Congress hopefuls spar on most issues

It was the first partisan candidate forum — and it showed.
Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, the incumbent in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, faced challenger Rachel Bohman, a Rochester native, Monday at the Owatonna Country Club.
Beginning with the first question, Bohman repeatedly took Finstad to task for not passing a new farm bill in the two years since he was elected to office.
The farm bill, which is passed roughly every five years, affects all aspects of farming, from crop insurance to healthy food access for low-income families to sustainable farming practices and more.
The 2018 legislation expired last year.
Finstad said his top two priorities for the new term are “family pocketbook issues” and securing the southern border.
“I hear a lot from my opponent about grocery store prices,” Bohman responded. “Unfortunately, Congress really can’t do a lot about grocery store prices — except maybe getting a farm bill passed, which didn’t happen in the last two years.”
She would focus on big-ticket items, such as healthcare, childcare and affordable housing, but said her other top priority would be a new farm bill.
Bohman also focused on Finstad’s “no” votes on a bipartisan immigration bill and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Both candidates support comprehensive immigration reform.
“I believe we need to secure our border,” Bohman said. “We had a bipartisan immigration bill killed two years ago … as the result of Republican leadership.”
Finstad criticized current immigration and border policies and proposed a wall with a door: “That door gets opened, there’s a hallway. That hallway’s immigration, and it meets the critical needs of our national security and workforce, and it should be as simple as that.”
There was more division between the candidates about how to reduce the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs.
“We don’t have a health care system in our country, we have a sick care system,” Finstad said. “We need to make sure we’re putting the money on the front end, to keep people healthier,” Finstad said.
“One of the first votes Brad took was to vote against the Inflation Reduction Act,” Bohman responded, which included several components about Medicare.
“The fact that my opponent voted against the seniors in our community is appalling,” she said.
The repeated barbs seemed to become the focus, at times drawing laughter; it was Bohman’s response to a question about the importance of cyber security that seemed to be the tipping point.
“If we rely on him as much as we did for the farm bill, then we’re in trouble,” she said.
“I see the shaking of heads in here, and I get it,” Bohman said. “But he’s had two years with a House majority… I’m getting really tired of hearing the same excuses for why Congress isn’t getting things done. It’s unacceptable, and we have to hold people accountable for the job they’re doing in Washington. If it’s not getting done, somebody needs to stand up and say something.”
Finstad, who hadn’t responded to many of the comments, bit.
“I look forward to your same critique and criticism of Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Smith for the farm bill, since they actually don’t even have one,” he said.
The pair continued to split along predictable party lines on the issues of abortion; the challenges and opportunities of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI; and support for Israel.