Mary Frances Clardy
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Mary Frances Clardy (Democratic Party) is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 53A. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. Her current term ends on January 7, 2025.
Clardy (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 53A. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Clardy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mary Frances Clardy was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated from Lakeville High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 1983 and a graduate degree from Grand Canyon University in 2014. Her career experience includes working as an educator. As of her 2022 campaign, Clardy was a 27-year veteran teacher. She has also been a member of the Inver Grove Heights School Board, ISD 199, a gubernatorial appointee to the Minnesota Board of School Administrators, and a former member of the Minnesota Board of Teaching. Clardy has been affiliated with the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, Educators for Excellence, and Mom's Demand Action.[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Clardy was assigned to the following committees:
- Education Finance Committee, Vice Chair
- Human Services Finance and Policy Committee
- Sustainable Infrastructure Policy Committee
- Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee
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Elections
2024
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A
Incumbent Mary Frances Clardy defeated Nathan Herschbach in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Frances Clardy (D)  | 57.8 | 14,011 |
 | Nathan Herschbach (R) | 42.2 | 10,227 | |
| Total votes: 24,238 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Mary Frances Clardy advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Nathan Herschbach advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Clardy in this election.
2022
See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A
Mary Frances Clardy defeated Todd Kruse and Brent Jacobson in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Frances Clardy (D) | 54.5 | 10,777 |
| Todd Kruse (R) | 41.4 | 8,188 | |
| Brent Jacobson (Legal Marijuana Now Party) | 4.0 | 785 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 22 | ||
| Total votes: 19,772 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Mary Frances Clardy advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Todd Kruse advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A.
Legal Marijuana Now Party primary election
The Legal Marijuana Now Party primary election was canceled. Brent Jacobson advanced from the Legal Marijuana Now Party primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A.
Endorsements
To view Clardy's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mary Frances Clardy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Clardy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Mary Frances Clardy is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing legislative district 53A. Mary Frances is a graduate of MN State University-Mankato with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She obtained a teaching certificate from University of St. Thomas and a Master of Education from Grand Canyon University. Mary Frances has 28 years of experience as a teacher. Prior to becoming an educator she worked as a housing advocate and served on the Minnesota Civil Rights Commission. Her public service has also included gubernatorial appointments to the MN Board of Teaching, and the MN Board of School Administrators. Mary Frances also served on the Inver Grove Heights School Board and the Board of Metropolitan School Districts
- Education is the foundation upon which futures are built. Every child should have access to a world-class educational experience no matter which zip code they live. To improve educational outcomes we should: Stabilize education funding by permitting local optional revenue; Increase access to high quality voluntary Pre-K programs; Continue to provide support to the READ ACT Increase the quality of special education; Work to improve the educational outcomes for English Learners; Create new pathways for teacher licensure; Increase funding for students and staff for mental health and social emotional learning; and Revisit instructional hours
- We need an economy that works for working families and seniors, not big corporations and the wealthy. I supported bills for an expanded child tax credit and to prohibit taxing social security securities. I believe workers deserve livable wages, safe working conditions, and strong unions to ensure their rights. I support initiatives that strengthen small businesses because they are the economic engines of our community and our State. I also support access to affordable, high quality housing and a pathway for home ownership for all.
- I support expanded access to healthcare services whenever feasible and the elimination of healthcare disparities. I will also support initiatives to: Create and fund children's crisis homes and increase funds for respite care; Provide education and training for judges on mental health issues; Increase access to residential treatment facilities; Prohibit jails from charging for phone calls from jail to case managers, mental health professionals and health care navigators; and Provide education staff training on trauma informed care
Education, accommodations for persons with disabilities, climate change, reproductive freedom, affordable housing, and health care.
Elected officials must maintain the highest ethical standards. They must seek to be well informed taking into account the needs of their constituents, weighing available facts and data and taking into consideration competing arguments in order to arrive at a sound position. Transparency is also critical.
The core responsibilities include:
Being well versed with the needs of their district
Develop working relationships with other public officials within their district in order to develop fruitful ways to work together to meet the needs of their common constituents
Be accessible to constituents
Keep constituents updated on issues impacting their lives.
I Smile by Kirk Franklin
Achieving a 100% carbon free energy status; meeting the expanding need for affordable housing, and improving public education.
The art of building relationships is critical because the legislative process requires that the parties be able to establish productive lines of communication and trust. This facilitates a willingness to compromise and move toward win-win solutions.
Rep. Shirley Chisholm
Minnesota DFL, MN AFL-CIO, Council 5 AFSCME, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Emily's List, Pro-Choice Minnesota, Conservation Minnesota Voter Center, and Stonewall DFL
Financial transparency and government accountability are essential elements to insure that elected officials are held to the highest possible standards.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2022
Mary Frances Clardy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Clardy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am dedicated to improving the lives of those who live in my community. To do so will require that I remain a relentless advocate for you. As a result, of my career as an educator I have developed keen listening skills and have learned how to bring together those with differing points of view to achieve positive results. After spending countless hours listening to parents and students, I recognize there is a greater need for my advocacy to help address the kitchen table issues we all face, to address the issues face by those with disabilities, to support economic opportunity initiatives that will strengthen small businesses and unions, to ensure safe communities, and to meet our pressing environmental challenges.
- As a teacher and school board member I’ve learned schools mirror our State. They reveal a number of policy failures. When kids arrive sick, it demonstrates healthcare system deficiencies. If they don’t have a lunch, it indicative of a failed safety net. If they stop attending, it’s often because of housing insecurity. I will address such issues.
- I will work to reduce the impact of inflation by eliminating taxes on social security income. Increase state support of our school systems which will reduce disparities between schools and reduce property tax burdens. Support women’s reproductive rights. Support initiatives to fight climate change. Support universal gun registration and red flag laws.
- The key to opportunity and prosperity in this country has always hinged upon access to a quality education. Therefore, I will fight to ensure every student in this state is able to obtain a public education that will prepare them to be technological literate in this evolving world. Therefore, I will support measures that assure that teaching standards are equitable, eliminate disparities in funding, and fully fund schools.
I am passionate about education, access to quality healthcare, equal rights, climate, and safe communities.
My parent taught us that we had an obligation to give back to the community. Therefore, I would want my legacy to be that I made a difference and that I helped to transform lives in a meaningful way.
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 5 years old.
The single greatest challenge will be to transition to clean, renewable energy in a manner that is equitable to all Minnesotans.
I believe it is beneficial to build relationships with other legislators. By doing so you have the opportunity to see each others humanity and it lessens the probability that you will vilify each other. Similarly, it will quell the impulse to assume the worse of someone whom you might perceive as an adversary.
Compromise is essential in the policy making process. It begins by creating the right tone and recognizing members of another party are not our enemies. I am not afraid to reach across the aisle to craft solutions that benefit the community, as a whole as long as I do not violate the values in which I believe. We can get things done if as Hubert Humphrey said, “we learn to disagree without being disagreeable.”
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Minnesota scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 22.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A |
Officeholder Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tou Xiong (D) |
Minnesota House of Representatives District 53A 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
