ROCHESTER — U.S. Rep.
Brad Finstad faces two GOP challengers in a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 13, to represent Minnesota’s First Congressional District with the winner facing DFL candidate Rachel Bohman in the general election. The two GOP challengers are Shawn Tweten, a Mankato therapist, and Greg Goetzman, a Rochester resident.
Tweten says Washington’s dysfunctional politics needs fixing and that a licensed therapist could help bring the two parties together. He is running on the motto “Love your neighbor.” Tweten said the bad-blood in Congress is evidenced when House members are challenging each other to fist fights or hurling insults at each other.
“As a mental health therapist, I believe living in a constant state of fear is emotionally unhealthy,” Tweten said. “I want to help change the political narrative.” ADVERTISEMENT Tweten earned a bachelor’s degree at Oak Hills Christian Church in Bemidji, Minn.
He has a doctorate degree in marriage and family therapy at National University. Goetzman of Rochester listed nuclear disarmament, balancing the budget and protecting the environment as his three top issues. He described himself as a liberal Republican who hoped to ride a "big blue wave" ignited by the Democratic presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz into Congress.
"I'm endorsing (Harris-Walz) even though I'm a Republican," Goetzman said. "My goal is to talk to the political parties at the county fairs." A New Elm farmer and small-business owner, Finstad was elected to Congress in a special election Aug.
9, 2022, to complete the term of Jim Hagedorn, who died from cancer. He won a full, two-year term three months later. He previously served three terms in the Minnesota Legislature.
He has held executive positions with the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association and the Center for Rural Policy and Development. Finstad sits on the House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Armed Services. Finstad has been a sharp critic of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, having voted to condemn the administration for its “failure to secure” the border.
Finstad also voted against a $60 billion aid package to Ukraine in its war against Russia, arguing that Biden hasn’t adequately explained the end-game strategy for the war. He did, though, vote to send aid to Israel and Taiwan. Finstad has also been a budget hawk, believing more needs to be done to control spending in Washington.
He voted against a continuing resolution last year to keep the government open while work continued on passing budget bills. "Business owners across southern Minnesota don’t have the luxury of printing money to pay for initiatives that they can’t afford, and the Federal Government should be no different," Finstad said in a PB questionnaire. “We simply cannot afford to keep the path of reckless spending in Washington.
" ADVERTISEMENT Each candidate was sent a set of questions to fill out. Below are the candidates responses: Name: Brad Finstad Residence: New Ulm, Minn. Employment: Farmer, small-business owner Political Party : Republican Family: Wife, Jackie; we have seven kids.
Education: University of Minnesota degree in agricultural education with an emphasis in rural leadership development. Political experience: Three-term state representative (2003 to 2009); served as President Trump's appointed state director for the USDA Office of Rural Development (2017 to 2021). What are your three top priorities if you are re-elected to Congress? My top priorities will continue to be doing what is best for those who I am honored to represent.
This includes fighting for our rural communities, improving our aging – and sometimes failing – infrastructure, and ensuring that our government returns to a state of fiscal sanity. Border crossings have been trending downward for several months after soaring to record levels late last year. The decline in illegal entries is in part due to more aggressive enforcement by the Mexican government.
It also comes after President Biden announced broad restrictions on asylum claims. What more should be done? I think that we can all agree that next to nothing has been done by the Biden-Harris Administration to curb, or even control the flow of illegal immigration across our southern border. For one, at the very least, we must enforce the laws that we already have on the books.
Further, we must get H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, across the finish line, which I was happy to support in the House of Representatives.
Lastly, we must ensure that ICE and CBP have the necessary resources to efficiently and effectively do their jobs and, in the cases where our Administration neglects to do its duty, allow our states to get the job done. The U.S.
national debt hit $35 trillion, a new landmark, halfway into 2024. Today, the U.S.
national debt is equal to the GDP of China, Japan, Germany, Indian and the United Kingdom combined. Yet neither political party has proposed meaningful strategies to address the growing debt. What strategies would you support? There are many things that can be done to begin to get us back on track, beginning with House Republicans finding offsets for their federal budgets this Congress.
Business owners across southern Minnesota don’t have the luxury of printing money to pay for initiatives that they can’t afford, and the Federal Government should be no different. Further, we must continue to look for meaningful ways to stop the waste and abuse that we have become accustomed to. This can include, but isn’t limited to, cutting unused programs and punishing those who misuse the funds we provide them.
Most Americans have paid lower incomes taxes since 2018, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 enacted by former President Donald Trump. Trillions in tax breaks will sunset next year without action from Congress. Do you support extending those lower rates before they revert to pre-TCJA levels after 2025? I absolutely support extending TCJA, and I voted to do just that in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act.
