Today, the grassroots organization Defeat Extremists is endorsing local math teacher Jake Johnson in his campaign for Congress. The group is backing Johnson, a 20-year union leader and father of four, because of his proven commitment to working families and his ability to win one of the most competitive House races in the country.

“As a teacher and a father raising four kids in southern Minnesota, I see every day how families are being squeezed – from rising grocery bills, to unaffordable healthcare, to tariffs that are hammering our farmers and small businesses,” said Jake Johnson, math teacher in southern Minnesota. “Congressman Finstad voted to support those tariffs, to defund our rural clinics, and to give more tax breaks to billionaires. Those are extreme positions, plain and simple.”

Funded entirely by grassroots donors, Defeat Extremists is focused on beating extremists by investing early in top-tier candidates. Last year, the group invested in eight of the nine House seats that flipped from red to blue. With Finstad rated as one of the most extreme members of Congress, his positions are far out of step with the voters of southern Minnesota.

“Defeat Extremists is proud to endorse Jake Johnson to represent the people of Southern Minnesota in Congress,” said Noah Dion, National Political Director of Defeat Extremists. “A lifelong public school teacher and union member, Jake will fight every day for working families to protect Medicare and Social Security and make life more affordable. As out-of-touch, extremist Republicans like Congressman Brad Finstad attack working families, Jake is fighting back. Defeat Extremists is confident that Jake has what it takes to win this critical seat in the path to the House majority.”

In 2018, this district was one of the five closest House races in the country, and this seat was decided by fewer than four points in four of the last six elections. Johnson has entered the race as a strong candidate: he raised a record-breaking $264,000 in his first quarter without taking a dime from corporate PACs. He has no primary challengers, and he has already been provisionally endorsed by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. 

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