A reader had a sad upon receiving a mail piece from Minnesota First Congressional District Republican primary challenger, state senator Carla Nelson. The Rochester lawmaker is pulling no punches in attacking Hagedorn, pointing out that while he's moved back to Minnesota several times to run for office, he's never purchased a home here.
Our friend asks, "Remember when the Republicans pledged to not say ill of each other?" Indeed, we do. The precept was generally known as "the Eleventh Commandment," followed by Ronald Reagan in his 1966 California gubernatorial campaign.
Nelson contrasts Hagedorn's perpetual candidacy with her own record in the Minnesota state senate:
In an interview with the Winona Daily News, Rochester state Sen. Carla Nelson says she's the better GOP candidate for Congress, Nelson told reporter John Casper:
. . . Nelson is convinced her primary opponent, Blue Earth businessman Jim Hagedorn, doesn’t have what it takes to win the general election in November. She said many others in the district, which spans from the southern part of the state from border to border, share her views. . . .
People are thrilled to know that they have a better choice,” Nelson said in a phone interview with the Daily News earlier this week. “Different counties have different terms for it. Some say they are tired of the ‘Hagedorn Hangover’ or ‘I’m thrilled to have someone that I can vote for and be glad to vote for.’ There’s a lot of enthusiasm for a fresh, well-known proven conservative with a track record for winning elections.”
Nelson doesn’t beat around the bush when asked how she compares to Hagedorn, who won the Republican endorsement in April. If you mention that this is Hagedorn’s third consecutive time running for the 1st Congressional District seat, she’s quick to mention that he also ran in 2010 (although he didn’t win the primary).
She called Hagedorn a “blogger who is good at talking,” then quickly adds “that’s all that he has done.” . . .
Hagedorn's blogging drew attention in earlier races given his at best tasteless statements about women, Native Americans and other Americans, Mother Jones reported in House Candidate Called Female Senators “Undeserving Bimbos in Tennis Shoes.” A post in the Washington Examiner explored the question, Jim Hagedorn: The worst Republican candidate in America?, earlier this year.
Nelson's bluntness is drawing push back from Hagedorn supporters on twitter.
@JimHagedornMN was born in Blue Earth. We lived on a farm outside of Truman. After our dad was elected to Congress we spent school years in DC. Summers were spent on our farm. I should know. .@CarlaNelsonMN stop with the lies. #MN01 #MNGOP
— heidi katz (@heidikatz) August 5, 2018
@CarlaNelsonMN puts out 2nd Neg ad because she cant run on her own record! She calls herself a Conservative..her 2017 MCCL Score was 50%, in 2016 her lifetime Taxpayer League score was 54%...She voted to let boys use girls bathrooms. Who is failed politician? #rochmn #MN01 #mnleg
— Cindy Maves (@lookingforanswe) August 4, 2018
.@CarlaNelsonMN's attacks on @JimHagedornMN are disgraceful. Primaries are not for attacking people in your party. They are a time to unite the party, give voters a chance to know you, and let them know where you stand on the issues. Carla, after this, no one will vote for you.
— Aaron Farris (@AaronFarrisMN) August 3, 2018
Not everyone shares that take. There's this guy's animated response:
. @jimhagedornmn supporters getting mad about something that Jim has been doing for months... #MN01 pic.twitter.com/Y5y9S0fBX7
— Joe Desilets (@JoeDesilets) August 3, 2018
As there was this attack on Nelson earlier this year, there's something to that.
Hagedorn supporters also sent letters to the editors of MN01 newspapers. Longtime Martin County Republican activist Neal Breitbarth writes in Jim Hagedorn is from here:
Jim Hagedorn is running for 1st District Congress and his GOP opponent has, as a last ditch effort, taken her campaign into the gutter with personal attacks and lies. Unfortunately, I don’t think this sort of behavior is over.
Carla Nelson doesn’t want to run on the issues. Her latest lame attack claims that Jim is not from here. I can, and will, attest to the fact that Jim Hagedorn grew up on a farm less than 1/2 mile from me, near Truman. We went to the same Lutheran school in Truman. In fact, Jim is the only contending candidate that was born and raised in the 1st District and grew up on the Family Farm. The conservative candidate in the race for Congress who will work to help our farm families and all families across the District is Jim Hagedorn. He has true empathy for our families and will work tirelessly to help them anyway he can. Jim will fight for our 2nd Amendment rights and has received the NRA’s highest rating, the A rating.
Carla Nelson has advocated for the use of Sticky Traps on the border to stop illegal’s from crossing, she also voted to allow boys to use your daughter’s bathroom at school and to spend $18 million dollars for a so-called “Somali Community Development Grant Program.” . . .
Actually, no one in the Minnesota Senate or House voted for the latter program, since neither companion bill received a committee hearing. In the senate, chief author Jim Abeler withdrew the bill this year after this attack on Nelson earlier this year brought the go-nowhere bill to the attention of Minnesota's anti-Muslim community.
With Nelson's endorsement by the NRA, the race might be less of a cakewalk than Hagedorn expected. However, usually the candidate who is down in a race is the one coming out swinging
Images: The latest Nelson mail piece.
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