WASHINGTON – Major political prognosticators are painting Minnesota’s First Congressional District either a little red or bright red for the November 8 general election This would seem welcome news for Republican Brad Finstad of New Ulm, the MN-1 incumbent, but less so for retired Hormel executive Jeff Ettinger of Austin, his Democratic challenger. Even so, the electorate nationally as well as in M1 been mercurial in recent weeks as issues have crested and ebbed on major issues – abortion, threats to democracy, the inflation, the Ukraine war, election integrity, and crime. The current forecasts:
> Cook Politial Report: Likely Republican.
> Economist: Safe Republican.
> FiveThirtyEight: Solid Republican.
> Inside Elections: Solid Republican,
> Politico: Likely Republican.
> Sabato’s Crysal Ball: Likely Republican,
MN-1 vacillations
The First Congressional District, which spans t0 miles across southern Minnesota. has a history of going both ways. In recent decades, Tim Penny of Owatonna, a Democrat, served six terms, 1982-1995 Tim Walz of Mankato, now Minnesota’s governor, also a Democrat served five terms (2006-2018.