Jake Johnson is challenging incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad (R) who has held this seat since 2022. Rep. Finstad currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee and has consistently voted the wrong way on Council issues. Current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz previously held this seat from 2006-2018 but it has remained in conservative hands since Walz left for the Governor’s mansion.
Johnson’s background is in education. He grew up in Stewartville, Minn., and attended the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse on a Pell Grant. After graduating, he moved back home and began teaching math in Rochester Public Schools. He has continued his career as a math teacher for 20 years since then, instructing students in courses ranging from remedial math to AP Calculus. Johnson also served as the Government Relations Coordinator for his teachers’ union, working to improve wages and conditions for the employees of Minnesota public schools.
Johnson’s campaign focuses on his working-class upbringing, connecting his family’s reliance on social programs like SNAP and Medicaid in his youth to the cuts to those programs supported by his opponent, Rep. Finstad. This district is also heavily agricultural, meaning it has felt devastating effects from Trump’s war with Iran. Johnson emphasizes his opponent’s support for the Iran war and its connection to rising prices of gas and diesel impacting farmers in the district on the campaign trail.
