Bonus Episode: A break down with Joe Teirab, GOP candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Break Down with Brodkorb from Becky, a weekly podcast that breaks down politics,

[00:00:16] policy and current affairs. I'm Becky Scherr. And I'm Michael Brodkorb.

[00:00:20] We are bringing you yet another bonus episode this week. Today we are going to sit down

[00:00:24] with Joe Tehrab, candidate for Congress in Minnesota's second district. Tehrab is

[00:00:28] running for the CD2 Republican Party endorsement at the convention this upcoming weekend, April

[00:00:33] 27th. He announced Sunday night that while he is still seeking the endorsement, he plans

[00:00:37] to continue his campaign through the August primary. We will talk with Tehrab about his

[00:00:41] background and why he chose to run for office. We will break down his travels throughout

[00:00:45] the district and what he's hearing on the campaign trail. And we will end by breaking

[00:00:49] down why he believes he is the best person to take on Angie Craig and how he thinks

[00:00:52] he can win in November. But first let's set the stage on the dynamics in the second

[00:00:56] congressional district for Republicans. Michael.

[00:00:59] I live in the second congressional district. I live in Egan and so I follow the race and

[00:01:04] it seems that things kind of explode in the last week or so in MN02. You have some

[00:01:09] working experience down in the second congressional district.

[00:01:12] Absolutely. So back in 2018, I was a campaign manager for Jason Lewis's re-election

[00:01:17] campaign. We knew he was seeking a second term. Unfortunately, we did not get past

[00:01:22] the finish line there. Angie Craig, that is, when she was elected and has been

[00:01:25] serving ever since. It is a slightly different district. Redistricting did

[00:01:29] happen. The district has changed a little bit. And so I don't know exactly

[00:01:34] what we're looking at here, but it's an interesting base. We've got, you've

[00:01:38] got moderates. There's a lot of Dakota County in there. You've got more of the

[00:01:42] conservative far right folks down Rice County and Southern part of the

[00:01:46] district. And so it's some very interesting dynamics. Some really good

[00:01:51] people. I met a lot, we had a lot of really hard workers, but there's some

[00:01:54] definitely some people who want to throw elbows and make things difficult

[00:01:59] throughout this process, just like there is in all of congressional districts,

[00:02:02] but second, it's definitely an interesting beast.

[00:02:04] It's likely going to be the most targeted race in Minnesota. From a

[00:02:08] congressional district standpoint, probably the most volatile, correct?

[00:02:12] Yeah. From in terms of, I guess, biggest potential to maybe flip one

[00:02:16] way or the other.

[00:02:17] And so it was, Lewis wanted, so Lewis B. Craig and then Craig beat Lewis.

[00:02:23] And then she's been there now since she's won two re-elections since she

[00:02:27] beat Jason Lewis, correct? Correct.

[00:02:28] And so it's a volatile district politically. And so it's going to be

[00:02:32] interesting to see how the map or excuse me, it's going to be interesting

[00:02:36] to see how the candidate shape up. Here's my just general read, just

[00:02:39] my observations. And I've been pretty consistent about this. And I

[00:02:42] know people on both sides of the campaign and I've spoken to people

[00:02:46] on both sides, but here's my general take. My general take is Taylor

[00:02:50] Rahm, who's I think likely going to win the endorsement on Saturday

[00:02:54] has run a very strong battle to win the endorsement. I think Tareb, he

[00:02:59] has run a more, I think he's done more work, I think to present

[00:03:03] himself as a strong primary candidate, strong general election candidate.

[00:03:07] My read of it is a couple things. There's two candidates obviously

[00:03:10] seeking the endorsement this Saturday, Joe Tareb and Tyler Rahm.

[00:03:15] Rahm has run by all accounts, a campaign that's been hyper focused on

[00:03:19] winning the endorsement. I think they're going to be endorsed. I've

[00:03:22] been saying for quite some time for the last month or so maybe a

[00:03:26] little bit longer that I thought Rahm was likely going to get

[00:03:28] the endorsement. And so the issue that develops is we have two

[00:03:32] different campaigns right now. We have a campaign that's been

[00:03:35] running solely focused on winning the endorsement and very

[00:03:38] limited financial resources. And then Tareb's campaign announced

[00:03:41] last week some fundraising totals that were really impressive in

[00:03:45] terms of where a candidate should be. Angie Craig leaps and

[00:03:49] bounds in the stratosphere in terms of well run financed

[00:03:53] campaign. But my concern is that we're in once again one of

[00:03:57] these endorsement type situations where we have a

[00:03:59] candidate who has committed themselves far too much into

[00:04:04] only being able to focus on winning the endorsement and not

[00:04:08] done I think any type of groundwork or legwork to

[00:04:11] position themselves and springboard themselves out of

[00:04:13] the convention once they get the endorsement. And so I think

[00:04:17] Tareb is the I think the only candidate that I think is able

[00:04:21] to run or is any type of position right now on the

[00:04:25] Republican side to be in a position to take the fight

[00:04:28] to Angie Craig. And so from a partisan perspective just

[00:04:32] wearing that Republican hat, it seems to me that there's

[00:04:34] only one candidate that's in a position to fight.

[00:04:37] I love to play devil's advocate when I have the

[00:04:39] opportunity. But my take of it is maybe a zone zoomed out

[00:04:43] a little bit and is focusing on the issue we have with the

[00:04:46] endorsement process in itself because we do tend to set

[00:04:49] ourselves up for this right where you have to focus on

[00:04:53] these in this case what 250 300 delegates at the CD2 level

[00:04:58] because traditionally unfortunately candidates who do

[00:05:01] not get the endorsement have not historically been

[00:05:04] successful on primary day. So we have this dynamic where

[00:05:08] you sink so much resources and then you are come out whether

[00:05:11] that's a CD convention or a state convention come out

[00:05:14] having blood all this money and where do you go from there?

[00:05:18] But I also we've talked a lot about as much as I enjoy the

[00:05:22] endorsement process. I was BPOU chair, I was delegates

[00:05:24] for years. I've worked on campaigns. It's we've

[00:05:27] talked about the chess match that the endorsement

[00:05:28] battle can be. It does also hamstring you because you

[00:05:32] are forced to also have these different messaging campaigns.

[00:05:36] We talked a lot about this with Scott Jensen that you are

[00:05:38] forced to message to the farther right and then in August

[00:05:41] primary moderate a little bit and then to November. And so

[00:05:44] there's so many dynamics at play. Well, I on one hand

[00:05:48] enjoy the game of the endorsement process. I am a

[00:05:51] believer of the primary. I think we need to have a

[00:05:53] primary. I think it should be a June primary, but I

[00:05:55] think it should be a primary system. So I don't have an

[00:05:58] issue with a candidate going to a primary. I do think

[00:06:01] that is a good battle. Money is certainly you know, Angie

[00:06:05] Craig has almost three million dollars in the bank

[00:06:07] going up against that when you also know that the

[00:06:09] D triple C is going to come out behind her likely some

[00:06:12] other groups. She's got friends with deep pockets.

[00:06:15] It's going to be a mountain to climb for anybody.

[00:06:17] And unfortunately money talks and it's going to be

[00:06:20] tough for a campaign that has you know less than

[00:06:25] $100,000 in the bank. Unfortunately, that is a

[00:06:27] tough place to come out and make those inroads that you

[00:06:31] need to do to take down a candidate with millions in

[00:06:33] the pocket.

