One of Paulsen’s supporters’ favorite arguments for his candidacy in 2008 was that Paulsen “fit the demographics of the district” better than his challenger, Ashwin Madia. Applying that to Bonoff, you can see that much like Paulsen, she is a Caucasian resident of the 3rd district between the ages of 18 and 65, a married homeowner with children, all facts which match with a large number of her potential constituents. Unlike Paulsen, however, she is female, as is 51.1% of the district. So, in Paulsen’s supporters’ own criteria, she would actually be a better fit than the Congressman.

But demographics aren’t what matters to voters, and people don’t and should not vote simply because a candidate is “most like me.” So here is a look at some of the issues that 3rd CD voters could face:

Homes: Nearly 75% of the district lives in single family units, either owned or rented. As housing values plummeted, Paulsen voted against the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 that would allow home owners to modify their mortgages when facing foreclosure possibilities.

Paid Parental Leave:26.6% of the district is under the age of 18. When children are hurt, sick, or their schools or care centers are closed for holidays, in services, illness, vacations or other reasons, someone will need to stay home and care for them. As employers cut back more on paid personal and vacation time, more families find themselves losing income they desperately need in order to care for their children. And, for the nearly 7% of the district that are single parents, there is no second income to rely on should leave need to be taken.

Erik Paulsen’s vote against the Federal Employee Paid Parental Leave Act of 2009 raises a significant question of whether he will be supportive of any efforts to enact paid family leave legislation. Leave for federal employees is an excellent first step in helping all businesses see that allowing employees to care for their families creates a more productive work environment that retains better employees, as well as helps to decrease the wage gap that hits women, who tend to stay home unpaid more than their male counterparts.

And speaking of fair pay… Paulsen also voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fairpay Act of 2009, an act that allows workers to claim discriminatory compensation practices occurred every time compensation is issued, rather than just with 180 days from the first payment. The passage of the bill sends a strong message to businesses that women need to be compensated with the same benefits for the same work as their male counterparts, and Rep. Paulsen voted against it.

I wonder how that will fly with the 51.1% of women in his district?

Should Bonoff end up as the DFL candidate and manage to beat Rep. Paulsen, that would most likely bring Minnesota a third female congressional representative, one step closer to a gender balance that matches the state’s own gender demographic.

But would she be a better fit for the district? That analysis soon…