What Minnesotans Are Saying This Election Day
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Across Minnesota, millions of people cast votes Tuesday in races including the White House, Senate, Congress, the Legislature, two proposed constitutional amendments, and many more local races. Here's what they're saying about their votes:
— "I think Mitt Romney's been there. He knows how to run a business, and that's what the government is. It's a huge business, and you've got to have somebody who knows something other than just being charming and likable. I mean, Obama is all those things. But what we need today is somebody who knows business." — Dee Brooks, of Wayzata, she would not give her age but said she voted for Romney.
— "I think he's done a good job, given the situation that he encountered when he was elected, and I didn't hear a compelling reason to change." — John Lutter, 55, of Roseville, who works in advertising, about why he voted for Obama.
— "If you voted yes for that, then you have to question every single election we've had in this state — and I don't." Lutter said when explaining why he voted against the voter ID amendment.
— " I like to help others, whether it means I have to pay more taxes. I believe in helping people who aren't as fortunate as I. . I like Obama as a person. . Romney, I just don't think he's sincere. He has his own agenda. He'll promise things but I don't trust him." — Terri Montbriand, 53, a medical secretary in Bloomington who voted for Obama.
— "I know a lot of gay people and I just don't think it should matter, I don't think it going to affect anyone else if some people do that. Because I don't think it's a choice for them. If that's the way they are, I think that should be respected. I figure if somebody makes a commitment to someone else, that's what the important thing is." — Montbriand, explaining her vote against the gay marriage ban.
— "I don't really like Barack Obama or Mitt Romney, so I figured I should vote for someone else. Mitt Romney just kind of seems to me like a repeat of George Bush, and I don't really want that for our country again. I don't really agree with some of Obama's policies. I feel like he hasn't done much." — Chelsi Kuebler, age 21, from Sleepy Eye, as she explained why she voted for Ron Paul as a write-in candidate for president.
— "The last four years have been crap. ... let's try something else." Marvin Grover Cleveland, 73, of Roseville, who said he is a distant cousin to President Cleveland. He voted for Romney.
— "You need a driver's license to drive a car, buy booze, do anything else. What's the problem there?" — Cleveland said about his "Yes" vote on the voter ID amendment.
— "One man, one woman. Pretty simple." — Richard Bennett, 68, an engineering contractor in Bloomington, explaining his vote in favor of the gay marriage ban.
— "It seems a modest expectation for one of the most important things you can do, to prove you are legitimate." — Bennett, explaining his support for the photo ID requirement.
— "I don't want to limit people to vote and I don't think it's such a big issue that it needs to be made a big issue. I think fear is driving that rather than intelligence. And if we base our nation and our voting on fear, then I don't like the spiral down. I think it just creates less honestly and less trust among people and that just harms our country and our neighborhoods." — Mary Indritz, 52, of Roseville, explaining her vote against the Voter ID amendment.
— "As a Christian and as a Republican, I definitely don't have the same views as many of my peers, and for me it comes down to giving other people grace. They have their views. I'm not them. But the respect thing is important. It's dangerous that we live in a culture where people are ridiculed for their beliefs. ... You look around this campus and you never see a 'Vote Yes' sign. It's almost like if you vote yes, you're evil. I just think it's very interesting that we live in a culture like that." — Josh Howes, 21, a college student from Orono, who voted for Romney and the marriage amendment.
— "I just believe in his policies, much more so than Mitt Romney's. . I do believe that we are moving forward. . I think voting for Mitt Romney is just going to put us behind." — Laurie Leung, 48, of Bloomington, a compliance manager in health insurance. She voted for Obama.
— "I do believe that people should have the right to marry the person they love, and I feel pretty strongly about that one." — Leung, explaining her vote against the gay marriage ban.
— "I don't like the direction we're going now. Too much debt. Kids will have to pay for everything -- tax increases to pay for everything. Right now it's not really rewarding people that want to work hard, to make a buck. Because it kind of gets redistributed anyhow, no reason to really go out and work really hard to make money, in a small business or something like that. And that's that." — Bob DeYoung, 54, an engineering technician in Bloomington. He voted for Romney.
— "He's actually done the change he talked about for this country, and maybe he can do more if we give him a chance. He's done a lot to get back to work and he's done a lot for seniors." — Allen Johnson, 56, a landscaper in Minneapolis.
— "It's too easy to walk in here with a piece of paper and just vote. I believe you should have to prove that you're an American and that you have the right to vote." — Johnson, explaining his vote in favor of photo ID.
— "I don't want gay marriage. I think it is wrong." — Assan Shire, 20, a college student in Minneapolis voting in his first election.
— "Obama had a chance but here we are." — Mohamed Mohamed, 40, a cab driver in Minneapolis who went for Obama in 2008 but was switching to Romney.
— "I believe a man and a woman is marriage." — Mohamed, who voted for the gay marriage ban.
— "I'm a Democrat. Democrats give us welcome here, they give us freedom. All minorities are Democrats and all the rich are Republicans. Republicans don't know my life." — Ali Mohmud, 37, a driving instructor in Minneapolis. Mohmud said he never seriously considered Romney and dislikes Paul Ryan because "he wants to cut everything government does."
— "I don't think he's the person to fix the economy — he wants to take us back to Bush policies and I can't believe people forgot already what that was like." — LaToya Elliott, 27, of Minneapolis, on Romney.
— "You can't tell someone who to get married to, period. Who you love is who you love." Elliott, on the marriage amendment.
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