Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A special education teacher and former member of the Albert Lea school board on Monday announced she will run for the District 23 Senate seat in 2026. 

“Rural Minnesota needs a strong voice in the Legislature, someone who is willing to stand up and fight for what we deserve,” said Angie Hanson in front of a crowd of about 150 enthusiastic supporters at Edgewater Bay Pavilion. “I want to fight for you.”

Hanson was born and raised in Albert Lea and has lived in the city almost her whole life. 

She teaches children with disabilities in kindergarten through sixth grades at Alden-Conger School through the Southern Minnesota Education Consortium and before that taught in the Southland School District, where she was also the president of her union.  

She served a term on the Albert Lea school board from 2017 through 2020, has been actively involved with the Save Our Hospital effort to lobby for increased health care services in the community and recently spearheaded the effort to reestablish Albert Lea’s Human Rights Commission.

“Everything I’ve been involved in, especially Save Our Hospital, kind of highlighted that rural communities are losing so much,” Hanson said. “It doesn’t feel like anyone is finding solutions to help us or to stand up and fight for us in the Legislature. … not just health care but good-paying jobs, affordable housing.”

She said she has worked hard and been involved in the community, but only so much can be done at the community level. 

“I think it’s just time for me to take it to the next level,” she said.

Hanson promised to fight for affordable health insurance, local health care services, rural school funding, dependable child care, fair wages and affordable housing.

Regarding health care, Hanson said rural Minnesotans deserve affordable health care close to home. When comparing costs on the open market, Mower County residents are currently paying $2,700 a year more than residents in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Freeborn County is not far behind at $2,500 more a year. 

She said affordability is a big piece, but so is having health care that it is accessible. Many in Freeborn and Mower counties also struggle with getting in for appointments within a reasonable time frame. 

Regarding public education, she noted that about 20% of public education funding comes from property taxes, which she said hurts schools in rural areas. 

“We don’t have as many property owners. We don’t have as many high-priced properties. We don’t have as many big businesses to help offset that,” Hanson said. “What it ends up hurting is farmers, small businesses, seniors who want to stay in their homes. I think public education should be fairly funded by the state and not relying on property taxes.” 

She said wealthy districts that have wealthy home values and more big businesses have better-funded schools than the students in the rural areas.

Hanson said she also wants to make sure workers are making a fair wage and can afford housing. She said she supports paid family medical leave and thinks everyone deserves time off to take care of themselves or their loved ones. She is opposed to any carve-outs to the Earned Sick and Safe Time law passed in Minnesota. She said she has talked to some small business owners and they have found that while the cost isn’t a hindrance, the worry has come from how they will fill the gap when individuals are using the sick and safe time.

Hanson also talked about concerns with having child care for people and noted she knows someone who wanted to return to work but can’t because she can’t find day care for her child. She will work for solutions for more affordable, dependable day care in rural Minnesota. 

Hanson said she has a history of working with people of varying political backgrounds and talked about her time with the Save Our Hospital movement.

“We had some of the most conservative Republicans involved in it and some of the most progressive Democrats involved in it, and we worked together for a common cause,” she said. “I’d like to bring that to St. Paul. We can work together for a common cause.”

She said she knows there are other legislators in the state whose districts have the same needs as District 23, and she looks forward to working with them to get things done. 

She also looks forward to getting out and hearing about the needs of the communities in the district.

Hanson has already taken part in her first parade of the summer in Adams and plans a handful of parades this season, along with getting out and knocking on doors. 

Hanson is the daughter of Dean and Diane Hanson and has an 18-year-old son, Clay, who recently graduated from Albert Lea High School. 

She asked for support of the people in attendance.

“Together we can bring rural energy to St. Paul,” she said. 

District 23 includes all of Freeborn County and most of Mower County, as well as parts of Faribault, Waseca and Steele counties.