Marisa Simonetti

Simonetti was born in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in 2024, which she describes as a degree in psychology.[1] Her career experience includes working in real estate, and her campaign materials describe a background in real estate and entrepreneurship.[1] In KAXE's election guide she listed her employment as CEO and described herself as a creative problem solver who builds statewide business assets and open-source systems.[2]

She says she got involved in politics after volunteering in her son's kindergarten classroom, and that she volunteers in the school lunchroom.[1] In her KAXE response she gave her community as Plymouth and said she ran to protect constitutional rights, with priorities that included defending the Bill of Rights and making government frameworks open-source and accountable.[2] Her Ballotpedia profile listed housing affordability, public safety and community-focused policies, and in KAXE's guide she described a platform centered on constitutional rights and government transparency.[1][2] She received 1.5% of the vote to Peggy Flanagan's 53.7%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[3] After a June 21, 2024, dispute with a housemate at her home, in which she threw a live tarantula down a staircase and which she has said was meant to get the housemate to leave, Simonetti was charged with fifth-degree assault, disorderly conduct and harassment.[4] A Hennepin County jury found her guilty on all three counts in March 2026; on June 30, 2026, a judge sentenced her to 364 days in the county workhouse, all stayed for two years, with 90 days to serve with work-release eligibility and two years of supervised probation, and entered the disorderly-conduct finding without formal adjudication.[4][5]