Eric Pratt, would you seek a spot on the Ag Committee? And what would be necessary for you to see in the next farm bill?

You know, I'm, I'm willing to serve wherever it is, but certainly Ag is an important part of, of the 2nd District.

Um, I think we do need to pass the farm bill.

We have a bipartisan farm bill that's sitting there, and it needs to pass.

Um, certainly, uh, the loan programs and access to capital are an important part of it.

The risk management aspects of it to protect farmers so that if there's a weather event or some, uh, cat- uh, catastrophic event that, that, uh, impacts their, their crops, they need to be protected from that so they're not going bankrupt and losing their business.

Uh, we do need to increase markets for our farm, uh, for our farm goods, and, uh, that's what this farm bill does.

Eric Pratt, what, if anything, would you do in Congress to address concerns over AI and data center construction?

But what do you think was the driving factor as to why they didn't choose Minnesota to build this steel facility?

I chaired the Senate Jobs Committee for four years, and we worked really hard to attract investment and jobs to the state of Minnesota.

And with the trifecta, we put so many rules in place uh so many barriers in place that it's it's hard for somebody like masabi to come in and make those investments um as you mentioned we are going to have a mine that's going to employ 300 full-time jobs in the state of minnesota but the the big part of this was the processing they could have just moved the taconite about a half a mile down the road and made steel and that would have been an additional 700 1700 uh full-time jobs that could have been in the state of Minnesota that are now going to Iowa.

There would have been $17 billion of investment in this state, and we let it leave.

Or we've let $17 billion in investment leave, I should say.

And so it's everything that we said would happen when the trifecta took place.

Our permitting doesn't allow these projects to move forward in a timely manner.

But what message are you giving to the voters that are concerned about affordability heading into this election?

Eric Pratt, what can you do in Congress to ensure that fraud and federal dollars are protected when they go to the states?

Well, this is interesting to hear the lies that are coming from my opponent.

Keith Ellison and Tim Walz turned a blind eye to fraud the entire time.

That's been well exposed.

We held them.

We tried to hold them accountable in the legislature.

They flat out lied to us.

How do you plan to represent agriculture if elected? And I believe this goes to you, Eric, first.

Should those be restored?

You know, we've got to take a real look at health care insurance.

I mean, we have the best health care in the world.

We've got people from other countries coming here.

We have innovation.

And we have to figure out how to fix it.

But, you know, even with government intervention, health care has become more and more expensive and inaccessible for people.

It has not been, should Congress approve more funding for it without a clear exit plan? And what should be done about the economic burdens it's caused?

Why did you feel now was the right time for you to shift your sights to Washington?

You know, I've had a great career in the Minnesota Senate, and, uh, really enjoyed working with, uh, my colleagues.

Um, you know, was able to work on a lot of bipartisan legislation.

We, uh, you know, I, I had the opportunity to chair the, uh, jobs committee, the, the education committee, and, um, but it felt like it was time to, uh, to move on, and this is the area I grew up in.

This is the area where I raised my family.

And, um, I think we need someone in Washington who can be very solutions-oriented.

Um, you know, when I was, when I was first thinking of running for the Senate, my old boss one time said, "Bankers are problem-solvers, and we need more problem-solvers in government." And when I think back on my career in business about, uh, you know, the, the things we did when I worked, uh, led the fraud team and I managed a, a large portfolio, uh, on the school board and we turned a million dollar debt into a $3 million surplus, and our test scores went up, um, and then the good work that we've done in the Minnesota Senate, I think, uh, we need that kind of leadership in Washington, and that's what I expect and hope to bring.

What makes you think it could shift back this year?

Oh, what if there's a bad guy robbing the joint? Oh, wait, let me call the owner and ask, can I bring my gun in? That's just asinine, Eric.

yeah oh yeah it really is and i tell you i mean this has just been a good week for for gun rights and it's exciting that the supreme court is striking down gun-free zones because realize what hawaii was doing they were doing things like okay because of the bruin decision four years ago we'll let you have concealed carry permits you just can't carry it uh your gun in 98 of the state And so the exciting thing, Dan, is our case where we challenged New York's gun-free zones and we won there, that provided for the circuit split, which the Supreme Court likes to see.

And so as a result, they took this Hawaii case because the gun rights had lost in Hawaii.

So that circuit split allowed the Supreme Court to take it, and the rest is history now.

We have gun-free zones being struck down, which is exciting.

That's the way it should be.

I mean, Eric, if I go through all the rigmarole that California puts me through every two years to have my CCW, I should be able to go to the other 49 states.

Absolutely, you should.

Isn't that, like, 30 to 40% of gun sales in America right now?

now?Yeah, even higher than that.

Uh, th- and you've absolutely nailed the problem.

They are absolutely going about effectively outlawing all new Glock handguns or their types after January 1st.

But it, it's, uh, you know, even worse than that.

I mean, here we- we've got Democrats in Maryland, uh, with this outrageous gun ban.

They're not going after criminals.

Am I understanding that correctly?