Today, residents of the greater Mankato area woke up to the local newspaper highlighting Jake Johnson’s campaign as a race to watch. This front page feature highlighted Jake’s story, his recent meet and greet at MSU, and his campaign to make life more affordable across southern Minnesota.

Mankato Free Press: “RACE TO WATCH: Johnson hopes to unseat Finstad in District 1 congressional race”:

• “Jake Johnson hopes to unseat Brad Finstad in November’s election, and he’s looking to do it through a grassroots campaign without any corporate money.”
  
  

• “I have to worry about bills. I worry about health care. I worry about the cost of groceries, with four boys eating me out of a house and home. I have the same concerns and worries that people all across southern Minnesota have.”

  
  

• “The tariffs are a really bad deal. … They’ve been bad for farmers. They’ve been bad for small businesses. They’ve been bad for families and consumers across our district,” Johnson said. “(Finstad) is also supportive of this war in Iran that we’ve seen the immediate impacts (of).”

  
  

• “We had a room full of young people. Everyone from College Democrats to Turning Point USA members … and the things that I heard about were, they are afraid,” Johnson said. “They’re worried that, quite frankly, the American dream that I got to live is slipping away.”

  
  

• “One person out in Claremont at the pub said, ‘So you’re one of those different Democrats.’ I mean, if that’s what you want to call me,” Johnson said. “We are running to be a voice for Republicans, Independents, Democrats — every constituent should have a voice at the table.”

  
  

• When it comes to complaints with either party, Johnson’s biggest one seems to be just that: a lack of compromise. It’s something he hopes to fix if elected. “Right now, (compromise) is just a dirty word,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of excuses flying around about that person’s to blame, this party’s to blame, that leader’s to blame. We need fewer excuses and more compromise, more solutions.”

  
  

• “The Free Press reached out to Finstad for his thoughts on the race. His team did not reply to requests for comment.”

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