BLUE EARTH, Minn. – Former Republican state chair Jennifer Carnahan announced she will run to fill her husband’s unexpired term in Congress. Carnahan is the widow of Jim Hagedorn, who died of kidney cancer four weeks ago. Her announcement, on Twitter, didn’t list her residency, but it is thought she will use her husband’s Blue Earth address, which is in southern Minnesota’s MN-1 Congressional District. There is ambiguity about where she lives: Carnahan’s work as state GOP chair was centered in the Twin Cities – until last August, when she was ousted as chair amid a sex-trafficking scandal involving a close GOP associate.
Verbatim
Carnahan: “Though my heart is still heavy after Jim’s passing, the encouragement I have received from throughout southern Minnesota has inspired me to carry on his legacy by running to complete the remainder of his term. In the final weeks before his passing, Jim told me to keep forging ahead, to keep reaching my dreams, and to win this seat. Jim was my best friend and the love of my life, and it is his blessing that strengthens me for the challenges ahead. I am committed to continuing my husband’s legacy of fighting to secure the border, defending conservative values, safeguarding the integrity of our elections, and serving the people of Minnesota’s First Congressional District.”
A plus? Or a minus? Carnahan’s unmitigated enthusiasm for Donald Trump is seen as a two-edge sword.
So many tightropes. How will Carnahan balance her unabashed support of Donald Trump in 2020? How will she handle her connections with big-time GOP donor Anton Lazarro, who is facing federal charges for sex trafficking minors. Too, there are charges she was an abusive and high-handed boss as state party chair. Also, as a member of Congress, her late husband was under ethics investigations for using office funds for political purposes, for steering printing projects to the relative of a Congressional staff employee. and for using his Congressional staff to seek waivers of national park admission fees for Carnahan.