FARIBAULT, Minn. – The family of the late Congressman Jim Hagedorn says it advanced $20,000 to his widow before he died to cover his medical expenses. Three months later, they haven’t been repaid even though the widow, Jennifer Carnahan, has received $358,000 in death benefits. The family’s allegations were in a pair of lawsuits against Carnahan. For Carnahan the lawsuits couldn’t be at a worse time: She is running a campaign to put herself in Congress to fill her husband’s unexpired term. There are 18 candidates vying for the job. A preliminary election to narrow the field to four candidates is Tuesday – only seven days away.cThe four winners Tuesday will proceed to an August election to determine who holds the MN-1 seat for the last five months of Hagedorn’s unexpired term.
The back story
Jim Hagedorn, a Republican, died February 17. He was the son of an earlier Congressman from southern Minnesota, Tom Hagedorn, who was elected to two terms in the 1970s. The son liked Washington and was politically active. He called himself Mr. Conservative on a blog. He held several federal positions in Washington during Republican presidencies.
> 2010: Jim Hagedorn, calling Blue Earth his home, declared his candidacy for Congress but lost the GOP primary.
> 2014: Hagedorn ran for Congress and lost 54% to 45% to incumbent Tim Walz, a Democrat who later became governor of Minnesota.
> 2016: Hagedorn lost again to Walz, 50% to 49%.
> 2018: Hagedorn ran again and won, 50% to 49%, against political newcomer Dan Feehan. Also in 2018, Hagedorn = and Jennifer Carnahan, chair of the state Republican party, were married. He was 55, she 46. .
> 2019: Hagedirnwas diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer.
> 2020: Hagedorn defeated Feehan for second term, against Feehan, 50% to 49%.
> 2021: Hagedorn died on February 17. A special primary election was ordered for May 24 to reduce the number of candidates remaining to four for a later electon in August. On March 14 Hagedorn’s widow, Jennjfer Carnahan, filed for candidacy for the office.
In a happy moment. Congressman Jim Hagedorn and Jennifer Carnahan pose at the Great Northern Railroad’s iconic Stone Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Their courtship began through people they knew in Minnesota Republican circles. Their marriage was in 2018. He died in 2022.
The family lawsuits against Carnahan revealed that Mayo doctors in Rochester had given up on further treatment of the cancer in January 2022. As a last hope, Carnahan decided on an expensive move to the Envita Medical Centers in Scottsdale, Arizona. Envita specializes in naturopathic treatments that insurance doesn’t cover. To meet expenses, according to the family’s lawsuits, Hagedorn’s mother, Kathleen Kreklau, and her stepfather, Robert Kreklau, borrowed $25,000 against their Crozet, Virginia, home and loaned $10,000 to Carnahan. Hagedorn’s sister, Tricia Lucas, also of Virginia, said she charged $10,000 on a credit card to help cover the Envita treatment. The family said Carnahan made a “clear and definite promise” to reimburse them from proceeds related to Hagedorn’s death. To date, it is believed that Carnahan has received $174,000 on death benefits from, Congress, equal to Hagedorn’s annual salary, and an additional #174,000 from life insurance.