News · Press Release

Erik Paulsen on Opposing Gay Marriage, Women’s Choice: “I Focus on Issues That Really Matter.”

Erik Paulsen has always tried to fly under the radar, using his mild-mannered veneer to conceal the fact that he votes 93% of the time with his party.

 

Maybe this is why for the most part he’s avoided debates and interviews, and doubled the amount he spent on taxpayer-funded mass mail, since his opponent Terri Bonoff jumped in the race.

 

But in an interview to Roll Call today, Erik Paulsen confirms that he is truly a wolf in moderate’s clothing:

 

Paulsen wouldn’t take the bait when pressed about his stance on the social issues that Bonoff says put him at odds with his district.

“I don’t focus on divisive issues,” he said. “The bottom line is I focus on issues that are really important, that really matter, especially pocketbook issues.”

Asked specifically about same-sex marriage, he skirted the issue.

“That issue is kind of settled,” he said, referring to Minnesota’s rejection of a constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage. 

 

Throughout his career as a politician, Erik Paulsen has:

 

Called Roe v. Wade a tragedy and voted to defund Planned Parenthood;

Voted to keep marriage between a man and a woman and won an award in part for his work trying to ban same-sex marriage in the Minnesota state constitution;

Voted 26 times with his party to block common-sense gun safety measures;

Said he wasn’t “smart enough” to determine whether climate change is man-made.

 

And as KARE11 reported last night, “Sen. Bonoff’s recent ads have attempted to remind voters that Paulsen is a conservative Republican at heart, one who shares Trump’s views on gay marriage and curtailing abortion rights.”

 

“Erik Paulsen may not want to discuss with reporters his opposition to a woman’s right to choose or an LGBTQ person’s right to get married, but he is more than willing to vote that way,” said Sacha Haworth of the DCCC. “Women’s health, same-sex marriage, gun violence prevention, and climate change may not ‘really matter’ to Erik Paulsen and the rest of his backwards Party of Trump, but rest assured they matter to Minnesotans.”





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