The complicated race for Minnesota's 1st Congressional District
MINNEAPOLIS -- On August 9, voters in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District will go to the polls.
They will be voting in a primary to decide who will run for the seat in November, as well as who will finish the last five months of Jim Hagedorn's term. The district has been without a representative since Hagedorn's death in February.
Voters will decide whether Democrat Jeffrey Ettinger or Republican Brad Finstad will be elected to Congress for four months.
For the primary election, Ettinger is the sole major Democrat. The retired CEO of Hormel argues this mostly rural and farm district is not tilted toward the GOP.
"I would argue it's a very purple district. I've lived here for 33 years, it was Tim Penny, a Democrat, Gil Gutknecht, a Republican, Tim Walz a Democrat, Jim Hagedorn, a Republican," Ettinger said.
But in recent years, Donald Trump has helped swing the district red. The Republican primary, however, is messy. Former State Rep. Jeremy Munson is in the race, even though he pledged to drop out if he wasn't the nominee. For that, Party Chair David Hann has publicly rebuked Munson. He justifies his reversal by saying 1st District boundaries have changed.
"It's a new district, it's a different race. Wabasha and Goodhue County voters never had a say in the special primary because they weren't part of the old 1st District," Munson said.
Finstad is a former state representative, farmer and a Trump appointee to the Department of Agriculture
"Everyone everywhere I go is talking about family pocket book issues. It's the price of gas, I hear it over and over and over again, 100 percent of the time it's the price of food at the grocery store," Finstad said.
Both Republicans in the race are against abortion rights. Ettinger thinks his support of those rights will help him
"I think honestly a lot of voters are very fired up about the fact that that right was taken away by the reversal of Roe v. Wade decision," Ettinger said.
Finstad has endorsements from the Minnesota Farm Bureau, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, and top state Republicans -- including Reps. Pete Stauber and Michelle Fischbach.
