My name is Alex Falconer. I am a lifelong Minnesotan and decade long resident of Eden Prairie and I am running for the Minnesota State House in District 49A.
I want to represent our community in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka. I am not just running to hold office, I am running for you - to represent you and your family.
My dad restarted and rebuilt the Red Wing Stoneware Company from the ground up when I was in grade school. I learned first hand what hard work, tenacity and giving it your all means to be a business owner who not only needs to meet the bottom line for his own family but also provide for his employees and their families as well. We need an economy that works for everyone - business owners, laborers and consumers alike. My first job was “helping” put together boxes for shipping when I was a very little kid, staffing our booth at the Renaissance Fair, and eventually kept working through high school in the sales room and the factory loading and unloading kilns. Hard work instilled in me at an early age drives me to be productive and finish everything I start.
Personal History
My mom is a retired family practice physician. From her I learned the importance of what real, affordable access to healthcare means to everyone - from children to the working class to the elderly. We all deserve not just access to healthcare, but access to affordable healthcare. I’ll also state this loud and proud here: I’m unabashedly pro-choice. Nothing should come between a woman and her doctor. I am also proud my mom was in many ways a trail blazer, attending medical school in the 70’s when very few women were welcomed in at that time. She was the first female physician at the Red Wing clinic and also worked at the Red Wing Planned Parenthood. Championing the ability for all people to pursue their dreams no matter who they are or where they come from is a vital part of our society and makes our communities stronger.
Education & Experience
I graduated from Red Wing High School and then went on to graduate from St. Olaf College with a biology degree but focused on working in politics after school. Volunteering with the Wellstone campaign in college, then Obama’s US Senate campaign, when we briefly lived in Chicago, really solidified a passion for grassroots organizing and the power of people coming together for positive change in their communities. I started earning an actual paycheck in politics working for the Minnesota DFL in 2006 during Howard Dean’s state partnership program and have since then managed local and statewide field programs, congressional campaigns, and worked as a consultant for candidates and Parties across the country.
In 2015 I started working for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters - the lead organization heading a national coalition of conservation organizations, businesses, and hunter-angler groups to protect our Wilderness from potential ruin via proposed sulfide-ore copper mines. I currently serve as the Campaign Manager and focus my time and energy lifting the voices of Minnesotans and people from across the country as I meet with elected officials and decision makers in St. Paul and D.C. to support and pass policies and legislation to protect our Wilderness. Our greatest achievement to date was President Biden’s administration banning sulfide-ore copper mining for 20 years on federal lands that would flow through the heart of the Wilderness. We now have the chance to pass both federal and state legislation to make this ban permanent so all generations can enjoy a clean and unspoiled Wilderness.
From the Boundary Waters to Lake Superior, to the Mississippi River to Lake Minnetonka…we all need and deserve clean water, air and healthy ecosystems.
Eden Prairie and Minnetonka’s treasured lakes, rivers, marshes and creeks have fostered a community pride in our system of local parks and conservation areas. It is vital to our communities that we continue to protect these natural resources for all generations to come.
Family & Personal Interests
A bit of my personal life: I am happily married to Erica who is a brilliant Marriage and Family Therapist. We have 3 wonderful kids attending Minnetonka public schools, 2 very good dogs and a grumpy but cuddly cat. I love to garden, cook, and bake. My passions are running, skiing, photography, nature and trees. We enjoy fresh bread, bagels and weekly “Donut Sundays.” We spend weeks in the Boundary Waters each year and ski the 'Birkie' as a family.
I am also an ultra-marathon distance runner with several 100+ mile trail race finishes and am currently the only recorded person to have run across the Boundary Waters itself in an advocacy project I did for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters. A short film of that 110 mile, 38 hour journey can be viewed online - Watch the Boundary Waters Traverse Short Movie Here.
In addition to being a runner, I am also a night sky enthusiast and hobbyist photographer and take any chance I can to view and photograph the northern lights.