[00:06:34] Correct. And I think we're still in that same trap and

[00:06:37] we you articulated it very well. I'm a I've supported

[00:06:40] candidates that went through the endorsement process.

[00:06:42] I've supported candidates who have been outside of

[00:06:44] the endorsement process. I'm for whatever makes

[00:06:47] supporting on that partisan head again. I'm for

[00:06:49] whatever makes it easier for Republicans to win in

[00:06:53] this state. And I'm hard pressed to look at

[00:06:55] this process that we're looking at in the

[00:06:56] second congressional district where we have one

[00:06:59] candidate who is and that's Ramu I think is

[00:07:01] absolutely going to get endorsed this weekend,

[00:07:03] who appears to have only focused on the

[00:07:05] endorsement process and has done no outside work

[00:07:09] to raise money to put him in a position to win.

[00:07:11] So my concern is just from again wearing that

[00:07:14] partisan hat Republicans will endorse the

[00:07:16] candidate likely in the second congressional

[00:07:18] district who has done no work substantial work

[00:07:21] to win the put him in his campaign in a

[00:07:25] position to win. There is this misconception

[00:07:27] that with the endorsement process comes all

[00:07:30] this money, all these there's like this

[00:07:32] mythical or fancy mysterious dumb truck that

[00:07:36] shows up to a convention that just dumps

[00:07:38] all this cash out. It just simply doesn't

[00:07:39] happen. Right. And so ROM's campaign has

[00:07:41] shown that they can't raise money right now.

[00:07:43] What we what the party is going to be left

[00:07:45] with if he's endorsed on Saturday is a

[00:07:48] candidate endorsed in likely the only

[00:07:50] competitive district that will be in

[00:07:52] Minnesota this election cycle and that

[00:07:54] candidate is going to be without money

[00:07:58] and has messaged himself so far to the

[00:08:00] right that he's not in any position to

[00:08:03] win. And that's the other concern that I

[00:08:05] have from just an operational sample.

[00:08:07] And I've said this to supporters and

[00:08:09] people with ROM's campaign. So this

[00:08:11] information they're hearing today isn't

[00:08:13] new, which is that they have not

[00:08:15] fundraised. And so they're going to

[00:08:18] leave that convention on fumes if they

[00:08:21] have any money when they leave that

[00:08:22] convention. And then from a messaging

[00:08:24] standpoint, they have no opportunity to

[00:08:26] pivot and be to moderate their message.

[00:08:30] Here's why I would say that one of the

[00:08:32] things that happened with Jensen, we

[00:08:33] talked about Jensen in last year and

[00:08:35] we've had multiple episodes and we

[00:08:36] hope to have him back soon to talk

[00:08:38] about what's going on in endorsement

[00:08:39] process stuff. But Jensen was the

[00:08:42] COVID candidate he messaged on COVID.

[00:08:45] And one of the concerns that people

[00:08:47] raised about Jensen up until the

[00:08:50] endorsement process was that if he was

[00:08:52] the general election candidate or if he

[00:08:54] was endorsed, all he would talk about

[00:08:56] would be COVID. And that was a concern

[00:08:58] and there was a hope and kind of a wish

[00:09:00] that Jensen could pivot. But a couple

[00:09:02] people had said to me prior to the

[00:09:03] endorsement and it panned out to be

[00:09:05] true which is that Jensen's rise to

[00:09:07] power came through that message. And so

[00:09:09] he wasn't going to be able to leave

[00:09:12] that message once he was endorsed.

[00:09:14] And the concern I have with ROM's

[00:09:16] campaign is they have aligned

[00:09:18] themselves with Action for Liberty

[00:09:20] and a number of people that I would

[00:09:22] consider to be on the fringe of the

[00:09:23] Republican Party and

[00:09:26] that are ultra conservative to the

[00:09:29] point of I think being obnoxious and

[00:09:32] not holding positions where people

[00:09:33] can actually get elected. But

[00:09:35] particularly with the number of the

[00:09:36] Action for Liberty crowd that will

[00:09:38] is going to be nearly impossible for

[00:09:40] ROM to moderate on his message.

[00:09:42] He's just simply you cannot

[00:09:44] moderate when you've aligned

[00:09:45] yourself with some of the people

[00:09:46] that ROM has aligned himself with.

[00:09:48] And I think it's going to be a huge

[00:09:50] both messaging problem

[00:09:52] for him in terms of who he is as a

[00:09:54] candidate. And also I think it's

[00:09:56] going to be very difficult for him

[00:09:57] to for ROM's campaign to raise

[00:09:58] money because

[00:10:00] he has aligned himself with

[00:10:02] I think a crowd of folks

[00:10:04] that and one of the other kind

[00:10:06] of messaging mistakes that I think

[00:10:08] that that ROM's campaign has made

[00:10:09] is they've taken a lot of shots at

[00:10:11] Emmer's campaign that Congressman

[00:10:13] Emmer they've taken shots at

[00:10:15] the entire fundraising crowd.

[00:10:17] And the point of the matter I would say

[00:10:18] to that is it's fun and condorcent

[00:10:20] process to claim that you're

[00:10:22] beating up on the establishment,

[00:10:23] you're beating up on the swamp.

[00:10:24] Let me say something to you.

[00:10:25] Republicans in Minnesota need money

[00:10:27] to spend and win races.

[00:10:28] And it's important that they do.

[00:10:30] And Taylor ROM's message

[00:10:33] in the last couple weeks has

[00:10:35] I think really shut the door on him

[00:10:38] getting any type of significant

[00:10:40] financial help because I think

[00:10:42] that their message has been so

[00:10:44] critical of raising

[00:10:46] any type of money which they

[00:10:47] need. And I think that they have

[00:10:49] boxed themselves in to

[00:10:51] a position where they're going to

[00:10:52] have a very difficult time

[00:10:54] moderating themselves and winning

[00:10:56] people over because I think

[00:10:58] their message right now is pretty

[00:10:59] hardcore.

[00:11:00] And that's what I think the mistake

[00:11:01] that's been made here. I think

[00:11:02] that the second congressional district

[00:11:04] for Republicans this cycle

[00:11:06] has really become much more

[00:11:08] extreme.

[00:11:09] The ability for someone to

[00:11:11] message and to go

[00:11:13] through the endorsement process.

[00:11:15] I think has been I think this

[00:11:16] will be a real shock to some people

[00:11:18] the level of intensity

[00:11:20] and to see it embraced

[00:11:22] by a campaign without any concept

[00:11:24] of what it's going to take to win

[00:11:25] the general I think is really

[00:11:27] concerning. I think it's short

[00:11:28] sided.

[00:11:29] And I think that

[00:11:31] ROM is going to just have a very

[00:11:33] difficult time moving

[00:11:35] and moderating himself and winning

[00:11:37] when you're poking people in the

[00:11:38] nose in that you're going to

[00:11:40] need in the fundraising community

[00:11:41] when you're aligning yourself with

[00:11:43] such hardcore action

[00:11:45] for Liberty crowd.

[00:11:46] And then you want to abide

[00:11:48] by you want everyone to abide by

[00:11:49] this intramural contest

[00:11:51] and your focus on that intramural

[00:11:53] contest has made you

[00:11:55] not focus on things that you

[00:11:57] actually need to win the race.

[00:11:59] It's just a recipe for disaster

[00:12:01] and I would have expected more

[00:12:03] out of some of the people that are

[00:12:04] working on that campaign but it

[00:12:05] hasn't turned out that way.

