Jack’s Campaign kickoff speech

My name is Jack Hedin, and I'm running to be your next Minnesota state senator.

I am a farmer running as a Democrat, not a Democrat running as a farmer. Most of you know me very well, but for those of you who don't, here's a very quick introduction to me and to my history in my family. My family roots are in Featherstone Township north of Red Wing, but I spent the first 25 years of my life hopping around from Minnesota to Kentucky, from New England to California.

In 1995, my wife and very best friend Jenni McHugh and I were founding members of the Zephyr Co-op just north of here in Winona County. Then and there, 1995, we founded Featherstone Farm on three rented acres. In 2003, Jenni and I bought a home in Winona, and Jenny started working for Winona County as an early childhood advocate.

Jenni is now a rock star mental health provider with Gunderson, and has served communities from Harmony to La Crescent, Winona, for many, many, many years, and has helped so many people. Jenny and I, and has taught me so much, too, by the way. Jenni and I have three sons who all worked here at the farm, attended Winona area public schools, and played sports in gyms and on ball fields throughout this whole area.

In 2024, I was elected to the Winona Public Area School Board, and best of all, just two months ago, our son, Emmett, purchased a house two doors down from us in Winona. My family is all in in this district.

So, here's a quick introduction to Featherstone Farm, the place you are, and don't worry, you will quickly see that it is relevant to why you're really here today, which is, for me, as a Senate candidate.

Jenni, my brother Ed, and I started Featherstone Farm at the Zephyr Co-op with a single rented tractor, and three rented acres in 1995. We sold 20 CSA shares that first year, went to farmer's market, and I think we earned about $20,000 between us, but we were in the right place at the right time, and the farm grew. We moved to this location in 2008 after a catastrophic flooding the previous year.

Fast forward to 2025, last year, when Featherstone Farm sold about $3 million worth of fresh organic fruits and vegetables throughout the Midwest and Canada, the equivalent of 136 full semi-trailer loads of produce that came through this very door to feed people throughout our area. We run a complex vertically integrated farm business, which is very, very uncommon this day and age. As Featherstone Farmer, I have been a builder of many things, but I do not work alone.

The farm you are in right now was conceived in a spirit of entrepreneurship and teamwork and community engagement, but it was built by a powerhouse of labor, immigrant and local both, and it has been helped every step of the way by the small town community of Fillmore right here, our neighbors and fellow farmers, contractors and repair shop people, and so many others. Many of you are in this room right now. I see you out there, and I thank you so much for getting us, getting us all here to where we are today.

The fire that fueled the construction of this business is the very same fire in the belly that fuels my run for the Senate. This is the conviction that a diverse group of people working with vision and energy can create something of lasting, enduring value, particularly if they are guided by strong leadership and clear-eyed vision. This is what my campaign is all about.

It starts right here today. Together, we are going to build something of value, something that can push back on the politics of division and cynicism that we see all around us. Just like Featherstone Farm has done for three decades, together, we are going to work like crazy to beat the odds, to make life better for people right here in this community for the next four years.

All right. Let's get down to nuts and bolts. What am I really running on? What do I stand for as a candidate?

I am running as a strong advocate for public education. As a school board member, I see just how serious the challenges are, but our kids are our future, and they deserve the very best public education that we can provide, full stop.

I am running as a strong advocate for healthcare access in small towns in District 26 and throughout rural Minnesota. When small town clinics close and communities lose access to healthcare close by, life in districts like this takes a hit. We can't let this happen. As your Minnesota Senator, I will work like crazy to keep healthcare affordable and available for all.

I'm running as an advocate for affordability, yes, but not as a toss-off, easy-fix issue like I think so many leaders talk about today. We're not going to pay farmers less for eggs or milk or home healthcare attendance or childcare providers $11 an hour, not $13 an hour as some easy path towards lowering costs and making things affordable. This kind of easy talk on tough issues makes me crazy. Instead, I propose to go about affordability a different way by addressing the loss of local business ownership in communities throughout this district because I believe that affordability is a byproduct of a healthy local economy where wealth is not sucked out of communities like this by huge transnational corporations that want our money but don't give a damn about investing in places like this.

