Different approaches for Minnesota's two GOP newcomers in Congress

[question everything]

WASHINGTON – First-term congressmen Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber both beat Democrats last year to pick up greater Minnesota seats in congressional districts that President Donald Trump carried in 2016. Since then, they've assumed different political postures while mostly voting the same as members of the House's Republican minority.

And on a handful of key votes, Stauber joined small factions of Republicans who peeled off to vote with Democrats in the starkly divided House. The northeastern Minnesota congressman is quick to assert political independence, while southern Minnesota's Hagedorn is unabashed about what he wants to do in Washington.

(snip)

Stauber, meanwhile, voted with Democrats on a resolution in support of the Affordable Care Act, for a pay raise for federal workers, and for the Violence Against Women Act despite opposition by the National Rifle Association. He also backed a resolution condemning government shutdowns. Hagedorn and Minnesota's other Republican, Rep. Tom Emmer, did not support any of those measures. Asked about those votes, Stauber quoted a high-profile Republican critic of Trump.

"I have said I will never blindly follow any political party," Stauber said. "[Former Ohio] Governor John Kasich said this, and it resonates with me: The Republican Party is my vehicle; it is not my master. So I have to vote my district and my conscience."

Next year's re-election bids by the two GOP newcomers will test their appeal in a volatile political landscape. Hagedorn is positioning himself as a Republican who embraces the party's message under Trump, while Stauber runs as a Republican who talks frequently of bipartisanship and working together. National Democrats see a more tempting target in Hagedorn, who beat DFL-endorsed Dan Feehan in 2018 by just over 1,300 votes out of more than 290,000 cast. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has put Hagedorn on its first list of 2020 targets.

http://www.startribune.com/different-approaches-for-minnesota-s-two-gop-newcomers-in-congress/510741662/

[trotsky]

1. Stauber sounds smart enough to hold on to that seat. That's unfortunate.

Hope we can defeat Hagedorn though.