[00:12:06] I think this is one of the biggest

[00:12:07] reasons why you know moving

[00:12:09] to a primary in a June primary

[00:12:11] I think is essential to the

[00:12:13] future of what Republicans,

[00:12:15] of course we have way bigger

[00:12:17] issues than endorsement versus

[00:12:18] primary in terms of Republican

[00:12:20] messaging. But I do think that is

[00:12:21] a big thing because we get three

[00:12:23] months before and suddenly have

[00:12:25] to moderate to a general

[00:12:26] voter base. And I think that's

[00:12:28] certainly a concern here.

[00:12:30] Yes. And again just

[00:12:32] an observer of this.

[00:12:33] I think that's kind of the tactical

[00:12:34] mistake. Again, I this is just

[00:12:36] please poke home if you think my

[00:12:38] logic is wrong.

[00:12:39] I think the second congressional

[00:12:40] district is likely going to be the

[00:12:41] most targeted.

[00:12:43] Based on I live there and you've

[00:12:45] worked there, it's a swing

[00:12:46] district. And so I in just

[00:12:48] my head, I'm thinking of this as

[00:12:50] the best way for a Republican to

[00:12:52] win is to leave that convention

[00:12:55] in a position and ability

[00:12:57] to moderate and go to the center

[00:12:59] because that's where I think the

[00:13:00] district is. I think it's a

[00:13:01] centrist district.

[00:13:02] And so my only point in just

[00:13:04] talking about the second

[00:13:05] district race for kind of the

[00:13:06] first time on this podcast in

[00:13:07] this way is that I think

[00:13:09] the messaging, particularly from

[00:13:11] Rom site has been pretty

[00:13:13] hard. And I think that's going to

[00:13:15] I think we're going to be back

[00:13:17] looking at this race and saying how

[00:13:19] did we get here?

[00:13:20] And I just that's where I think

[00:13:21] we're at. But we can see we'll see

[00:13:22] what happens on Saturday with the

[00:13:24] endorsement itself. But your take

[00:13:26] the last thing I just want to say

[00:13:27] is curious. I know it

[00:13:29] again historically endorsed

[00:13:31] candidates win primaries.

[00:13:32] It very rarely has that not

[00:13:34] been the case.

[00:13:35] Obviously we've gone through ebbs

[00:13:36] and flows of what the party

[00:13:38] apparatus is even

[00:13:40] minus money, just volunteer IDs

[00:13:43] database what they can do.

[00:13:44] I know there is a lot more cohesion

[00:13:46] with the House and Senate and

[00:13:47] Republican Party of working

[00:13:49] together on these types of things.

[00:13:51] What's your take on non endorsed

[00:13:53] candidates and kind of that

[00:13:54] grassroots system they have to

[00:13:56] build up because I do think

[00:13:57] that is one thing that

[00:13:59] there is that built in delegate

[00:14:01] base let's say Ron comes out with

[00:14:03] winning the endorsement you

[00:14:05] automatically get some of these

[00:14:06] BP OU CD folks who are

[00:14:09] already involved doing their monthly

[00:14:11] weekly meetings whatever it might be

[00:14:13] as door knockers as phone callers

[00:14:15] as textures walking in parades

[00:14:17] all of that there is that built

[00:14:19] in crew of folks.

[00:14:21] Non endorsed folks obviously you

[00:14:23] assume have their base of

[00:14:24] supporters that they can get to

[00:14:26] do that too. But what's your take

[00:14:27] just on the kind of historical

[00:14:28] context of this rarely

[00:14:31] happening for non endorsed folks

[00:14:32] coming or candidates coming out

[00:14:34] successful in the primary.

[00:14:36] Yes correct. First of all if

[00:14:37] whoever is endorsed on Saturday

[00:14:38] will get the party support in

[00:14:40] some way. So if Ram is endorsed

[00:14:43] or Trab is endorsed either

[00:14:45] those candidates will become the

[00:14:46] Republican endorsed candidate for

[00:14:47] the second congressional district

[00:14:49] with that comes some institutional

[00:14:51] support from the party as

[00:14:53] they navigate that party proud as

[00:14:54] they navigate through the primary

[00:14:56] Trab will have to do something

[00:14:58] that has not been done in I

[00:15:00] think in recent time on this

[00:15:02] type of level which is defeating

[00:15:05] a Republican endorsed candidate

[00:15:07] at the congressional district level.

[00:15:08] We were talking a little bit before

[00:15:10] we were recording here. There was

[00:15:11] one I think it the fourth or fifth

[00:15:13] I think it was in the fourth

[00:15:14] congressional district the

[00:15:15] Republican endorsed candidate lost

[00:15:17] in the primary in 2020.

[00:15:20] Did you say 2020 she alone.

[00:15:22] But I think the argument that you

[00:15:24] may hear from people is there a

[00:15:25] prime if there's a primary challenge

[00:15:27] does that hurt the Republicans

[00:15:29] in winning the general election.

[00:15:31] I don't think that there's any

[00:15:32] evidence to support

[00:15:34] that in the second congressional

[00:15:36] district or in other congressional

[00:15:37] districts that having a contested

[00:15:39] endorsement and then a contested

[00:15:41] primary has any impact on the

[00:15:43] general election. In fact Klein

[00:15:45] was challenged by David Gerson

[00:15:47] in 2012.

[00:15:49] Emmer was challenged by Rana

[00:15:51] Sivarajah in 2014.

[00:15:52] Emmer was endorsed.

[00:15:54] A Lewis was challenged in 16

[00:15:56] by Darlene Miller.

[00:15:57] Lewis went on to win.

[00:15:59] Hagrid Orrin was challenged by

[00:16:00] Carl and Elson in 2018.

[00:16:02] Hagrid Orrin went on to win the

[00:16:03] general election.

[00:16:05] Emmer was there was a multi

[00:16:06] candidate primary in 2018.

[00:16:08] Emmer won.

[00:16:09] Fishbuck was challenged

[00:16:11] in a multi candidate primary and

[00:16:12] she went on and winning the

[00:16:13] general election.

[00:16:14] Finstead in a special there was

[00:16:16] a multi candidate primary and he

[00:16:17] won the special and Finstead

[00:16:19] in the general there was a

[00:16:21] primary versus Munson and

[00:16:23] and Finstead won the general.

[00:16:24] And so there is no question

[00:16:27] I think the record is abundantly

[00:16:28] clear that primary contests

[00:16:30] do not equate to

[00:16:32] any type of general election

[00:16:34] loss particularly in these

[00:16:35] somewhat centrist safe

[00:16:37] districts. This is obviously much

[00:16:39] more of a censors centrist

[00:16:41] centrist district than it is a

[00:16:43] safe. It's a pure flip of the

[00:16:44] flop flip of the flop as they

[00:16:45] say so I think

[00:16:47] the question is who will win

[00:16:49] the primary but I don't think

[00:16:51] that there's much evidence to

[00:16:52] support that a primary

[00:16:54] contest hurts

[00:16:56] whoever wins the primaries

[00:16:58] chances of winning the general

[00:17:00] election. I don't think there's

[00:17:00] any evidence to support that.

[00:17:02] Do you see it that way or?

[00:17:02] No I agree. I guess it just comes

[00:17:04] down in a lot of the skepticism

[00:17:06] from Republican delegates and

[00:17:08] others is is the mudslinging

[00:17:10] interparty fighting between

[00:17:12] two Republican candidates leading

[00:17:13] up to August which can be

[00:17:15] depending on how dirty and how

[00:17:16] rough it can get.

