The Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce is urging pro-business candidates to run for the Minnesota Senate in 2026, the organization said in a late November press release.
The call for candidates comes after Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, a DFLer who represents District 49 — which encompasses all of Eden Prairie and southern Minnetonka — announced last month that he will not seek reelection in 2026.
In its release, the Eden Prairie Chamber pointed to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Business Benchmarks report, which highlighted several economic indicators showing Minnesota lagging behind national trends.
The report found Minnesota’s real GDP per capita growth was 1%, ranking 38th nationally, while median household income in the state fell from 21st to 46th over the previous year. Minnesota’s workforce also grew 0.2% during that period, ranking 40th nationally.
Eden Prairie Chamber President Pat MulQueeny said the report motivated the call for pro-business candidates in the next election.
“When you look at their report and understand where things are falling off, it becomes more and more apparent that we do need to take a very serious approach in terms of making Minnesota more attractive for businesses if we’re going to try and get investment in growth here,” MulQueeny said.
MulQueeny said the chamber called for pro-business candidates to provide the chamber and business owners with a stronger voice at the Capitol. Electing a senator who understands the needs and operations of business owners would better advocate for businesses across the state.
“Every new regulation that’s placed on a business somebody has to make sure they’re following the guidelines or the rules of those regulations and implementing them,” MulQueeny said. “That’s going to take a person a number of hours to read and understand and process those things and put them in place within their organization.”
MulQueeny also cited tax impacts and policies such as paid family and medical leave, which takes effect next year, as areas where pro-business candidates could offer helpful insight.
“How do you manage when people take those benefits and are out of the office now? You have to reallocate resources to get the work done, or you simply can’t get as much work done, which means you’re going to have lost the opportunity to be a successful business,” MulQueeny said. “So we want candidates that truly understand that, that understand how these laws impact the business.”
Minnesota is a high-tax state with many regulations in place on businesses, which MulQueeny said is overall harmful to businesses.
“If our GDP is slipping, we need to make sure that we have successful businesses and that our policies are supporting growing businesses, and that our economy does well here in Minnesota,” MulQueeny said. “That will help employees with better-paying jobs, future opportunities, it will attract more people here, and more businesses here, and all those types of things will come back to benefit our state.”
MulQueeny said the chamber supports both DFL and Republican candidates and examines them based on their priorities to decide whom to endorse. The chamber uses five to seven key issues identified by local businesses to guide its endorsement decisions.
The chamber previously endorsed Republican state House candidates Stacy Bettison and Wendi Russo in the 2024 elections, and Republican state House candidate Thomas Knecht and Mayor Ron Case in 2022. City elections, including the mayor’s office, are nonpartisan.
MulQueeny encouraged those interested to reach out to him or the chamber to learn more about running as a pro-business candidate and to express their needs and priorities as local business owners.
