Meet Jake Johnson, candidate for U.S. House in Minnesota's 1st District | WCCO Election Guide
Jake Johnson, the DFL nominee in Minnesota's 1st Congressional District, is a Rochester high school teacher. The district covers southern 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?
The national debt is an existential crisis, and I'm the only candidate in this race taking it seriously. We spend over $1 trillion a year just paying interest on the debt.
I'm a math teacher, so I'll use some numbers. Last year, Brad Finstad voted for a bill that added $4.7 trillion to the national debt. It's time to force both parties to stop the reckless spending and massive giveaways, which is why I support a balanced budget amendment.
We have to balance the budget while protecting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and rural hospitals. Folks have paid into those programs and can't afford to have the rug pulled out from under them. What I would cut is the never-ending spending on the Iran War and corporate giveaways.
What changes would you support to federal health care policy, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid?
The first thing we need is putting out the fire that Finstad helped set. He took $87 billion out of rural health care, and we're seeing the results across southern Minnesota where rural clinics are finding it harder to stay open and maintain services. I would vote to restore that funding so our rural clinics can continue providing access to much-needed health services.
We also need to bring the cost of healthcare way down. In the short term, we can restore ACA tax credits. We also should give people the choice of a not-for-profit public health option, and provide real competition and alternatives to the private insurers. These companies collect premiums for years and years, and then they deny care the moment folks need it. It's time they face competition and are forced to lower prices and improve care, or go out of business.
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?
We need a strong and secure border with a legal immigration system that works.
I support comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border, deports violent criminals, and expands pathways for legal immigration, especially for our farmers and ag industries that need the labor.
Immigration enforcement needs to be professionalized again. That means that ICE should be focused on finding and deporting violent criminals, not on wandering our streets wreaking havoc on our communities. The masks need to come off, the body cameras need to be turned on, warrants need to be acquired, and federal agents need to be held accountable if they violate the law. We have to be able to trust ICE the way we can trust local law enforcement.
What would you do in Congress to support jobs and economic growth in Minnesota, including your position on tariffs and international trade agreements?
Southern Minnesota grows, builds, and makes lots of items, but we are losing places to sell them. Something I often hear from farmers and small businesses is that input costs are too high and export markets are disappearing. Trade wars with the world have raised costs and destroyed markets, and unfortunately Brad Finstad has supported them at every turn. I would vote to end the massive tariffs.
We need to pass a real farm bill that provides long-term stability, lowers input costs, and finally delivers year-round E15. And we need federal funds for rural hospitals and special education, because towns without nearby clinics or strong public schools can't hold on to a workforce. I advocate strongly for a moratorium on data centers until key protections can be guaranteed for our communities. To read more, visit jakejohnsonforcongress.com/plan-to-stop-data-center-exploitation.
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?
The fraud situation in Minnesota is a disaster. Every dollar defrauded from public programs is a dollar stolen from taxpayers. As a taxpayer who budgets for his family, I'm angry about my money being wasted.
That's why tackling fraud is the first item in the Taxpayer Protection Pledge I released this summer. I called for a plan to get our money back by cutting government spending and taxes equal to the amount that was stolen. I expressed my support for mandatory prison time for everyone who broke the law in connection to these massive fraud cases. And I supported the reinstatement of independent watchdogs in Washington (the ones that Brad Finstad supported firing) to find and root out waste, fraud, and abuse earlier in the process.
I've also called for an open, nonpartisan investigation into everyone involved, including Democratic public officials, and for sending everyone who broke the law to prison.