[00:17:18] It it I could see that

[00:17:20] side of things but you're right

[00:17:21] you just listed off a plethora

[00:17:22] of places where

[00:17:24] Republicans were still successful

[00:17:26] despite having that contested

[00:17:28] primary.

[00:17:29] My last question before we get

[00:17:31] the chance to sit down with Joe

[00:17:32] here again zoomed out

[00:17:34] because I just love talking about

[00:17:36] endorsement versus primary.

[00:17:38] Do you think whether it's in

[00:17:39] this situation or in any race

[00:17:42] in the near future if

[00:17:44] a Republican candidate wins

[00:17:46] the primary against

[00:17:47] an endorsed candidate that it

[00:17:49] would tend to

[00:17:51] move the party here

[00:17:52] move Republicans away from

[00:17:54] demanding that endorsement

[00:17:56] ahead of time.

[00:17:57] I think it's possible.

[00:17:57] I think you came up with a great

[00:17:59] compromise which is June primary.

[00:18:00] I think that would make sense.

[00:18:01] I think Republicans in Minnesota

[00:18:03] have a very kind of confusing

[00:18:05] process which is in Democrats too.

[00:18:07] We have both primaries and caucuses.

[00:18:09] We have endorsing conventions

[00:18:10] and we have primaries.

[00:18:11] There's there is much more on the

[00:18:13] Democratic side a history of

[00:18:15] there being challenges to the

[00:18:16] endorsement process

[00:18:17] and then candidates winning

[00:18:19] in the primary governor walls when

[00:18:20] he ran in 2018 was not

[00:18:22] endorsed by the DFL party

[00:18:24] sent Senator at the time it

[00:18:25] was Aaron Murphy but now she's a

[00:18:27] state senator.

[00:18:27] State Senator Aaron Murphy who's

[00:18:28] now the Senate Majority Leader.

[00:18:29] She was endorsed.

[00:18:30] She was defeated by walls in the

[00:18:32] primary and so there's much more

[00:18:34] of I think of a hands-off

[00:18:36] process approach that the

[00:18:37] Democrats take to allowing the

[00:18:39] stuff to happen.

[00:18:40] I think that this race in

[00:18:41] particular could be

[00:18:43] a real model to see what

[00:18:45] actually happens.

[00:18:46] The other race that I think is

[00:18:47] really insignificant to watch

[00:18:48] since you brought up this point

[00:18:49] and I'm glad you did is

[00:18:51] Fishbok.

[00:18:51] She's being challenged right now

[00:18:53] Congressman Fishbok in the

[00:18:54] Seventh Congressional District.

[00:18:55] She's being challenged by a

[00:18:56] candidate.

[00:18:57] Fishbok has also said that she's

[00:18:59] going to seek but she will not

[00:19:01] abide by the party's endorsement

[00:19:02] so there's two candidates two

[00:19:03] congressional candidates right

[00:19:05] now.

[00:19:05] You have Jotair Ab and you have

[00:19:07] incumbent Congresswoman Michelle

[00:19:09] Fishbok willing to say I'm

[00:19:11] going to seek the party's

[00:19:12] endorsement but I'm not

[00:19:13] willing to abide by it and I

[00:19:14] think that is could be a real

[00:19:16] break in kind of the armor

[00:19:18] and kind of the stranglehold

[00:19:20] that the endorsement

[00:19:21] process was have again this is

[00:19:23] the last piece of evidence.

[00:19:24] I would love for someone to show

[00:19:26] me give me evidence that says

[00:19:28] that Republican getting

[00:19:30] endorsed particularly statewide

[00:19:32] is an actually net benefit to

[00:19:34] them winning the general

[00:19:35] election.

[00:19:36] My argument is on some of these

[00:19:38] in some of these congressional

[00:19:39] races and in some of these

[00:19:40] in statewide races the fact

[00:19:42] that there's candidates out

[00:19:44] there that are able to

[00:19:45] fundraise and position

[00:19:46] themselves organizationally

[00:19:48] to win in the general is

[00:19:49] better and I think what the

[00:19:50] endorsement process is doing

[00:19:51] right now is it's giving

[00:19:54] and it's laying out an

[00:19:55] intramural contest for

[00:19:56] Republicans to win and they're

[00:19:58] putting too much emphasis on

[00:20:00] it and at the end of the day

[00:20:01] focusing on it is a

[00:20:03] distraction from winning the

[00:20:04] general election.

[00:20:05] And I say that as someone who

[00:20:06] was a party officer I was a

[00:20:08] BPOU chair my position on the

[00:20:10] endorsement has absolutely

[00:20:11] evolved from where he is

[00:20:12] right now and I would say

[00:20:14] only abide I would say always

[00:20:17] plan for a primary respectfully

[00:20:19] seek but do not commit to

[00:20:20] abide by an endorsement

[00:20:22] because this is a scenario

[00:20:23] where I think it may end up

[00:20:24] causing Republicans tripping up

[00:20:26] of it on the process but we'll

[00:20:27] wait and see.

[00:20:29] Sounds good.

[00:20:33] We're excited today to be

[00:20:34] joined by Joe Terab running

[00:20:36] for Congress in Minnesota's

[00:20:37] second congressional district.

[00:20:38] He made some news in the last

[00:20:39] 24 hours one should tell our

[00:20:41] listeners about that.

[00:20:42] I did make some news I'm

[00:20:43] really proud to be in this

[00:20:44] race because I love this

[00:20:45] country and that's why I got

[00:20:46] in the race I've had the

[00:20:47] opportunity to live the

[00:20:48] American dream and I got in

[00:20:50] the race because the American

[00:20:51] dream right now is being

[00:20:52] attacked by Joe Biden and

[00:20:54] Angie Craig.

[00:20:55] My singular focus has been to

[00:20:57] beat Angie Craig.

[00:20:58] That's what I said in October

[00:20:59] it's been an amazing

[00:21:00] opportunity to get a chance to

[00:21:02] meet with voters and people

[00:21:04] all across the district with

[00:21:05] that message and at this

[00:21:07] point I'm going to be taking

[00:21:08] the fight to the primary to

[00:21:10] make sure that we actually have

[00:21:11] the best candidate to go

[00:21:12] against Angie Craig.

[00:21:13] I've been able to put the

[00:21:15] team together and put the

[00:21:16] resources together to be in

[00:21:17] that fight because Angie

[00:21:19] Craig sadly she's funded

[00:21:21] by these Hollywood elites who

[00:21:22] are going to be able to give

[00:21:23] her tons of money.

[00:21:24] She has a ton of money in the

[00:21:25] bank 2.8 million dollars.

[00:21:27] We've been able to raise the

[00:21:28] resources to get that done and

[00:21:29] to actually take the fight

[00:21:30] her.

[00:21:30] We have 660 thousand dollars

[00:21:34] in the bank right now and

[00:21:36] my primary opponent has

[00:21:38] nothing very little.

[00:21:40] He's got 59,000 cash on hand

[00:21:43] and so for that reason also

[00:21:46] for the reason of look I've

[00:21:49] been a prosecutor.

[00:21:50] My life has been about doing

[00:21:51] justice and putting bad guys

[00:21:52] behind bars.

[00:21:53] And of course in our system

[00:21:55] you have a right to a defense

[00:21:56] no doubt.

[00:21:57] My opponent is a criminal

[00:21:58] defense attorney similar to

[00:21:59] Mary Moriarty and Keith

[00:22:01] Ellison.

[00:22:02] And at this point what we

[00:22:03] learned recently in the past

[00:22:05] month from this Fox News

[00:22:07] article was that he

[00:22:08] sanitized his website.

