After close primary, Brad Finstad looks to keep GOP control of First District

WASHINGTON - Brad Finstad is trying to find a balance between mainstream appeal and conservative credentials as he aims to win over a swath of southern Minnesota known for its political swings.

Running for the open First Congressional District seat, Finstad portrays himself as a southern Minnesota farm kid. The kind of farmer who wakes up knowing things will be broken and have to be fixed.

"Some folks on both sides of the aisle are more interested in the celebrity of the position. They're interested in the bomb throwing, the elbows to the throat kind of politics, the name calling, the finger pointing," Finstad, who lives in New Ulm, said in an interview. "And I'm less interested in that."

Whether Finstad will succeed the late GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn in Congress depends on if he can overcome a challenge in the Aug. 9 special election from former Hormel Foods CEO Jeff Ettinger. Campaign finance records show that Ettinger, a DFLer, has already poured $900,000 of his own money into the race. Two other candidates — Haroun McClellan of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party and Richard Reisdorf with the Legal Marijuana Now Party — are also on the special election ballot.

"He's like a career government guy. He's been either a political officeholder or an aide to a politician or a lobbyist or a policy person," Ettinger, a first-time candidate, said of Finstad. "Basically, that's his career. I don't really see him as being a very likely change agent for Washington."

Finstad, 46, served in the Minnesota House from 2003 to 2009. His work in the years since includes time as executive director of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, a tenure as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's state director for rural development in Minnesota during the Trump administration and a leading role with the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. He and his family own and operate the agronomy company Frontier Labs and have a farm growing soybeans and corn, according to Finstad's campaign.

"He's a principled man," said Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Glenn Thompson, the leading House Republican on the agriculture committee, who endorsed Finstad early in his primary bid. "I think Minnesota would add another excellent member of Congress should he be elected."

During his time in the statehouse, Finstad was the lead House sponsor of a bill that culminated in a new ballpark for the Twins. He also signed on to an unsuccessful amendment to the state constitution that would have banned same-sex marriage, as well as a failed amendment that would have established that "there is no constitutional right to abortion" in the state.

Finstad won a May special Republican primary for the First District by only 427 votes out of more than 35,000 cast for GOP candidates, barely fending off state Rep. Jeremy Munson in a crowded field that also included Hagedorn's widow Jennifer Carnahan. Outside groups supporting either Munson or Finstad poured more than $3 million into that primary race, according to federal campaign finance records.

Given the timing of Hagedorn's death in February after a battle with kidney cancer, the Aug. 9 special election to fill the remainder of the late Republican's term is being held on the same day primary voters in the new First District will decide which candidates make it to the November general election. In this fall's race, where Republicans are favored, a full two-year term to represent the congressional district is at stake.

Theresa Keaveny, chair of the DFL Rural Caucus, said she's troubled by Finstad's positions on abortion, health care and other issues.

"When I look at his website and see his campaign literature, it causes me concern in terms of, well, what policies is he actually going to support?" Keaveny said.

In the wake of the May primary, Munson conceded to Finstad, but then filed to run against him in the Aug. 9 primary happening on the same day as the special election.

After initially staying quiet about his intentions, Munson recently started a longshot bid to defeat Finstad in the GOP primary.

"He's a Republican from the George Bush era. That's the last time he was in office and everything's changed for the Republican Party since the time of George Bush," Munson said. "People are more focused on fighting for freedom and liberty and limited government than being a George Bush Republican."

Munson's move was criticized by the state GOP's chairman as the party tries to both win the Aug. 9 special and hold on to the seat in the regular November election.

"Jeremy is sure a good guy and he gets people fired up," Greg Bartz, the chairman of the Brown County Republican Party and a supporter of Finstad in the May primary, said earlier this month — before Munson started his last-minute push. "I like Jeremy, but I think Finstad can appeal to the middle a little bit easier."

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz held the First District seat for six terms before winning the governor's office in 2018. Hagedorn won the seat twice, and was among the Republicans who voted against certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election win in two swing states. Finstad differs from Hagedorn on that matter and said he would have voted to certify the election.

As the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ripples throughout the country, Finstad touts his past work to help start a crisis pregnancy center in New Ulm called First Choice Pregnancy Services. And when asked about his policy goals, Finstad said "it all starts with family pocketbook issues."

He views himself as a conservative who knows he won't see eye to eye at times with someone in the middle. But he thinks there could be issues where they can work together, which he sees as a different mindset than "I'm right, you're wrong, we'll never be able to talk again."

At the same time, Finstad's campaign website boasts familiar base-friendly language: that he's "Pro-Trump," "Pro-Gun," "Pro-Life" and "a conservative fighter running for Congress to fire Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House."

As the campaign closes in on its final stretch, it isn't lost on Finstad that his party has only gotten over 50 percent of the vote in a general election for the seat once in the past 16 years.

"There's just political history that says that we need to do a better job appealing to southern Minnesota folks, as southern Minnesota folks," said Finstad, "and not necessarily as trying to run to one extreme or the other."

Staff writer Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.