How one Minnesota swing-district Democrat decided to support an assault-style weapons ban

State Sen. Judy Seeberger says she will back more restrictions on assault-style weapons, a significant shift from the previously undecided swing-district Democrat who could help decide the fate of gun control measures next session.

The DFLer from Afton was one of several moderate legislators who did not publicly say how they would vote on gun control proposals pushed by Gov. Tim Walz after a shooter killed two children and wounded more than two dozen others at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis in August.

Seeberger has since resolved to support “whatever it takes” to make Minnesota safer.

“I’ll be yes on anything and everything that comes through that will really make a difference to reduce gun violence here in the state of Minnesota,” she said in a recent interview.

That includes full bans of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines as proposed by Walz, she said. Seeberger is scheduled to appear with Walz at a gun violence prevention town hall Monday afternoon in Stillwater.

With tight margins in both the House and Senate, legislators in the political middle, including Seeberger, wield the most power in determining whether gun control measures succeed or fail. Her newfound support for them could help tip the scales and blaze a path for other moderate Democrats to follow in next year’s legislative session.

Her position on guns will also likely be used against her by Republicans who say her positions don’t match her moderate district. Seeberger’s swing seat will be a battleground in Republicans’ quest to win back the state Senate next year.

Seeberger said she also wants more funding for mental health services, like many Republicans have urged. It’s part of a reach-across-the-aisle posture she’s cultivated since reaching the Senate — and that she hopes appeals to voters next year.

Seeberger likely wouldn’t be in this position at all were it not for a new Senate district created in the 2020 redistricting cycle that covered liberal-leaning suburbs like Cottage Grove and Lake Elmo and conservative rural areas stretching down to Hastings.

Eileen Weber, a DFL party activist from Denmark Township, was looking for a candidate who could run in 2022 when former state Sen. Kathy Saltzman told her about Seeberger.

The two met at a cafe in Bayport, where Seeberger had served on the City Council. Weber also learned of Seeberger’s three-decade-long legal career, her years as an English teacher at her son’s school in Woodbury, and her current occupation as a paramedic for Allina Health.

Weber and other DFLers knew they needed someone like Seeberger, comfortable both in the back of an ambulance and in front of a courtroom, to run. Within a few days, she entered the race.

Seeberger campaigned on a desire to prioritize her district and work across the aisle and even picked up a last-minute endorsement from former Republican Rep. Tony Jurgens, who lost the Senate primary to Rep. Tom Dippel.

Seeberger eked out a victory over Dippel by just 321 votes, helping her party secure DFL control of the Senate for the first time since 2016.

She quickly gained a reputation among her peers for being a sharp, tough negotiator who has a firm grasp on policy. Legislative peers and advocates used words and phrases like “bulldog” and “smart as a whip” to describe her.

“She’s a very powerful person,” said Rep. John Huot, a fellow first responder who’s co-sponsored emergency medical services legislation with Seeberger. “So don’t piss her off.”

In her first legislative session in 2023, she successfully championed a sweeping ban on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or forever chemicals, that have polluted watersheds in her district.

Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, has worked with Seeberger on a variety of bills, including measures to strengthen emergency medical services in the state and fund mental health services for veterans, troops and first responders.

“I have a lot of respect for her,” he said.

But Lang said Seeberger’s bipartisan rhetoric isn’t matched by her voting record, arguing she tends to voice concerns about major Democratic bills before ultimately voting for them. He cited her 2023 votes for a DFL-backed gun control package, when she argued it would help protect law enforcement officers, and for a sprawling transportation funding bill in 2023 that will raise the gas tax.

“I’ve never seen her break from the party,” Lang said.

Seeberger said she was proud of what Democrats accomplished in the 2023 session. She also led an effort in 2025 that made employer-friendly changes to the state’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law that Democrats passed two years ago.

The conversations that swayed her, she said, were with Republican constituents who want more gun laws on the books but don’t feel comfortable speaking out against the strong conservative push to protect gun rights.

“That really spoke to me,” she said. “This is an issue that so many people feel so strongly about. But ... there’s a certain amount of, I don’t want to say intimidation, but some activity that makes it so people can’t feel like they speak freely about this.”

Polling suggests that most Republicans voters are opposed to assault weapon bans — but there’s a sizable minority in support.

Thirty-four percent of Republicans would support a ban in Minnesota, a recent KSTP poll found. A recent national Pew survey put Republican support for a ban at 42%. The vast majority of Democratic voters support such bans.

Seeberger said she’s hopeful Democrats and Republicans can find some consensus on the issue.

But ultimately, after encouragement from her family, she decided to run again.

She kicked off her campaign at a brewery in Hastings last month, packed with supporters including Huot, Washington County Commissioner Karla Bigham, Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey, and DFL Sen. Matt Klein, who, in a speech, compared Seeberger to historical figures Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone.

Seeberger briefly paused as she took the stage to applause, then told the crowd she wasn’t going to be intimidated out of politics.