When individuals and businesses aren’t forced to pay the Federal Government exorbitant sums, that money can be used for quality-of-life improvements like putting food on the table, research and development, and so much more. Money spent by those who earned it is almost always better-spent than by the Federal Government. — Name: Gregory Goetzman Residence: Rochester, Minn.
Employment: Political Party: Republican Family: Education: Economics degree, Winona State University. Political experience: ADVERTISEMENT What are your three priorities? 1. Nuclear disarmament.
An accident waiting to happen. Peace: Violence doesn't help. As Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about having to choose between nonviolence or nonexistence. 2.
Balance the budget. The primary job of the US House of Representatives. At least keep the debt around 10% of GDP.
3. The environment. With eight billion people on the planet, we need to work together to save the remaining species.
We have to jump-start our transition to renewable energy. Border crossings have been trending downward for several months after soaring to record levels late last year. The decline in illegal entries is in part due to more aggressive enforcement by the Mexican government.
It also comes after President Biden announced broad restrictions on asylum claims. What more should be done? As several Post Bulletin articles have pointed out; we need immigrants to bolster our work force. The US House needs to provide funding and oversight.
The U.S. national debt hit $35 trillion, a new landmark, halfway into 2024.
Today, the U.S. national debt is equal to the GDP of China, Japan, Germany, Indian and the United Kingdom combined.
Yet neither political party has proposed meaningful strategies to address the growing debt. What strategies would you support? Increase revenue. End all the loopholes.
Cut back the almost trillion dollar defense budget. Stop fighting wars. Stop defending other countries that want to go to war.
Transition the internal combustion military to the use of drones. Better yet, negotiate for peace. Most Americans have paid lower incomes taxes since 2018, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 enacted by former President Donald Trump.
Trillions in tax breaks will sunset next year without action from Congress. Do you support extending those lower rates before they revert to pre-TCJA levels after 2025? See above. — Name: Shawn Tweten Residence: Mankato, Minn.
Employment: Freedom Behavioral Health, Inc. I am a regional behavioral health manager for a company that provides mental health services to jails, including the jail in Olmsted County Political Party: Republican Family: Divorced dad and have four children with my ex: Lee, 19, nonbinary; Hazel 17, daughter; Aubri, 16, daughter; Samuel, 12, son. Education: Doctor of philosophy in marriage and family therapy from National University: master of science in mental health counseling from Minnesota State University, Mankato; and bachelors of arts in biblical studies and youth ministries from Oak Hills Christian College.
Political experience: I have never held a state or federal office before. I was in student government at Oak Hills. I was the secretary for a year at the Tourtellotte Neighborhood Association in Mankato.
I was on Minnesota's Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information Advisory Group, which is attached to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and was helping with Minnesota's criminal background check computer system. I also served on the Blue Earth County's Human Services Advisory Committee and Social Services Task Force for a couple years. What are your three top priorities? Promoting conflict resolution within Congress.
Congress has become too partisan. Inviting every member of congress to pray one-on-one with me for the nation. Promoting ethics for elected and appointed officials.
Other issues include mental health (obviously, I'm a therapist), health care, veteran services, budget, housing. ADVERTISEMENT Border crossings have been trending downward for several months after soaring to record levels late last year. The decline in illegal entries is in part due to more aggressive enforcement by the Mexican government.
It also comes after President Biden announced broad restrictions on asylum claims. What more should be done? The border has become too partisan. Many politicians use it to promote fear in others.
Promoting fear is not healthy, whether the system is a family unit, a congress, or the nation. Congress needs to do its job and have a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform. I want to work towards that reform.
My ancestors immigrated to the United States for a better life and I want others to have that opportunity.. The U.
S. national debt hit $35 trillion, a new landmark, halfway into 2024. Today, the U.
S. national debt is equal to the GDP of China, Japan, Germany, Indian and the United Kingdom combined. Yet neither political party has proposed meaningful strategies to address the growing debt.
What strategies would you support? Every responsible budget conversion requires two things: discussing income and looking at expenses. I believe we need to increase income while also cutting some of the biggest expenditures (the biggest expenditure right now is the defense budget). Most Americans have paid lower incomes taxes since 2018, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 enacted by former President Donald Trump.
Trillions in tax breaks will sunset next year without action from Congress. Do you support extending those lower rates before they revert to pre-TCJA levels after 2025? Currently, the middle class bears most of the income tax responsibilities with millionaires and billionaires paying a lower rate than a household on a median salary. I do not support the idea of increasing taxes on the low and medium income households, but I do think we need to look at alternative revenue streams as part of the budgeting process.
This might include taxes on stock trades or funding the IRS to the point where it can actually enforce tax collection. I also support a flat tax. Again, when talking about a responsible budget we need to look at both revenue streams and expenditures.
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