I’ve been a proud Minnesotan for almost 40 years now, but I was born and raised in Canton, South Dakota. Canton is a small town of 3,000 people, 25 miles SE of Sioux Falls. My father was a science teacher at our high school. The rural community I was raised in mirrors many of the small towns in CD6, we had a strong sense of community where people know and help their neighbors. We had little traffic and a lower cost of living. But there are significant disadvantages to living in rural communities. Rural areas often feel left out or left behind when it comes to representation in state or national government. At my core, I’m still very much the small town girl from Canton, and I would be a voice for rural communities in Congress.

Many of our small towns are shrinking, in large part, due to a lack of opportunity. All too often, we see local schools close or combine with other small towns. When towns lose their high schools, they often lose their identity, and students sometimes have to spend a lot of time traveling to and from learning institutions. In a phenomenon some call “brain drain,” many of the best and brightest young people in small towns often leave for better opportunities in larger cities. In Congress, I would push to bring more job development and programs to rural communities so that young people aren’t forced to leave the town they love in order to make a decent living. We can create thousands of jobs in rural areas through green jobs programs.

We also need to work on shrinking “food deserts” and “healthcare deserts”—areas where people have little access to affordable, healthy food options or medical care due to the long distance to grocery stores or doctors.

Finally, we have to work to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas. Small towns often have inherent feelings of isolation, and high-speed internet access can help. Internet access leads to a better education, and creates more remote job opportunities. There was a significant amount of money set aside for this in the Infrastructure Act, but we’ve been too slow in implementing these changes. Having access to high-speed internet in America today is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity, and we need to ensure that every American has access.