Finstad sworn in as Minnesota's newest congressman
- Capitol Times
- Aug 13, 2022
- 1 min read
It is crucial that Democrats avoid losing more than four votes on close issues such as climate change and health care to the Republican party after Minnesota Republican Brad Finstad was sworn in as the newest member of the U.S. House.
Finstad, surrounded by members of his large family, including his wife, Jackie, and their seven children, smiled for a ceremonial photo op afterward with Nancy Pelosi.
“It’s a special day for us to welcome a new member of Congress, Mr. Finstad, and his beautiful family,” Pelosi said. “As I said to the children, what we do is all about them, all about the future.”
It was a special election on Tuesday to fill out the remaining months of the term of Republican U.S. Representative Jim Hagedorn, who died from cancer last February. Finstad, a former state representative from New Ulm, served as USDA Rural Development's state director during the Trump administration.
“People in my district sent a farmer to Congress,” Finstad said in a statement. “As a farmer, we wake up in the morning and don’t wonder if something will be broken during the day; we know something will be, so instead, we wonder how we will fix it. I will come to work every day in Congress with the intention to do everything I can to fix things.”
Finstad will face his Democratic opponent, former Hormel Foods CEO Jeff Ettinger, in his Republican-leaning southern Minnesota district in November for a full term.
13 August 2022
