Jake Johnson decisively wins second debate with Brad Finstad

You can watch the full debate here.

ROCHESTER, MN — Tonight on KAAL ABC 6 News, math teacher Jake Johnson and Rep. Brad Finstad met for their second debate in five days, one day after a new KAAL/SurveyUSA poll found Jake leading Finstad 46-44. Given one more chance to answer for his record, Finstad defended the Iran War, defended the tariffs, and refused to commit to holding real, in-person town halls.

"Tonight, Brad Finstad had one more chance to answer for his record, and he doubled down on all of it. Seriously," said Jake Johnson. "He defended a war that has sent diesel over $6 a gallon in the middle of harvest. He called the tariffs a scalpel, when every small business owner and farmer I talk to says they're a sledgehammer. And when he was asked if he'd hold a real public town hall, he refused to commit. Folks in southern Minnesota deserve a congressman who shows up, listens, and actually works to bring down costs. That's what I'll do."

What southern Minnesota heard tonight:

The Iran War. Asked what he would do in his first year to lower costs, Jake said he will vote to end the Iran War, which has cost families over $100 billion, taken the lives of 19 American service members, and sent gas over $4 a gallon. Finstad, who has voted six times to continue the war, defended it again.
Tariffs. Finstad said he is "more of a scalpel than a sledgehammer guy when it comes to tariffs." Jake answered that "a tariff is a tax," and that the tariffs are "not a scalpel. It is a sledgehammer," pointing to Beth Benike, Minnesota's small business person of the year, who would describe the tariffs as "absolute destruction." Finstad has voted eight times to keep the tariffs in place, costing the average family over $2,000.
Town halls. Asked directly if he would commit to regular, publicly advertised, in-person town halls, Finstad didn't. Instead, he said "I'm doing it all the time" and called it "political rhetoric." In more than four years in Congress, Finstad has never held a single public, in-person town hall. Jake has held one in each of the district's 21 counties. "If you do ask for an in-person town hall meeting, you are called, his words now, a pitchfork-wielding mob," said Jake.
Health care. Jake pointed out that Finstad voted to cut $137 billion from rural health care, after 27 Republican state legislators begged Finstad not to, and that southern Minnesota has already lost four rural clinics. Preempting Finstad’s response that he voted for a $50 billion rural healthcare fund in that same bill, Jake said "$50 billion is less than $137 billion” and "we are bleeding out here in southern Minnesota."
Data centers. Finstad again called federal action on data centers "a slippery slope" and asked, "Where does it stop?" Jake renewed his call for a pause until key protections are guaranteed, noting that the residents of Pine Island didn't know for a full year that Google was the company building in their town. Finstad has taken $28,000 from data center companies, including Google.
Rural schools. Finstad said "the federal department of education teaches zero kids." Jake, a 20-year public school teacher, explained that Washington promised to pay 40% of special education costs and pays roughly 13% today. In Jackson County alone, fully funding special education would mean an additional $750,000, enough to avoid a referendum and lower property taxes.
Straight answers. Asked if he would support releasing the unredacted Epstein files, Jake said "Yes" and gave back the rest of his time.

In his closing, Jake took up Finstad's own question of whether folks are better off than they were two years ago: "I think the tariff policy is crazy. I think pursuing a war in Iran is crazy. I think health care cuts for you is crazy. I think defunding our schools is crazy... If you want to replace cowardice with courage, this is your opportunity."

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