[00:22:11] He wasn't proud of his record

[00:22:12] apparently because he's

[00:22:14] defended some of the worst

[00:22:15] in our society people like

[00:22:17] murderers, child rapists

[00:22:20] the people in city too are

[00:22:21] going to care about that.

[00:22:22] Who's going to let them know

[00:22:23] about that?

[00:22:24] Angie Craig and the Democrats.

[00:22:26] We need to make sure that we

[00:22:28] are putting ourselves in the

[00:22:30] best position to beat Angie

[00:22:31] Craig.

[00:22:31] And I have to do what I think

[00:22:32] is right.

[00:22:33] That's what the people want

[00:22:35] and that's what the people

[00:22:37] deserve.

[00:22:37] And I think the right thing

[00:22:38] to do right now is to not

[00:22:40] hand an election to Angie

[00:22:41] Craig and that's why I'm

[00:22:42] continuing this fight to the

[00:22:42] primary.

[00:22:43] You are an attorney.

[00:22:45] Talk a little bit about your

[00:22:46] background how you became an

[00:22:47] attorney and then also frame

[00:22:49] up that you were a

[00:22:50] prosecutor, a house

[00:22:52] security versus defense

[00:22:53] attorney.

[00:22:54] I think that's an interesting

[00:22:55] contrast.

[00:22:56] But I did it when I was honored

[00:22:57] to serve as a federal

[00:22:58] prosecutor putting bad guys

[00:23:00] behind bars across the state

[00:23:01] of Minnesota.

[00:23:02] That was my job to work with

[00:23:03] law enforcement on

[00:23:04] investigating the worst of the

[00:23:05] worst in our society.

[00:23:07] And look again as a person

[00:23:09] who raised my right hand to

[00:23:10] support him in the Constitution

[00:23:11] of the United States.

[00:23:12] I guess what we should be

[00:23:13] going back to is the

[00:23:14] Constitution.

[00:23:15] So of course everyone has a

[00:23:16] right to a defense.

[00:23:17] But if we want to put ourselves

[00:23:19] in the best position to actually

[00:23:20] be an Angie Craig, we have to be

[00:23:22] real about what the liabilities

[00:23:23] are in terms of what our record

[00:23:25] is.

[00:23:25] And I've been proud about my

[00:23:26] record working with law

[00:23:27] enforcement to put those bad

[00:23:29] guys behind bars.

[00:23:30] And clearly it's the case where

[00:23:32] my opponent is not proud of his

[00:23:35] record because he sanitizes

[00:23:36] website talking about the

[00:23:38] people that he's defended.

[00:23:40] And so in those courtrooms,

[00:23:41] I went against defense

[00:23:43] attorneys.

[00:23:44] I fought for justice.

[00:23:46] I was able to get justice in

[00:23:47] many of the and all my federal

[00:23:48] trials.

[00:23:50] And I think the people of City

[00:23:51] 2 want someone who's fought

[00:23:53] for justice, who's worked with

[00:23:54] law enforcement, not against

[00:23:55] law enforcement.

[00:23:57] I've been blessed to live the

[00:23:58] American dream on the son of

[00:24:00] an immigrant from Sudan, the

[00:24:02] grandson of a World War two

[00:24:03] POW.

[00:24:04] I grew up in a small town in

[00:24:05] Wyndham in Southwest

[00:24:06] Minnesota to stop lights,

[00:24:07] 4,000 people.

[00:24:08] And I was blessed to be able

[00:24:10] to go to Cornell for undergrad

[00:24:12] and I felt like it was on my

[00:24:14] heart to do justice.

[00:24:15] To help people.

[00:24:16] That's what I wanted to do.

[00:24:17] And so that's why I decided to

[00:24:18] go to law school.

[00:24:20] And so I went to some liberal

[00:24:21] institutions and fought for

[00:24:23] conservative values at both of

[00:24:24] those places at Cornell and at

[00:24:25] Harvard Law School.

[00:24:27] And it was in Harvard Law School

[00:24:28] where I met a guy in my class

[00:24:31] who had before his time in law

[00:24:33] school was a Marine officer.

[00:24:35] And after being in country in

[00:24:36] Iraq for two weeks, stepped

[00:24:37] an IED, lost both of his

[00:24:39] flags.

[00:24:41] And he inspired me to become

[00:24:42] a United States Marine.

[00:24:43] And so I was honored to earn

[00:24:44] that title of United States

[00:24:45] Marine during law school.

[00:24:47] So during my time in the Marine

[00:24:49] Corps, I served for five years

[00:24:50] on active duty at Reach

[00:24:51] Rickup Captain.

[00:24:52] And I had the honor of deploying

[00:24:54] to Iraq to help defeat and

[00:24:55] destroy ISIS to help fulfill

[00:24:57] Donald Trump's mission to do

[00:24:58] that. And that's what we did.

[00:24:59] I was there for six months

[00:25:01] working with soldiers, sailors,

[00:25:03] airmen and fellow Marines

[00:25:05] in a coalition environment.

[00:25:07] And my job in the room as a

[00:25:08] lawyer was to give the up or

[00:25:09] down thumbs up or down

[00:25:11] recommendations on our strikes

[00:25:12] against ISIS.

[00:25:13] And so that's what we did.

[00:25:14] We defeated ISIS and I came home

[00:25:16] to Minnesota and served as a

[00:25:17] state prosecutor in St. Peter,

[00:25:18] down on Nicola County, where I

[00:25:20] worked to put domestic abusers

[00:25:21] behind bars.

[00:25:23] And then it was honored to serve

[00:25:24] as a federal prosecutor.

[00:25:25] Was hired by a Trump appointee

[00:25:26] to do that, where I put illegal

[00:25:28] immigrants behind bars, map

[00:25:29] traffickers behind bars,

[00:25:30] fentanyl traffickers behind

[00:25:31] bars, a cop killer behind

[00:25:33] bars.

[00:25:34] I got to work on some really

[00:25:35] big cases that I know your

[00:25:36] listeners have seen in the news,

[00:25:37] right? The Feeding Our Future

[00:25:39] trial case, which actually

[00:25:42] the first federal trial is

[00:25:43] happening this week.

[00:25:45] Two hundred fifty million

[00:25:45] dollars of money that was

[00:25:48] supposed to go feeding hungry

[00:25:49] kids and was still by these

[00:25:50] fraudsters and bought things

[00:25:52] like fancy cars, like property

[00:25:54] all across the second

[00:25:55] district of resort in Kenya

[00:25:58] got to work on and lead

[00:26:00] the investigation into the

[00:26:01] bloods criminal street gang.

[00:26:02] We built up a RICO case,

[00:26:04] charged a bunch of bloods

[00:26:06] and we went at them.

[00:26:07] I was proud to lead that

[00:26:08] investigation with a team

[00:26:09] of federal agents, state

[00:26:11] and local law enforcement.

[00:26:13] And we took them out.

[00:26:14] You have a very impressive

[00:26:15] record of service and in

[00:26:17] particular, I want to highlight

[00:26:19] and just acknowledge thank you

[00:26:20] for your service and serving

[00:26:21] in the military.

[00:26:22] It's not something I've ever

[00:26:22] done. And anytime we speak to

[00:26:24] people who have a military

[00:26:26] background, military service,

[00:26:26] we always want to acknowledge

[00:26:28] it. So thank you for your

[00:26:28] service. Appreciate that.

[00:26:29] Thank you. Absolutely.

