In late December, a source in the lobbying community shared a tip he had received about Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen retiring. Mary Franson's name came up as a possible candidate for the hypothetical open seat (subject to redistricting).
Franson was clear about her intentions in a December 30 text message reply to our question. She replied:
I don't know what Senator Ingebrigtsen's plans are for the next election. However, I do know my plans for 2022 and I will be running for re-election to the Minnesota House. Obviously, we will have new district lines. Regardless, I want to be part of a new House Republican majority following the 2022 election.
The news came today that the senator was retiring. At the Alexandria Echo Press, Al Edenloff reported Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen of Alexandria won't seek a sixth term.
We contacted Representative Franson to see if the announcement had altered her plans. Not at all, she replied in a text message:
My focus is on winning re-election to the Minnesota House in 2022. Nothing has changed.
In some ways, we're saddened by this decision, as Franson has at times had more enlightened views. Example: during the industrial hemp debate, Franson suggested he have Have a hemp heart: Sheriff Bill gets a free bag.
Who, then, might step up for the possible open seat?
The ever-superlative Brian Bakst shared this insight:
First-termer @jordanrasmusson is viewed as a potential Senate candidate should the district lines stay somewhat similar. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/i90JMUNxzX
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) January 17, 2022
It's seemed for a while that Rasmusson has been on the radar as a budding political talent. At the liberal/progressive Minnesota Reformer, editor J. Patrick Coolican wrote in a March 2021 column, Can the GOP find its way?:
The question is how the know nothingism of the current Republican Party can once again be the GOP that is home to engineers and doctors. (As Jonathan Chait pointed out last year, Republicans polled in 1973 trusted science more than religion.)
State Rep. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, is a freshman whose resume reads like Republicans of old, when the word “elite” was something to aspire to, not an epithet to be spat.
He went to Harvard and worked at the consultancy McKinsey and then Bain Capital.
(If you’re a liberal reader groaning, I get it, but consider the alternative right now: The QAnon shaman and the pillow mogul.) ...
And the Reformer featured Rasmusson in a July 2 podcast as well, Reformer Radio: Rep. Jordan Rasmusson on the future of the GOP.
Will area Republicans embrace Rasmusson or pick a more Trumpy candidate? Or will the Republican nomination be filled by an incumbent through the magic of redistricting?
Screengrab: Back before there was a Unicorn Riot, Dan Feidt captured Senator Ingebrigtsen's Grumpy Cat mode.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments