Following funeral services Tuesday and last Saturday for the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn., political eyes in Minnesota began to focus on the race to succeed him in the 1st District.
A conservative source in the 1st District said the House Freedom Caucus, considered the conclave of the most conservative GOP House members, would soon weigh in with a strong endorsement of state Rep. Jeremy Munson in the special primary May 24.
"I was rated 98% by the American Conservative Union last year and 100% the year before," Munson, 46, told Newsmax.
The Lake Crystal lawmaker formerly doubled as 1st District Chairman and, in that capacity, worked closely with the much-loved Hagedorn.
With the filing deadline for the special election closing next week (March 15), the GOP contest is expected to boil down to Munson and another candidate with ties to Hagedorn: his widow, Jennifer Carnahan-Hagedorn, who was state party chair until last year.
Her views on most issues are unknown, although she is likely to embrace the conservative record (lifetime ACU rating: 81%) of her late husband. In addition, GOP sources in the Gopher State told us she may "run as just Jen Hagedorn and use Jim's yard signs and bumper stickers."
Other Republicans already in the race are U.S. Army veteran Aaron Miller, who ran against Jim Hagedorn in the 2014 primary; former state Sen. Mike Parry, who ran for the seat in 2008; state Rep. Nels Pierson; and former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Brad Finstad.
The almost-certain Democrat nominee is expected to be Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer in George W. Bush's adminisration and a Republican-turned-Democrat. Painter, 60, lost a primary for U.S. Senate in 2018.
The path to succession of Hagedorn is somewhat confusing. With the special primary scheduled for May 24 (and early voting scheduled to begin April 1), the special election will be held Aug. 9 for the district Hagedorn represented from 2018 until his death.
That same day, a primary will be held for the newly-drawn 1st District — with two new counties gained and one from the former 1st lost. The nominees will then square off in November.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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