FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bergeron Announces Candidacy for Minnesota House of Representatives

ST. PAUL, MN This morning St. Paul attorney and legislative staffer Matthew Bergeron announced his campaign for State Representative in House District 64B, the district currently represented by Representative Michael Paymar. I have a great deal of respect for Representative Paymar and his career of service to our community and to Minnesota as a state, Bergeron stated. In my years at the Capitol as an advocate and more recently as a staffer, I have seen firsthand the passion and dedication Rep. Paymar brought to the job and I aspire to serve with the same enthusiastic commitment. Bergeron currently serves as a Committee Administrator with the Minnesota House of Representatives DFL Caucus where he staffs the Health and Human Services Policy Committee as well as the Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs. While working on the HHS Policy Committee Bergeron has worked with Chair Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester) and others on high profile health care issues like the recent expansion of Medical Assistance (Minnesotas Medicaid program) and the creation of MNsure (the states health insurance exchange). Matthews experiences as a lobbyist and a legislative staffer have prepared him to step in right away and be an effective legislator on a broad variety of important issues, Liebling said. In his work with the Living Wage Jobs Committee Bergeron has travelled throughout Minnesota with Chair Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) in support of a variety of legislationincluding a bill that would increase the state minimum wage to $9.50 by 2015that target economic improvement for the thousands of low wage workers in the state. Having travelled across the state with Matthew I know he has a strong understanding of the economic issues facing Minnesota families and will continue to work to reduce economic disparity as a state representative, Winkler stated. I seek the DFL endorsement in House District 64B because our state faces some very significant issues, many of them not glamorous enough to elicit widespread attention, which need to be addressed. I have a broad base of private sector and legislative experiences that will allow me to begin delving into the important policy issues of the day immediately, Bergeron stated. Bergeron has lived in the community since he moved to the area as a student almost a decade ago. Matthew attended Macalester College where he met his wife Ashley Nepp, who is now an instructor in the Geography Department at Macalester. -more-

Ive lived in this community for almost ten years, but my connection to the area goes back decades. My mother and father met while attending St. Kates and St. Thomas and my father spent over twenty years as a UFCW member and union steward at the Highland Park Lunds, Bergeron noted. Bergeron previously owned his own government relations practice where he lobbied on county social and human services issues and worked with a Minneapolis law firm that focused on representing members of the Southeast Asian and Latino communities. Bergeron has also worked politically on a variety of state legislative races and for Speaker Paul Thissen when he ran for Governor in 2010. Bergeron has a Bachelors degree in history and religious studies from Macalester College and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

Bergeron for House mwbergeron@gmail.com (763) 516-0664

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