems. Implicit bias is also a big factor that more people need to be educated about. Most motorists who yield for White pedestrians but not for POC pedestrians are not aware that they're doing this. Most hiring managers who don't call back applicants with 'Black-sounding' names but similar qualifications to people who they do call back probably don't realize that they're doing this. We need to become more aware of our implicit biases so that we can stop unintentionally violating the rights of People of Color.