As your next Senator, I'm going to work like hell to stop the bleeding on local ownership.

All right, I'm a newcomer to political campaigning and I've always hated the idea of politicians promising things on the campaign trail that they simply can't deliver on. Anyone remember somebody promising to end a war in a single day? That's not me.

I am not asking you to support me because I have a 10-point plan for every issue that faces this district. I am asking you to support me because you know who I am, what I really am, what I stand for. And if you don't know me that well at this time, fine, I'm going to give you a quick introduction in three points.

One, I consider myself a good listener. I am genuinely curious about other people and their stories, your stories.

Two, I am a person of integrity. When I screw up, I try and take responsibility and apologize. When I don't know something, I like to admit that and try to find a good answer for you. I may object very strongly to what people do sometimes but I try and remember that they too are human beings that deserve to be treated respectfully just as I hope to be treated respectfully myself.

Third and finally, I am someone who believes strongly in the dignity of work. Direct service work for sure, teachers and first responders and caregivers but also people who work with their hands, who build and fix and make things that all of us use in our daily lives. This is who I am and this is the vision and the work that I will bring as your next Minnesota Senator.

In this campaign, I am running as a nuts and bolts, commonsense, independent Democrat. What does that really mean this day and age?

First, I have a willingness to criticize members of my own team when appropriate and I do. Just a couple of examples. Bill Clinton, the original OG Epstein class person who pushed through NAFTA over Democratic objections, did more to hurt manufacturing here in Southeast Minnesota and the livelihoods of our farmer friends in Mexico than any other single thing I can think of.

Or Barack Obama who let Wall Street CEOs off on golden parachutes after the 2008 financial crisis because they were "too big to fail." Those fat cats should have gone to jail for what they did to average Americans. And I'm outraged that they didn't. Sure, these are complex issues, as is the issue of fraud here in Minnesota.

But if and when I see fraud or waste or abuse, I'm not afraid to call it out no matter who is responsible and I won't be afraid to call it out as your next Minnesota Senator.

The second way that I consider myself an independent Democrat is that I am willing to venture into areas that many Democrats are not, they don't like to talk about. Like a chamber of commerce style effort to promote locally owned business. As your Senator, I will not be afraid to look critically at regulations that choke innovation, that slow the construction of housing, or that benefit big fat corporate businesses that can afford compliance departments when locally owned ma and pa shops cannot. We've got to put every good idea on the table to fix the challenges that face us here in this district and throughout rural Minnesota.

In conclusion, I am a Democrat, if an independent one: an old-school farmer-labor Democrat. I believe we should all be proud of what the DFL has contributed to the lives of so many Minnesotans over the years.

And I am a proud Minnesotan and a proud American. I believe in the big ideas of our republic, like checks and balances in government, and the rule of law. The idea that America is a nation of immigrants, a melting pot that survives and thrives not in spite of the diversity here, but because of it.

I really believe in the ideals of liberty and justice for all, that we can and must work toward that promise, even when the work seems harder and harder, and we feel like getting discouraged. Because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that these big ideas, these articles of faith for me and for so many of you in this room right now, are under assault right now. The Trump chaos, the cruelty, the Trump double-dealing and abuse, it makes me angry. It makes me very angry.

And that's a tough thing for me to say because I'm a pretty chill, normal nuts-and-bolts guy most of the time. But this anger cannot get in the way of our resolve to do better. To keep our ideals high and our vision clear.

And we have to work like hell together starting now to create the kind of community that I really believe that all of us, red and blue, really want. A community where all people have a fair chance in life. Where all kids get a good public education and move on to good, stable jobs, right here in this community if they choose. Where healthcare is affordable and accessible. Where people can afford to retire. Above all, we all want to live in a world where our leaders remind us about what we have in common, not about what we have keeping us apart.

This is my vision. This is my commitment and this is the energy that I will bring to my job as your next Minnesota Senator. If you believe in this vision as much as I do and you are willing to work your butt off as I have to create, so many of us have to create, Featherstone Farm right here, then we really are all in this together.

I am asking for your support and for your vote and for your help to become your next Minnesota Senator. Thank you very much for coming out. Thank you so much.