After no endorsement in the 2018 First Congressional District race between Jim Hagedorn and Dan Feehan, Forum Communications has endorsed DFL challenger Dan Feehan for Minnesota's Fighting First congressional district.
The chain publishes the Rochester Bulletin and Worthington Globe in the district.
Headline: Endorsement: Dan Feehan is the right fit for U.S. District 1.
Earlier, the Star Tribune endorsed Feehan in the October12 editorial, After close loss in 2018, Dan Feehan focused on First District's needs.
Forum Communications
Endorsement: Dan Feehan is the right fit for U.S. District 1 weighs the strengths of each candidate, concluding:
Hagedorn was elected in 2018 by a thin margin, and his first term has been marred by ethics questions. One concerned his use of the taxpayer-funded mail program and payments made to people tied to his campaign. Another is a report that his campaign was given rent-free office space by a supporter.
Overall, Feehan seems the better fit for District 1. He didn't play the blame game and demonstrated a common sense, let's-work-this-out-together attitude that is largely missing in today's politics.
Star Tribune
In After close loss in 2018, Dan Feehan focused on First District's needs, the Star Tribune editorial board wrote:
Dan Feehan won the Star Tribune Editorial Board’s enthusiastic endorsement to represent southern Minnesota in the U.S. House.
A decorated combat veteran with impressive experience, including a stint as an acting assistant secretary of defense, Feehan’s breadth of knowledge, eloquence and commitment to public service easily made him a standout among those candidates running for office in Minnesota that year.
Two years after losing the 2018 race by 1,315 votes, the 38-year-old father of three from North Mankato is again the clear choice in the First Congressional District. A promising talent during his first run, Feehan has become an even stronger candidate in 2020 and gets our recommendation again over Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who is seeking a second term. Also on the ballot: Bill Rood of the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota.
Feehan’s work since 2018 with the National Farmers Union, as well as consulting work with several reputable nonprofits, has focused on issues deeply important to this district: agriculture, education, veterans’ issues and health care. The additional experience has forged deeper connections to the district and made him an even stronger advocate for southern Minnesota families, farmers and businesses.
Feehan’s differences with Hagedorn on a key issue — health care — have also become more important in the past two years. . . .
Hagedorn, 58, declined the Editorial Board’s invitation for an endorsement interview. . . .
Read the entire editorial at the Star Tribune. While the incumbent refused an interview, the editorial has published (as is the paper's policy) Hagedorn's case for himself, This election gives voters a clear choice — socialism vs. freedom.
Weak sauce, given Feehan's combat military service. And there's this in the comments:
"Democrats...offer far-left transformational socialism and the end of the America we grew up with and love......I will continue to work across the aisle in bipartisan fashion and on behalf of southern Minnesotans and the United States of America."
A bit of cognitive dissonance here.
The Cook Political Report rates the race as a "Toss Up Republican," given that the incumbent is a Republican.
While Southern Minnesota historically has been Republican, both Tim Penny (1982) and Tim Walz (2006) won the seat (varying geography, depending on redistricting). Penny beat Hagedorn's father in a 1982 upset election, and Wikipedia notes, " Penny was reelected in 1984 with 56 percent of the vote, becoming the first non-Republican to win reelection in the district since statehood."
Photo: Dan Feehan.
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I will say that the Forum's endorsement of Feehan following their absolute head-scratcher of an endorsement of Jason Lewis over Sen. Tina Smith left me really wondering who is in charge of their endorsements. Not that I won't take it, but still....
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Oct 23, 2020 at 12:03 AM