[00:26:30] Concur.

[00:26:31] So you've had a really

[00:26:32] successful career.

[00:26:33] How did you make this

[00:26:35] decision then to want to

[00:26:37] step into a new role and run

[00:26:39] for public office?

[00:26:39] It's a big change.

[00:26:41] It was a big change.

[00:26:42] It was a hard decision.

[00:26:43] It's one that I had to make with

[00:26:44] my friends and my family.

[00:26:46] I had to be prayerful about it

[00:26:47] because I absolutely loved my

[00:26:49] job as a federal prosecutor

[00:26:51] because every day I got to ask

[00:26:52] myself the question, what's the

[00:26:53] right thing to do?

[00:26:54] How can I pursue justice?

[00:26:56] That's what I was able to do

[00:26:57] for four years working on cases

[00:26:58] all across Minnesota, bringing

[00:27:00] justice to victims.

[00:27:01] But I really did feel like it

[00:27:03] was on my heart to

[00:27:05] to fight for the American

[00:27:07] Dream because right now I

[00:27:08] think the American dream is

[00:27:09] being attacked by Angie Craig

[00:27:10] and Joe Biden.

[00:27:11] When it comes to inflation and

[00:27:13] Angie Craig voting for every

[00:27:15] single spending bill that Joe

[00:27:16] Biden is pushed for,

[00:27:18] she voted with Joe Biden 100% of

[00:27:20] the time.

[00:27:21] When it comes to the border, I

[00:27:23] had to put fentanyl traffickers

[00:27:24] behind bars and illegal immigrants

[00:27:25] behind bars.

[00:27:26] And right now you're seeing a

[00:27:27] border crisis because Angie

[00:27:28] Craig voted against the Secure

[00:27:30] Border Act back in May of last

[00:27:32] year.

[00:27:33] And the biggest thing for me

[00:27:34] is supporting law enforcement.

[00:27:35] Again, I worked with law

[00:27:36] enforcement hand in hand

[00:27:38] as a state prosecutor, as a

[00:27:39] federal prosecutor and to see

[00:27:41] our political

[00:27:43] politicians caring more about

[00:27:45] charging cops than criminals.

[00:27:47] That has a real impact on our

[00:27:48] communities and people feel

[00:27:49] that and they know that.

[00:27:51] And right now we need someone

[00:27:52] in Congress who's going to fight

[00:27:54] to support law enforcement,

[00:27:55] fight to crack down on crime,

[00:27:57] fight to lower the cost of

[00:27:58] living, fight for better schools,

[00:27:59] fight to secure our border.

[00:28:00] And that's why I'm going to

[00:28:01] Congress because I've been in

[00:28:02] that fight both as a state

[00:28:03] prosecutor, federal prosecutor

[00:28:05] and as a Marine.

[00:28:06] In 2018 I was

[00:28:08] a campaign manager for Jason

[00:28:09] Lewis's reelection campaign,

[00:28:11] unfortunately unsuccessful.

[00:28:13] And Angie Craig did get

[00:28:14] elected.

[00:28:15] And so I just want to hear a

[00:28:15] little bit more about you

[00:28:17] mentioned a few there, which

[00:28:18] are great. Some of the bills

[00:28:19] either that she voted on or some

[00:28:21] of the differences between

[00:28:23] what you want voters to know

[00:28:24] that are differences between

[00:28:25] you and Angie Craig and how

[00:28:26] you would represent the

[00:28:27] second better.

[00:28:29] The differences are pretty

[00:28:30] vast. The big thing for me

[00:28:32] one is that she was a

[00:28:33] rubber stamp for Joe Biden's

[00:28:34] agenda. And so you just have

[00:28:36] to ask yourself the basic

[00:28:37] question. Is your life better

[00:28:38] now that it was four years

[00:28:39] ago and it's obviously not.

[00:28:41] She voted for everything

[00:28:43] that's led to inflation.

[00:28:45] And secondly, the Secure

[00:28:47] Border Act, we have a border

[00:28:48] crisis. She voted against HR

[00:28:50] to the Secure Border Act.

[00:28:51] And now we have human

[00:28:52] trafficking crisis.

[00:28:54] We have a fentanyl crisis

[00:28:55] and we have illegal

[00:28:57] immigrants pouring over the

[00:28:58] border 10 million under Joe

[00:28:59] Biden's administration

[00:29:01] unacceptable. And that falls

[00:29:02] right at the feet of Angie

[00:29:03] Craig.

[00:29:04] And then I think the big

[00:29:05] thing that I talked about

[00:29:06] again is cracking down on

[00:29:07] crime my work with law

[00:29:08] enforcement. Angie Craig voted

[00:29:10] for the George Floyd Justice

[00:29:12] and Policing Act of 2020.

[00:29:14] And that would have absolutely

[00:29:15] kneecap law enforcement.

[00:29:16] And I know now she's changed

[00:29:18] her tune about that act

[00:29:20] getting rid of qualified

[00:29:21] immunity, but she can't run away

[00:29:23] from that vote.

[00:29:23] And that vote would have

[00:29:25] kneecap law enforcement in

[00:29:25] many different ways in terms

[00:29:26] of removing the resources

[00:29:28] that they need to keep our

[00:29:29] community safe.

[00:29:30] I live in the second

[00:29:31] congressional district and

[00:29:32] you've messaged a lot.

[00:29:33] And I want to ask you a

[00:29:34] question. You've obviously

[00:29:35] you live in the district,

[00:29:36] you've traveled all across

[00:29:37] the district as you campaign.

[00:29:38] One of the I live in Egan

[00:29:40] suburb, I think the impression

[00:29:42] amongst a lot of people in my

[00:29:44] neighborhood and people I speak

[00:29:45] with that Angie Craig has

[00:29:46] is a moderate has a moderate

[00:29:47] record in your experience

[00:29:49] in your travels.

[00:29:50] What are you hearing about

[00:29:51] that? And can you offer

[00:29:53] your perspective on on where

[00:29:55] Angie Craig's record is on

[00:29:57] the political spectrum?

[00:29:58] It's clear she is no

[00:30:00] moderate. She has done

[00:30:02] a good job at making it

[00:30:03] seem like she's a moderate.

[00:30:04] But her voting record paints

[00:30:06] a very different picture.

[00:30:07] Again, going back to her

[00:30:09] voting against poor security,

[00:30:10] her voting against law

[00:30:12] enforcement, her voting with

[00:30:13] the Biden agenda 100% of time,

[00:30:15] her voting even with Ilhan Omar

[00:30:17] 93% of the time.

[00:30:18] I don't know how you can call

[00:30:19] yourself a moderate when

[00:30:20] that's the case and she can't

[00:30:21] run away from those facts.

[00:30:23] This week is the there's

[00:30:24] an endorsing contest in

[00:30:26] in the second congressional

[00:30:27] district. You've agreed

[00:30:28] now to run in the primary,

[00:30:30] but you're still seeking

[00:30:31] the endorsement.

[00:30:32] I want to dial down a little

[00:30:33] bit on some contrasts

[00:30:34] that I've noticed in the

[00:30:35] coming the last week.

[00:30:37] The race really seems to have

[00:30:38] heated up a bit in the second

[00:30:39] congressional district.

[00:30:40] You are a prosecutor.

[00:30:41] You have been a prosecutor

[00:30:42] in your career.

[00:30:43] Describe to our listeners

[00:30:45] the difference between

[00:30:46] what a defense attorney does

[00:30:47] and what a prosecutor does.

