FIGHTING POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Whether we were born here or chose to make this our home, we all value our freedom to keep our families safe, send our kids to school without fear, and build a good life in the communities we love.
But Operation Metro Surge unleashed thousands of violent agents on our neighborhoods without proper training, without just cause, and without respect for our constitutional rights.
This was an assault on our freedoms, and it hit communities across Minnesota, whether they are red, blue, or purple.
MyNortheaster.com, February 17, 2026
Heights Mayor on World News, Grassroots Efforts
While the amount of attention is new for Columbia Heights, its residents and mayor aren’t shying away.
“We don’t want it to stop in Minnesota just for it to go somewhere else,” Márquez Simula said. “We want it to stop everywhere.”
WHAT THE SURGE COST US
Our businesses
Revenue dropped up to 50% at small businesses across Columbia Heights. Some have closed permanently.
Our safety
Families stopped calling 911. When residents are too afraid to report crimes or access city services, everyone is less safe.
Our schools
Hundreds of students stopped coming to class. Parents were afraid to bring their children to the bus stop.
Our trust
Federal agents refused to show warrants, ignored due process, and harassed residents and business owners. Rebuilding trust will take years.
STANDING TOGETHER
Amáda helped launch Cities for Safe and Stable Communities, a growing coalition of more than 30 mayors from Bloomington to Eden Prairie, Brooklyn Park to St. Louis Park, all standing together to demand accountability and protect our communities.
WATCH: Amáda on TPT Almanac
This coalition is not about partisanship. It is about the safety and well-being of our families.
FIGHTING FOR OUR DISTRICT
As Mayor, Amáda led the Columbia Heights City Council to unanimously pass a resolution calling for an end to the ICE and CBP surge. She created the Mayor’s Rapid Response Team to help the community in times of emergency. She closed city parking lots being used as federal staging areas. And she is pushing for state funding to help local businesses recover.
TAKING THE FIGHT TO THE STATE CAPITOL
Now running for Minnesota House District 39B, Amáda is supporting legislation to protect our communities:
Keep ICE agents away from schools, child care centers, hospitals, and college campuses
Hold federal agents accountable when they violate our rights
Give Minnesotans the ability to seek justice in an independent court of law when their constitutional rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, due process, or equal protection are violated.
Require federal agents to show visible identification
Require identification and ensure an independent investigation of any shooting involving federal agents in Minnesota.
In the United States, every person should be treated with dignity and respect. No family should fear sending their child to school. No business owner should watch their livelihood disappear because of a federal operation they had no part in creating. No neighbor should be afraid to call for help.
Protecting our freedoms has always been up to all of us.
“When I think of our community, I think everybody gets to be who they are. We’re ready to move forward and continue to welcome our neighbors in.”
— Amáda Márquez Simula
Together, we can restore stability, rebuild trust, and make St. Anthony, New Brighton, and Columbia Heights places where every family has the freedom to thrive. It will not be easy. But we have done hard things before, and we can do them again.
Affordable Rent. Affordable Healthcare.
No matter where you come from or how much money you have in your wallet, you deserve the freedom to make a good living, care for your family, and retire in dignity. But right now, a wealthy few are rigging the rules – and it’s costing all of us.
Wall Street Landlords Are Driving Up Your Rent
Corporate landlords are using unethical pricing algorithms to fix rents across entire neighborhoods. In our own community, seniors at The Legends of Columbia Heights saw their rent spike 12.5% – while Social Security only went up 5.9%. These aren’t small-time landlords. These are Wall Street companies making record profits while working people and seniors are forced to choose between rent and groceries.
Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula didn’t stay silent.
She declared that Dominium had “betrayed our city’s trust” and told reporters: “I would like the people of Columbia Heights to know the seniors are coming together…we need our seniors not to be judged by the AMI, because they’re on a fixed income.”
She marched with seniors to the State Capitol, fought for a 3% cap on rent increases, and rallied six members of Congress to demand accountability. That’s what leadership looks like.
You Deserve the Freedom to Get Care Without Going Bankrupt
More than 250,000 Minnesotans have no health insurance at all. Over a million more are underinsured – meaning one bad diagnosis could mean financial ruin. Insurance companies deny and delay the care our families need while raking in billions.
The solution: the Minnesota Health Plan, a single-payer system that covers every Minnesotan. That means dental, vision, mental health, prescriptions, and nursing home care, with no insurance company standing between you and your doctor. No more middlemen. No more denials. Just care.
THE PLAN FOR AFFORDABILITY
Cap rent increases at 3% in tax-credit housing so seniors and working families can stay in their homes.
