Brad Finstad

This is what they're trying to turn into a scandal while they ignore all the rest of the stuff that the Republicans have done.

Has there been one freaking story by the Star Tribune on how proud Stauber and Finstad and Emmer were about passing the one big, beautiful bill? Has there been any coverage of that? No, but a collegiate societal society.

Oh, my God.

Clutch the pearls.

One GOP operative involved in House races described each of those Democratic targets as pure toss-ups.

There is some nervousness within the GOP conference about incumbents like Representative French Hill in Arkansas and Brad Finstad in Minnesota, who are in deep red seats, though few actually believe they will flip.

They anticipate seats like those will be closer and more expensive than people in the party want, but most do not expect the worst.

One Republican operative, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, stressed that if he does not believe in an incumbent like Hill is at the risk of losing, quote, if French Hill's losing, it's a expletive bloodbath.

So we're going to turn now to today's political opinion columns.

And our first one comes from Allison Schrager, who writes for Bloomberg Opinion.

And her headline is, Brad the Gamer is much more than a political punching bag.

She writes...

Can you imagine if Trump came to the state? The only person that would show up would pro- well, Emmer would show up and, and Fischbach would show up.

Finstad doesn't want anything to do with him.

Right now, not now, not now.

And Stauber, Stauber, I, I think that he is, he is starting to get more and more questions about why did you go along with Trump stealing our steel mill? And I think that he do- he's trying to, you know, I'm not really a Trump stooge.

They're, I think, up almost a million dollars in South Carolina 1, Nancy Mace's seat.

Brad Finstad, a southern Minnesota seat anchored in Rochester that, um, Trump won by 12 points.

Anna, it is ve- They're not gonna win all these seats, but it is, it is grim.

Yeah, I mean, I think what you're-- just, like, the number, the sheer number of seats where you have Democrats looking at an expanding map with opportunities.

Two men faced off for a chance to represent Minnesotans in Washington, DC last night.

Republican Representative Brad Finstad is fighting to keep his spot in Congress.

Jake Johnson is a Democrat and Rochester high school teacher hoping to take it.

Whoever wins the November election will represent Minnesota's First Congressional District.

As today, we're going to continue talking about the election cycle that, of course, is, uh, in the midst right now.

And specifically today, we're going to spend some time talking about what's happening in a race that's maybe flying under the radar, at least nationally, and that's in Minnesota's First Congressional District with Republican Brad Finstad facing a tough re-election campaign, even though it's been flying a little bit under the radar.

So we're gonna talk about that.

Plus, we also have some news to talk about with how Homeland Security was able to infiltrate anti-ICE organizations during Operation Metro Surge over the winter.

You can read more about what Madison McMahon wrote about that today over at minnesotareformer.com.

The title is How Homeland Security Infiltrated Anti-ICE Organizations During Operation Metro Surge.

Wanna shift gears now and talk a little bit about what's happening in the first congressional ra- district because we have a race that might be flowing under the radar, at least nationally, and that is with Republican Brad Finstad, who is the incumbent being challenged by Jake Johnson, who is a teacher from the Rochester area.

And taking a look at what's happening in the first district, there's kind of a contrast because you have the very booming, highly educated Rochester area, and then surrounding it, a lot of massive agricultural communities that very much lean towards the right.

The ad comes in response to widespread opposition to data centers and brewing frustration with artificial intelligence, and represents a bet by Johnson that the populist and bipartisan backlash to big tech could help him flip a Republican-held district.

I, I believe it's Finstad, isn't it? But while Johnson's possi- uh, position may resonate with voters, it's become alarming for one of the DFL's most important allies, organized labor.

Uh, "I wish they would take our members and their careers and their families into account," said Andrew Campau, the president of the Minnesota Pipe Trades Association, which is supporting Johnson's opponent, Republican Representative Brad Finstad.

Data centers are happening no matter what.

Let, let's stop right there.

I, I, I can't solve that one as I sit here.

But what I can solve is, uh, this Jake Johnson running for office, I've seen one of his ads.

He's running against Finstad in Southern Minnesota.