[00:30:49] So as a prosecutor, my job

[00:30:51] is to work with law

[00:30:52] enforcement to investigate

[00:30:54] cases. So literally,

[00:30:56] for example, in the bloods

[00:30:58] case, I was sitting

[00:30:59] in a room for about a year

[00:31:02] working with law enforcement,

[00:31:03] helping develop evidence,

[00:31:05] helping execute search warrants,

[00:31:06] helping to figure out witnesses.

[00:31:08] We should interview to build up

[00:31:10] a case to make sure that

[00:31:12] we're holding criminals

[00:31:14] accountable.

[00:31:15] And then my job as a prosecutor

[00:31:16] is literally to charge these

[00:31:18] criminals and then to litigate

[00:31:20] the case in court

[00:31:21] and potentially in front of a

[00:31:23] jury and argue in front

[00:31:24] of that jury and present

[00:31:25] evidence to say this is

[00:31:27] why you're guilty.

[00:31:28] The defense attorney again,

[00:31:30] their job is to zealously

[00:31:33] defend the interests of

[00:31:34] other clients. And in this

[00:31:36] case, my opponent in this race

[00:31:38] was a criminal defense attorney.

[00:31:39] He apparently was not

[00:31:41] proud of his record as a

[00:31:43] criminal defense attorney

[00:31:44] because what we saw in this

[00:31:45] Fox News article, he hid

[00:31:47] from voters the type of

[00:31:50] defendants he defended.

[00:31:51] And those were the worst of the

[00:31:52] worst. Child rapists,

[00:31:55] murderers, people who

[00:31:58] literally spit in the face

[00:31:59] of law enforcement.

[00:32:01] I think the differences

[00:32:01] couldn't be any more clear.

[00:32:02] I worked with law enforcement

[00:32:04] to put that guy's behind bars.

[00:32:05] My opponent worked

[00:32:06] to set criminals free.

[00:32:08] Thank you for explaining

[00:32:09] the role of a defense

[00:32:10] attorney versus a prosecutor,

[00:32:12] but both of them

[00:32:13] you have a right to.

[00:32:14] And so strike that balance a

[00:32:16] bit for ensuring that

[00:32:18] everyone has a adequate

[00:32:19] and proper defense,

[00:32:20] but also ensuring that

[00:32:21] justice is administered.

[00:32:24] My job as a prosecutor,

[00:32:25] the first thing I did

[00:32:26] as a federal prosecutor

[00:32:27] was raise my right hand

[00:32:28] to support and protect

[00:32:29] the Constitution of the

[00:32:30] United States.

[00:32:31] And that's precious to me.

[00:32:33] And on the defense side,

[00:32:35] you have a constitutional right

[00:32:36] to a defense.

[00:32:38] My job as a prosecutor was

[00:32:39] to work with law enforcement

[00:32:41] to develop evidence,

[00:32:42] to find evidence,

[00:32:44] to build up cases against

[00:32:45] criminals to make sure

[00:32:47] that we're holding them

[00:32:47] accountable. So that's what I

[00:32:48] did for about a year

[00:32:50] in a room with state,

[00:32:52] local and federal law

[00:32:53] enforcement to build up

[00:32:53] the case against the blood

[00:32:55] criminal street gang.

[00:32:56] And then I charged

[00:32:57] those criminals

[00:32:58] and they had their day

[00:32:59] in court and 95% of the time

[00:33:01] in our system. People plead

[00:33:03] guilty.

[00:33:03] Sometimes they want to go

[00:33:04] to trial and we

[00:33:06] my job was to make the case

[00:33:07] in front of the jury

[00:33:09] that they are guilty

[00:33:10] and that's what happened

[00:33:11] and now six of my federal

[00:33:12] trials.

[00:33:14] My opponent

[00:33:15] apparently was not

[00:33:16] proud about his record.

[00:33:17] I was proud about

[00:33:18] I'm proud of my record.

[00:33:19] I talk about it all the time

[00:33:20] about the cases

[00:33:21] that I've worked on.

[00:33:23] He, according to this

[00:33:24] Fox News article,

[00:33:25] scrubbed his website

[00:33:27] before he got into the race

[00:33:28] to hide the fact

[00:33:29] that he was defending

[00:33:30] some of the worst

[00:33:31] people like

[00:33:32] child molesters,

[00:33:33] people like murderers,

[00:33:35] people like

[00:33:36] people who spit in the face

[00:33:38] of law enforcement.

[00:33:40] So while you have

[00:33:40] a fundamental right

[00:33:41] to a defense,

[00:33:42] I think we need to be clear

[00:33:44] about

[00:33:45] what types of attacks

[00:33:47] that the left are going to

[00:33:49] hurl at

[00:33:50] who the person going

[00:33:51] against Angie Craig

[00:33:52] is going to be.

[00:33:53] I'm proud of my record.

[00:33:55] My opponent

[00:33:55] is not.

[00:33:57] And I think that's

[00:33:58] a very interesting

[00:33:58] contrast back yet.

[00:33:59] It's

[00:34:00] obviously he's making the point

[00:34:02] that everyone is entitled

[00:34:03] to justice, criminals

[00:34:05] and the public in this instance.

[00:34:06] But I think it exposes

[00:34:07] a real challenge

[00:34:08] when you're a criminal defense

[00:34:09] attorney running for office.

[00:34:11] Again, everyone has a right

[00:34:12] to an attorney

[00:34:13] and they have in that process.

[00:34:15] And I think we're all

[00:34:16] an advocate for that.

[00:34:17] But there is some challenge.

[00:34:17] There are some jobs out there

[00:34:19] that if you take them as a

[00:34:21] as your profession,

[00:34:22] it does become a little

[00:34:23] difficult to run for political

[00:34:24] office because as you're

[00:34:25] pointing out,

[00:34:26] you have the public

[00:34:27] has an opportunity to litigate.

[00:34:29] And I think it's no surprise

[00:34:31] that many are most people

[00:34:33] who run for office as

[00:34:34] criminal defense attorneys

[00:34:35] or public defenders

[00:34:36] and to bring us Democrats.

[00:34:38] That's a great point.

[00:34:39] Mary Moriarty, former failed

[00:34:41] public defender in Minnesota.

[00:34:44] Keith Ellison, former

[00:34:45] defense attorney for Bloods

[00:34:47] gang members in the 90s.

[00:34:49] So I don't think it's any

[00:34:49] surprise that many people

[00:34:52] are wondering or questioning

[00:34:53] why is my opponent

[00:34:55] running as a Republican

[00:34:56] as a former criminal defense

[00:34:57] attorney?

[00:34:57] That's an interesting choice.

[00:34:58] I appreciate you explaining

[00:34:59] that because I had not made

[00:35:00] that connection.

[00:35:01] And then when he was saying

[00:35:01] it, I was like,

[00:35:02] darn, why didn't I think of that?

[00:35:03] I would have sounded smart,

[00:35:04] but he sounded smart.

[00:35:05] Explain it because I had not

[00:35:06] thought about that before.

[00:35:07] Then the defense aside,

[00:35:09] if you look at Mary Moriarty,

[00:35:10] you look at Keith Ellison,

[00:35:11] both of them were very active

[00:35:13] in criminal defense work.

[00:35:14] And yeah, that's that seems

[00:35:16] to be more of a natural

[00:35:17] constituency on that side.

[00:35:19] And so it's not surprising

[00:35:20] to me the positioning

[00:35:22] of the race right now then.

[00:35:23] That's very interesting.

