Two staffers on Tom Emmer campaign contract COVID

Two employees of U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer's re-election campaign have been diagnosed with COVID-19, a spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Zach Freimark described the employees as "junior staffers" who are not in campaign leadership roles. He said both went into quarantine early last week after displaying symptoms.

The week before last, Emmer rode Air Force One from Washington to Minnesota and back with President Donald Trump, just a day ahead of when Trump revealed his positive test. Emmer said at the end of that week that he had tested negative.

Freimark said Emmer had not seen either of the infected staffers for several weeks before that, and that their diagnoses are not linked to Trump's visit.

The staffers had driven together at least several times in a car as they put up yard signs for Emmer in Minnesota's Sixth District, Freimark said. He said the campaign's office has a sign up about Minnesota's mask requirement.

"Everyone is masked up when they're in the office for the most part," Freimark said.

Emmer, first elected to the House in 2014, is being challenged this year by Democrat Tawnja Zahradka.

Patrick Condon