ST. CLOUD — Minnesota House District 14B Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, is seeking his fourth term this November, going up against Republican Sue Ek.

Wolgamott told the St. Cloud Times he’s focused on bringing local issues to St. Paul while still acknowledging room for improvement.

“We need leadership from someone who knows the people of this district and (its) actual problems ,” Wolgamott said. “That's the kind of leadership we need going forward.”

Wolgamott, 33, who is the speaker pro tempore, made headlines last year when he plead guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge. The charge stems from Wolgamott buying booze from the North Country Bottle Shop in Mora. Security footage shows the representative going back to his car, pulling a bottle containing a clear liquid from his 2020 Lincoln MKZ and drinking from it.

He then drove away only to be pulled over by a Minnesota State Patrol officer a few minutes later, testing at a 0.09% blood alcohol concentration, just over Minnesota's 0.08% threshold. Wolgamott paid $485 in fees, took a chemical health assessment and a Moms Against Drunk Driving class following the incident.

Wolgamott said the DWI was a learning experience and expressed gratitude for the support he received.

“As my high school football coaches used to say, when you make a mistake, you take responsibility, hold yourself accountable, learn from it and grow from it,” Wolgamott said. “In the year since this happened, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’m grateful for all the support from my fiancé, my family, my friends, my colleagues and my constituents.”

Wolgamott is in his 12th season coaching football at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School and holds a political science degree from Central Minnesota's St. John's University. He also hosts events like "Donuts with Dan" where he meets with constituents in a casual, collaborative setting to find solutions to local issues.

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Eyes on Law Enforcement

If reelected, Wolgamott told the St. Cloud Times he hopes to tackle the law enforcement industry's staffing issues. Local officials in Waite Park and Sartell have expressed frustrations about how staffing shortages are impacting the community, citing a lack of candidates.

“It poses a direct threat to the safety and security of Minnesota's communities,” Wolgamott said. “There are more than 1,000 open positions in law enforcement currently throughout the state, and that problem is going to get worse because approximately 2,400 officers are projected to hit retirement age within the next couple of years.”

Wolgamott aims to address the crisis by incentivizing officers approaching retirement age to continue working while he and others research long-term solutions to attract new law enforcement workers.

“I worked with the Minnesota chiefs of police and the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association to author legislation that would incentivize those officers who are hitting retirement age to stay on the job by being able to receive both their current salaries and their pensions without penalty,” Wolgamott said.

Stearns County Police Chief Steven Soyka said staff shortages at the Stearns County Jail are among the reasons the facility can’t always accommodate the number of inmates he would like, forcing the county to pay extra to send inmates to other counties. In 2023, the county spent nearly $1.1 million in out-of-county housing costs.

Bipartisan Approach

Wolgamott said he’s proud of his previous bipartisan efforts to secure COVID-19 protection for emergency workers but acknowledged more needs to be done.

When Delta variant cases increased in early 2022, Wolgamott said he worked with Republicans to pass a bill ensuring protections for emergency response workers. He said it could be difficult for these workers to prove they got sick on the job, but with the legislation he helped push, it was assumed the emergency response worker contracted the disease from work.

“I've done a great job of building relationships across the aisle, and that's why I was able to get things done in a divided government,” Wolgamott said.

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St. Cloud fell victim to lackluster bipartisan efforts last session, he said, which led to municipal bonding bills falling by the wayside. The city was hoping to receive $100 million to revitalize its downtown neighborhood. Now, Mayor Dave Kleis’ Downtown Task Force is working on creating a Downtown Improvement District to fund the project. A public hearing on the district will likely be held at the city council’s July 22 meeting.

“I regret not being able to pass a bonding bill this year, but I'm hopeful that we can work together and get one over the finish line again,” Wolgamott said.

Wolgamott is being challenged by Republican Sue Ek, 61, who ran in a 2005 special election. Ek wants to increase parental choice in education, reform K-12 teacher licenses and bolster resources for pregnant women who may otherwise seek an abortion.

More: Meet MN House candidate Sue Ek St. Cloud's Sue Ek discusses her long-term pro-life, anti-LGBTQ+ stances

The general election takes place on Nov. 5. Early voting for Minnesota's primary election is already underway, check out USA Today Minnesota's early voting guide for more information.

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Wolgamott seeks reelection, sheds light on his DWI, police and bipartisanship