About Me
My name is Jamael Lundy
I am a proud husband, a small business owner, a lifelong progressive DFLer, and someone who has worked at the State Capitol on behalf of this district for over a decade. I am running because I believe that tough times like these demand tough, experienced leadership unafraid of thinking big and taking action. I am running because I recognize character and competence are what transforms challenges into change. I am running because Senate District 65 deserves a different type of Democrat; one that recognizes that the scale of our solutions need to match the scale of our problems.
I was born on a military base in Washington, D.C., and raised in a family that moved often and believed deeply in service and responsibility. My parents came from close knit working-class families shaped by segregation and economic hardship. Those experiences gave me an early understanding that opportunity isn’t evenly distributed—and that government decisions play a powerful role in our lives.
After graduating college into the great recession, I followed my passion for organizing to Minnesota to work as a House Caucus Field Organizer in Moorhead. There I helped flip a Minnesota House seat blue for the first time in a generation. That victory taught me change does not happen by accident. It happens when people show up, listen carefully, and do the work.
Following that election, I began working for Minnesota House Representative Carlos Mariani who represented House District 65B and served as the Education Policy Chair. During that time, I worked on efforts to move Minnesota beyond No Child Left Behind and supported the passage of the Minnesota Dream Act, which expanded access to college tuition to undocumented students. Those four sessions taught me that progress requires urgency, strategy, and partnership with the people most impacted.
As I was learning the legislative process in the halls of the State Capitol, I became eager to find ways to make a bigger impact. I returned to the DFL House Caucus Campaign as a Field Organizer for Rep. Melissa Hortman prior to her rise to the speakership; during this time I enrolled in Mitchell Hamline Law School to refine my ability to challenge lawmakers to dream bigger; and I took a job with Congresswoman Betty McCullum to deepen my constituent service experience.
During law school, I was intentional about remaining focused on public service. While my classmates went off to big firms, I clerked at Education Minnesota, the states teachers union. Following Trump’s first election, I knew organizers like me were needed in the field. In 2018, I pursued a position to lead the Third Congressional District as the DFL Coordinated Campaign’s Regional Field Director. There, we flipped a GOP congressional seat and led the nation in voter turnout by focusing on underserved areas over the objection of some in party leadership. This taught me that we can and must rewrite the old DFL organizing playbook by reaching out to underserved communities of color and those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.
Eventually, I returned to the Minnesota House to work again under Chair Carlos Mariani, except this time as senior staff on the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Committee. That period marked the most consequential chapter of my public service. After the murder of George Floyd, Minnesota faced a reckoning. In that moment, I worked behind the scenes to help lead our legislative strategy, draft complex bills, organize hearings, and successfully help our party move bold reforms through divided government.
That work produced real criminal justice reform, from the Minnesota Police Accountability Act to police licensing changes, from a five-year probation cap to a reform in state prison inspections, from the largest state investment in community-based violence prevention to unprecedented investments into our emergency responders & crime victims. It taught me that real progress is structural, not symbolic, and that lasting changes only comes when you are willing to confront power directly and stay in the work long enough to change the system.
Over time, I earned my law degree, started a small business providing affordable housing for those struggling with credit and criminal backgrounds, fell in love, and married the love of my life, Saint Paul City Councilwoman Anika Bowie. In the end, I also fell in love with the city I spent most of my adult life working for, the city of Saint Paul.
Today, I serve as Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, where I work every day at the intersection of law, policy, and implementation.
Throughout my career, I have focused on turning progressive values into durable outcomes. I believe leadership means showing up consistently, telling the truth even when it is uncomfortable, and doing the work required to make systems fairer and more humane.
I am proud to be a Democrat. But this moment calls for a different type of Democrat. One with the character to lead honestly, the competence to govern effectively, and the courage to bring big bold ideas into reality.
This is the work I have done my entire career. And that is the work I will be ready to do on day one as your State Senator!
Sincerely,
Jamael Lundy