My name is Marisa Ulmen, I am a farmer, a small business owner, a wife, and up until I met my husband Jim, a single mother for twelve years to my son Tate. Tate was the 4th generation of my family to graduate from Madelia High School. I am a 5th generation farmer who still farms the land my family settled in 1868. And up until my run, a rural carrier for the USPS, covering 12 routes from Lake Crystal to Ceylon.

Jim worked as a farm manager for a large farmer for 25 years before starting out on his own farming operation. He also spent 18 years on the Watonwan County fair board. I am not a politician looking to move to any district that has an opening; I want to represent the community where I live, work and park my tractor.

I grew up in the 80’s running back and forth across the street between two small businesses, A Main Street café owned by my mother – a single hardworking mother who raised me and my younger brother, and my aunt who owned the town’s flower shop. I well remember the republican policies that devastated our farmers and decimated our main street.

The Democratic Rural Voice hasn’t been heard in a long time. We need a government that works for ALL of us. Rural communities need a voice. I want to be that voice. I want to be the conduit for greater Minnesota to the Metro area. We can’t expect government to know what we need if we don’t tell them.