End rent price-fixing by holding corporate landlords accountable for using secret algorithms to inflate what you pay.
Pass the Minnesota Health Plan to guarantee every Minnesotan comprehensive healthcare—no insurance company gatekeepers, no medical debt.
Our families’ financial well-being shouldn’t depend on the generosity of a wealthy few who rig the rules. Together, we can build a community where everyone has the freedom to thrive—no exceptions.
Clean Air and Clean Water
Immediate action is needed to mitigate the damage from climate change. Clean air and clean water are human rights. Resilient infrastructure is non-negotiable for healthy communities—and future generations.
A National Leader
Amáda is recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as one of the most successful public officials to fulfill the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge. Her ongoing work educates the public about how endangered pollinators are a critical link in the human food chain, and actively promotes sustainable pollinator habitats.
Stop copper-sulfide mine pollution that threatens the Boundary Waters and surrounding areas by supporting “Prove It First” legislation.
Halt the construction of AI data centers that consume unsustainable amounts of electricity and water. Work to ban NDAs that tech companies use to silence public officials about these environmentally harmful projects.
Expand urban tree cover to sequester carbon, maximize cooling efficiency, and minimize impermeable surfaces.
weapons Control
Firearms are the number one killer of children and teens (ages 1–19) in the United States. Assault weapons or guns that can be modified into fully automatic firearms with high-capacity magazines are used in mass shootings. Homemade, unregistered ghost guns are out of control. Minnesotans need checks and balances against these killers.
FIGHTING FOR CHANGE AT THE CAPITOL
Following the Annunciation Church shooting, Amáda stood alongside 8 other mayors at the Capitol, asking legislators to take action on guns.
Ban assault weapons and gun modifications that are an ongoing danger to society.
Repeal the 1985 preemption law that prevents cities from setting their own gun measures.
Ban the sale and possession of ghost guns that pose an unacceptable threat to law enforcement.
Protection for Labor and Collective Bargaining
For decades, Amáda has stood with union workers during strikes and protests. Her father was a union steward at a power plant. She will expand organizing freedom, strengthen public sector rights, and enhance labor enforcement.
Update the Public Employment Labor Relations Act to define more worker categories, shorten probationary periods, and allow negotiation on staffing ratios.
Ban mandatory “captive audience” meetings where employees are discouraged from union organizing.
Support prevailing wages with state funding for infrastructure projects.
Fully Funded Schools, Fully Supported Students
Our students deserve safe classrooms, supported teachers, and full funding for public education.
Prohibit ICE and CBP from using our schools and bus routes to abduct our immigrant students or their parents.
Stabilize school budgets to ensure that teachers are compensated correctly, buildings are properly maintained, and both teachers and students have everything they need to succeed.
Expand mental health resources to better serve our students during their school day.
Equality Protected by the Constitution
Amáda will vote to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and fight for permanent civil rights protections that ensure every Minnesotan—regardless of race, gender, or immigration status—is treated with respect and fairness. This is a constitutional amendment that can’t be repealed like a state law. Equality shouldn’t depend on who’s in office.
Ranked Choice Voting
Voters are frustrated by increasing divisions and extremism in our politics, partisan gridlock preventing action on critical issues and too many elections where candidates win without majority support; Ranked Choice Voting is a simple, commonsense change to the ballot, but one that is well-suited to meet these challenges. RCV:
- Gives voters greater voice, choice and power
- Eliminates the spoiler problem and wasted votes
- Ensures winners have earned a majority of voter support
- Fosters more civil campaigns and a more responsive government
- Promotes more inclusive, diverse and representative elections
- Reduces political division and extremism
- In local elections, RCV eliminates the high-cost, low-turnout primary and combines the primary and general elections into one election in November when turnout is higher and more representative of the community.
How RCV Works
Ranked choice voting is simple. Instead of choosing just one candidate – you mark your first-choice, second-choice and so on. If a candidate has more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they win. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those voters have their second choice counted. This process continues until one candidate reaches a majority and wins.
Sample Results (2 Rounds)
Local options legislation
Under current law, only a handful of charter cities have the authority to adopt ranked choice voting. Other local jurisdictions are governed by state law and don’t have the choice to use RCV — even if they want to. RCV is even more restricted because several charter cities hold elections in even years alongside state and federal elections, and there are no legislative standards for how local ranked-choice elections would work in these election cycles.
I support ranked choice voting local options legislation for 2026 that would give all Minnesota counties, cities, towns, and school boards the opportunity to use RCV if they choose, and provide consistent standards for implementation.
RCV has been tested and successful in Minnesota cities and across the country, and more local jurisdictions should have the opportunity to use it.