Johnson picks up DFL Congressional endorsement in race against Finstad

Jake Johnson earned the endorsement from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in his quest to become Minnesota’s 
1st Congressional District representative in a place he knows all well: His old high school.
Johnson, a math teacher at Mayo High School, accepted the endorsement in front of former students, family and supporters at Stewartville High School, where he graduated 
25 years ago.
“This campaign is about bringing people together to solve problems and make life more affordable,” Johnson said. “We earned this endorsement by bringing a record number of Republicans and Independents into our movement, and we’re going to keep building on that momentum to win in November and deliver for southern Minnesota in Congress.”
The district was represented by just one Democrat throughout the 1900s, when Tim Penny served from 1983 to 1995.
In 2007, a geography teacher at Mankato West High School named Tim Walz won the seat as a DFL candidate.
Since 2022, the seat has been held by Brad Finstad, a fourth-generation farmer from New Ulm, who won the seat in a special election when Jim Hagedorn died while in office.
He was endorsed by the Congressional District 1 Republicans in April in his bid to win re-election.
Despite a long history of Republicans winning the seat, Johnson has his eye on winning.
One of the ways Johnson hopes to do that is by finding voters who voted for Finstad last election.
In a press release following the endorsement convention, his campaign touted success so far in doing so.
“Jake’s campaign helped drive record participation from Republicans and Independents in DFL precinct caucuses across the district. Minnesota’s First Congressional District saw the highest share of Independent and Republican participation of any district in the state, with 11.4% of attendees identifying as Independents and 4.3% as Republicans — underscoring the campaign’s broad, cross-partisan appeal,” the release read.
The campaign also noted more than 4,500 voters in the district have signed a petition to get him on the ballot; more than 600 volunteers have joined the campaign.
“Jake’s campaign is drawing a sharp contrast with Finstad’s record in Congress. Jake has highlighted how Finstad’s votes for the tariffs and the Iran War are raising costs for southern Minnesota families, farmers and small businesses, despite Finstad’s campaign promise to lower costs,” the release read.
Down Ballot Races
Aside from the top-of-the-ticket races — which will feature an open U.S. Senate seat along with governor — voters in Dodge County and western Olmsted County will have other races on which to vote.
One of those races will be the 24A seat currently held by Rep. Duane Quam. Earning the DFL endorsement in the race is former Byron School Board member Heather Holmes, who ran unsuccessfully in 2024.
In the Senate District 24 race Simon Glaser will be running in the seat currently held by longtime state senator Carla Nelson.
It is unclear if Nelson and or Quam are running for re-election.
The filing period for all candidates is from May 19 until June 2.