ROCHESTER, Minn. – The national Trump campaign implored local supporters in public office to seek local airtime to offset news out of the four-day national Democratic convention in Chicago. State Representative Steve Jacob, R-Elba, arranged a sit-down interview at television station KTTC in Rochester. The interviewer pretty much let Jacob carry on as he bashed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice president, as a raging leftist. Jacobs, new in the Legislature, said he’s seen “far-left” policies implemented in St. Paul that are moving Minnesota closer to states like California — and he blamed Walz. “If you compare us to California, you know, we’ve actually exceeded California on a quite a few fronts, including energy where they were 100% wind and solar by 2045. Minnesota’s in line by 2040. So those are pretty extreme policies taking us to the left and away from traditional energy.” Republicans, he said, have been disadvantaged by Walz and Democratic majorities in both the Minnesota Senate and House. This week in particular, he said, Republicans are in an uphill battle against the stream of news from the Democrats in Chicago. The convention provides Democrats with a lot of momentum, he said.

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