Meet Erik Osberg, candidate for U.S. House in Minnesota's 7th District | WCCO Election Guide

Erik Osberg, the DFL nominee in Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, owns a media marketing firm. The district covers western Minnesota.

Watch his 60-second video pitch and read how he'd tackle Minnesota's top issues, from the national debt and health care to immigration, the economy and fraud.

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The federal government is running significant annual deficits. What specific federal spending would you cut or protect, and what tax changes, if any, would you support to address the national debt?

Let's start with what I would protect. I believe public investment equals public good. I would fight to protect federal funding for public education. I would fight for our social safety nets, like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. I would protect science, I would protect public lands. The list goes on.

I don't believe we can just cut our way out of a $40 trillion debt. We need a more progressive tax code. People at the top don't need permanent tax breaks. We need to close loopholes so that corporations that make money in America pay taxes in America.

As to what we cut, let's start with the vanity projects. Let's take a serious look at our military-industrial complex. Let's see if the Pentagon can pass an audit. Let's stop subsidizing fossil fuel companies and the corporations making billions.

What changes would you support to federal health care policy, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid?

In the richest country in the world, it's unconscionable that 30 million people don't have health insurance. Millions more are underinsured. The way we finance healthcare is unsustainable and the system seems broken. I believe we need to restore the ACA subsidies, but that's just the start. I would be in favor of lowering the eligibility age for Medicare. I believe we need to be on a path to a single payer system at least as an option. I believe that access to healthcare should be treated as a human right. Your ability to seek medical care shouldn't depend on your wealth or your employment status. People should not have to choose between getting sick or going broke. The only way we get there is by getting corporate money out of politics so that our healthcare policy is written for people and not for profit.

What immigration policies would you support at the federal level, including border security measures and any pathway to legal status for people currently in the country without authorization?

I view immigration issues as workforce issues as well as humanitarian issues. We need a clear and concise pathway to citizenship. HR1, the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act, caps federal immigration judges at 800. That isn't how we solve this problem. We have a tremendous backlog of hard working, law-abiding people, waiting to become citizens. We should reduce this backlog by investing in more immigration judges and asylum officers. We should also honor the promises previously made to certain groups like "Dreamers" and people previously admitted while seeking asylum. We should increase border security and immigration enforcement, but we should do so with the premise that the GPS coordinates of your mother at the time of your birth shouldn't determine your value as a human being. America is a nation that was built by immigrants. We need to look at immigrants as part of the solution, not part of the problem.

What would you do in Congress to support jobs and economic growth in Minnesota, including your position on tariffs and international trade agreements?

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse, not the executive branch. As a congressperson, I would restore that power to Congress to make sure that our international relations aren't subject to the whims and moods of one person. It is going to take decades to reestablish the United States as a reliable trade partner. At the moment, we're fighting with our neighbors. That isn't how we create economic growth.

I've spent the last decade working in rural economic development and believe in local solutions to local issues. I've also seen the role the federal government can play in being additive and supportive to local economic development projects, whether it be housing, childcare, or jobs. Trade agreements, tariffs, and infrastructure investments should be based on what most benefits the public as a whole, rather than whichever corporation makes the biggest political campaign donations.

Minnesota has been at the center of some of the largest public-program fraud cases in the country in recent years. What would you do in Congress to strengthen oversight and prevent this kind of fraud in the future?

In Congress, I would focus on prevention rather than just dwelling on punishment. Fraud is terrible and absolutely must be stopped. I've talked with a lot of providers who are doing it right, and they feel like they're being unilaterally punished for the actions of a few. We need to hold ourselves accountable for the actions of the past, but we also need to look forward and ensure systems have bipartisan safeguards, like internal controls, to curb abuse. In order to take fraud seriously, we have to stop using it as a political football and acknowledge that it is not a partisan issue. Fraud happens on both sides of the aisle, in red states and blue states. We should prosecute without prejudice, and if we're serious about addressing this issue, the federal government needs to stop pardoning people convicted of fraud and wiping out the restitution owed to their victims.