BNB Note:
While politics is often analyzed from the outside, BNB’s Guest Editorial Series aims to flip that perspective by highlighting the firsthand experiences of those working inside the political and policy arena. This includes lawmakers crafting and ushering legislation, candidates navigating the campaign trail, career civil servants implementing public programs, and political operatives shaping strategy behind the scenes.
The goal is not to litigate every claim or endorse every position, but to provide readers with direct insight into how decisions are made, how institutions function, and how power operates in practice.
Below, is a guest editorial from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Communications Director Courtney Rice.
The Midwest is the beating heart of America, especially its politics. And fittingly, Democrats’ road to winning the House majority this fall runs squarely through the country’s heartland.
We know voters’ top issue this election is the cost of living. For hardworking families across the country, everything has gotten more expensive – from gas and groceries, to health care and housing. Yet Republicans, after making grand promises to make life more affordable, have - at best - greenlit actions that have only caused costs to rise and - at worst - have mocked, downplayed, and dismissed voters’ concerns.
In 2024, President Trump came close to winning Minnesota (nearly breaking a 48-year Democratic winning streak at the presidential level) and swept the rest of the Midwest on the promise they would “lower costs on day one.” Now, more than 500 days into complete Republican control of Washington and costs are skyrocketing.
At every opportunity, D.C. Republicans have betrayed Midwesterners and sided with special interests. By voting for Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill, Republicans like Brad Finstad (MN-01) ripped away health care and food assistance from millions of Americans, all so they could pay for permanent tax cuts benefitting their billionaire donors. Republicans have lined up to support Trump’s price-hiking tariffs, which have jacked up the costs of everyday essentials ranging from groceries to cars. This all while the President wages a reckless foreign war which has sparked ever-rising gas prices – with Minnesota’s average fuel prices hitting upwards of $4.00 a gallon this past summer, and spikes in fertilizer and diesel prices making it even harder for farmers to stay in the black.
In the Midwest, in particular, voters feel the effects of Republicans’ betrayal profoundly. Farmers are struggling to stay afloat as tariffs spark increased production cost and cut farmers off from key markets. Factories that are the beating heart of many local economies are closing – despite Republicans claiming they’ll bring about a ‘golden age of manufacturing’. Rural health clinics are shuttering due to Republicans’ cruel health care cuts – in MN-01, whose largest employer is the Mayo Clinic and where nearly one quarter of workers are employed in health care and social services, these cuts are devastating local economies. For these reasons and more, there is an opening for Democrats to speak directly to voters’ concerns and win in areas that in recent elections have voted Republican.
Democratic House candidates are leading the way in doing just that by presenting an authentic, forward-looking vision that will address the affordability crisis hardworking families are facing, while being an independent-minded fighter for their district, not corporate bosses or billionaires.
Look no further than Jake Johnson running for Minnesota’s First Congressional District. Jake is running on those very issues that voters care about: bringing down costs, rooting out corruption in government, and investing in the small towns that make the Midwest the incredible place it is to live.
Jake is emblematic of the type of candidates that are stepping up to run for Congress this year. Jake grew up the son of a garbage collector and meter reader, and he – along with his 10 siblings – have worked hard to achieve the American Dream. He understands firsthand the struggles that hardworking Minnesota families are facing right now because he’s lived them himself. Having grown up in Stewartville and working for the past twenty years as a public school math teacher, he’s deeply rooted in his community. Jake’s commitment to southern Minnesota is exemplified in his 21-county tour across the district; his campaign is centered on showing up and listening to Minnesotans who feel left behind by a broken political system.
Compare that to Jake’s opponent, Congressman Brad Finstad, who represents the worst of Washington; instead of owning up to his terrible record in Congress, Finstad has refused to hold public town halls and instead says constituents who wanted him to hold a town hall were just throwing a “hissy fit.”Against his constituents’ interest, Finstad voted eight times to greenlight the President’s tariffs, and five times to continue the President’s war unchecked. And, without a hint of shame, Congressman Finstad recently claimed it was a misconception that Minnesota farmers would pay high diesel prices caused by the war.
Minnesota deserves better.
Because of high-quality candidates like Jake who are speaking to the issues that matter and are grounded in the communities they are running to represent, Democrats this cycle are competing in districts that in recent years have voted for Republicans. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which is the only political committee in the country whose principal mission is to elect Democrats to the House, has made it a priority to compete (and win!) in districts across the Midwest, like MN-01, and the country that other national Democrats have overlooked in recent elections.
This is personal for me. When Democrats stop investing and organizing in communities because we think “we can’t compete,” we lose entire swaths of the country. Take it from me, an Ohio native, who watched her state slide from swing-state status to one dominated by corrupt Republicans who care more about holding power than good governance. It’s why the DCCC is investing and organizing in districts in every part of the country, and especially in the Midwest. In Ohio alone, we’re competing in three Republican-held districts as prime flip opportunities this November. In fact, if we sweep our competitive races in the Buckeye State, Democrats would hold a majority of congressional seats in what is (incorrectly, I think) considered a ‘red state.’
America’s heartland is the birthplace of populist politics. From Minnesota to Ohio and everywhere in between, hardworking Midwesterners banded together to put everyday Americans first. Democrats can re-earn the support of heartland voters who feel their voices are not being represented in Washington – we need to be willing to look beyond conventional wisdom and communicate with voters in every corner of the country. The Midwest deserves honest and hardworking representatives in D.C., and Democrats are going to deliver.