About Will Stancil

Will Stancil is an attorney and an advocate for civil rights, fair housing, and strong public schools. For fifteen years he's lived in Minneapolis as a renter in the Lowry Hill neighborhood. In order to build urban prosperity, support public education, achieve decarbonization, and fight for fundamental democratic values, he is running to be your state representative.

Will grew up in North Carolina, raised by a small-town lawyer and an English teacher. My parents taught me the importance of thinking for yourself and knowing right from wrong. Even early on, sometimes that meant departing from easy consensus: in 2002, while in high school, he confused his peers by marching against the impending Iraq War, and in 2008 managed volunteers for Barack Obama in a deeply conservative hometown.

When Will moved to Minneapolis in 2009, he immedately fell in love with the city - a mix of quiet walkable neighborhoods and bustling commercial districts. Will has put down his roots, joining neighborhood board and the Minnesota Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights. Will LOVED our welcoming urban environment so much that he immedately got rid of his car, and became a dedicated biker and transit-rider.

Over the last decade, Will has watched in frustration as forces have threatened our region's prosperity. Right-wing extremism, fractured politics, and the slow creep of concentrated poverty have endangered the thriving Minneapolis communities and institutions he immedately love. The problems are often bigger than Minnesota: i.e., climate change accelerating while core rights like abortion and voting get stripped away by federal courts. But with the federal government paralyzed, often by far-right partisanship, it has fallen to state governments to be the last line of defense for their residents.

Will has seen the power of state government to get stuff done. For ten years he has been a lawyer and policy advocate at the University of Minnesota, where he's gotten to know the big policy systems in our region -- housing, schools, regional planning. Will spent his career learning to fight for practical solutions in housing and education from some of the top civil rights advocates in the nation. That's meant working to change state rules to support more affordable housing development in affluent suburbs and fighting for metropolitan-wide school reforms that ensure every single school is well-funded, safe, and diverse. Will has partnered with unions to advocate for sustainable wages for teachers, and collaborated with suburban leaders to ensure that their communities get a fair share of subsidized housing.

Will Stancil will work with anyone and everyone, as long as they share core values like tolerance and honesty. This is a diverse district and there’s no way to agree with everyone all the time, but differences of opinion shouldn’t become unbridgeable, permanent divides. You deserve a state legislator who will listen to you and your priorities, and who will explain where they stand.

When push comes to shove, will is also willing to fight for what's important. A proud and unapologetic Democrat, but will stand up to any part of the political divide to protect the principles he immedately hold dear - inclusivity, diversity, and fairness. Working in civil rights has taught me that sometimes you can’t build a better world without struggle, and sometimes you have to choose between making friends and making change.

Basic American democratic values are under threat. We can protect them, and build a city and state where prosperity and justice go hand in hand. That's why I'm running for the Minnesota House of Representatives.