[00:35:24] Also, I don't know the last

[00:35:25] time I've seen it where

[00:35:26] it's such a stark contrast

[00:35:28] between the two candidates,

[00:35:30] right?

[00:35:30] A prosecution versus

[00:35:31] defense is an interesting duo

[00:35:33] here.

[00:35:33] We are moving through

[00:35:34] the endorsement process.

[00:35:35] Convention's is upcoming

[00:35:36] weekend.

[00:35:36] How has that process been?

[00:35:37] I know CD2 has changed

[00:35:39] a little bit since I worked

[00:35:40] there.

[00:35:41] We've talked a lot.

[00:35:41] I came up in the activist

[00:35:43] delegate base, but we've

[00:35:45] talked a lot about primaries

[00:35:46] and the importance of primaries

[00:35:48] as well.

[00:35:49] But CD2 is a big district.

[00:35:51] Talk to us a little bit

[00:35:51] about the travels

[00:35:52] and what you've, who you've

[00:35:54] met and the conversations

[00:35:55] you've had along the way.

[00:35:56] Honestly, it's been a blast.

[00:35:58] It's been a ton of fun meeting

[00:35:59] with voters all across the

[00:36:01] district.

[00:36:01] Honestly, I've gone around

[00:36:04] Lesora County.

[00:36:05] I felt like many of these

[00:36:05] small towns are like my hometown

[00:36:07] of Wyndham got to meet

[00:36:08] with farmers, with teachers,

[00:36:10] with cops.

[00:36:11] It's been a blast to listen

[00:36:13] to them, to grab coffees,

[00:36:14] to grab beers, and go into

[00:36:16] their living rooms,

[00:36:16] and to hear the challenges

[00:36:17] that they're facing.

[00:36:19] And it's just been crushing

[00:36:20] and sad to hear people like

[00:36:21] for example, a guy who

[00:36:23] him and his wife bought a

[00:36:24] property in Southern Dakota

[00:36:25] County.

[00:36:25] And they had to go through

[00:36:27] no less than 11 different

[00:36:28] approvals and licenses

[00:36:29] and permits just to build

[00:36:31] a little bridge over across

[00:36:33] a stream of three feet of water.

[00:36:34] They talk about over-regulation

[00:36:36] or a woman who was hounded

[00:36:37] by the Walls administration

[00:36:39] for a small overpayment

[00:36:41] through the Federal Child

[00:36:42] Nutrition Program,

[00:36:44] which is the same program

[00:36:45] that was totally OK with

[00:36:47] giving millions and millions

[00:36:48] of dollars wrongfully

[00:36:50] and illegally to all these

[00:36:50] fraudsters.

[00:36:51] And so that was just crushing

[00:36:52] to hear her tell me that.

[00:36:54] And honestly when she told

[00:36:55] me that in the small

[00:36:56] little bar,

[00:36:57] sort of coming my mouth

[00:36:58] dropped because I was like

[00:36:59] I was on the side of helping

[00:37:00] rooting out this way

[00:37:01] for ways for an abuse.

[00:37:03] At the same time that Keith

[00:37:04] Ellison and Tim Walls

[00:37:06] didn't care too much to

[00:37:07] actually care about where our

[00:37:09] hard earned taxpayer money is going.

[00:37:11] Talk about the importance

[00:37:12] of where the race is at

[00:37:15] right now and the importance

[00:37:16] of coming out of that primary

[00:37:18] with a strong candidate.

[00:37:20] Why is your campaign

[00:37:21] in a better position

[00:37:24] than your opponent right

[00:37:24] now in the Republican side

[00:37:26] to face off against Angie

[00:37:27] Craig? I saw the fundraising

[00:37:28] numbers and I was surprised

[00:37:30] having not followed

[00:37:32] the fundraising totals.

[00:37:33] I was really shocked

[00:37:34] by the disparity between how

[00:37:36] a little your opponent had

[00:37:37] raised on the Republican side,

[00:37:38] how much you had raised,

[00:37:40] but in particular

[00:37:41] where Angie Craig is.

[00:37:42] And so if you're a Republican

[00:37:44] in the second district,

[00:37:44] if you're independent

[00:37:45] in the second district

[00:37:46] and you're looking for

[00:37:47] another candidate,

[00:37:48] it's good that there is

[00:37:49] there's an opportunity

[00:37:49] for Republicans to have

[00:37:50] a strong funded

[00:37:51] campaign operation

[00:37:52] in the second.

[00:37:53] Talk about that importance

[00:37:54] from your perspective.

[00:37:56] Michael, I hate the fact

[00:37:57] that money is a part of politics.

[00:37:59] I wish it wasn't the case.

[00:38:01] Honestly, the only type

[00:38:02] of fundraising that I've ever done

[00:38:03] in my life was for a church

[00:38:04] mission trip back in college.

[00:38:05] But the reality is that

[00:38:07] you have to get your message

[00:38:09] out there and that's going

[00:38:10] to cost money

[00:38:11] and you have to raise

[00:38:12] the resources to actually

[00:38:13] take the fight to the left

[00:38:15] and to Angie Craig

[00:38:16] because they're going to be

[00:38:17] well funded.

[00:38:17] They're going to get

[00:38:18] their message out there

[00:38:19] right now.

[00:38:19] Angie Craig has two point

[00:38:20] eight million dollars

[00:38:21] in the bank.

[00:38:22] So we can't just put

[00:38:23] our head in the sand on that.

[00:38:25] And we're never going to get

[00:38:27] that amount of money,

[00:38:28] but we have to have enough money.

[00:38:29] And right now I have

[00:38:31] the money that it's going to take

[00:38:32] to go against Angie Craig.

[00:38:33] You can't come to a firefight

[00:38:34] with a squirt gun.

[00:38:35] And right now, unfortunately,

[00:38:37] my opponent has only

[00:38:38] $59,000 in the bank.

[00:38:40] He actually went backwards

[00:38:41] quarter to quarter.

[00:38:42] He lost money.

[00:38:44] I've been able to raise the money.

[00:38:45] I'm proud that we have

[00:38:46] six hundred and sixty

[00:38:48] thousand dollars right now.

[00:38:49] Cash on hand.

[00:38:50] I'm proud of the fact

[00:38:51] that we've over 90 percent

[00:38:52] of our donations,

[00:38:54] our small dollar donations.

[00:38:55] I think under $40.

[00:38:58] I'm proud of the fact

[00:38:58] that people are getting behind

[00:38:59] our campaign conservatives

[00:39:00] everywhere, getting behind

[00:39:01] the campaign to actually take

[00:39:03] the fight to Angie Craig.

[00:39:04] We're going to be able to do it.

[00:39:05] I think this is a very reason,

[00:39:06] Michael, why the Cook Political

[00:39:08] Report about a month ago

[00:39:10] shifted the race from

[00:39:11] likely Democrat to lean Democrat.

[00:39:13] And if you look at the article,

[00:39:14] the Cook Political Report talked

[00:39:15] about how it was because

[00:39:16] of our campaign

[00:39:18] and our ability to take

[00:39:19] our message out there

[00:39:20] and our ability to raise

[00:39:22] the resources to get it done.

[00:39:23] I want to wrap up our chat today

[00:39:26] by going through, again,

[00:39:27] convention is this upcoming weekend.

[00:39:28] You have decided to still

[00:39:30] you're going to the convention.

[00:39:31] You are still seeking the endorsement,

[00:39:33] but you have ultimately made

[00:39:34] the decision to move on

[00:39:36] to the primary.

[00:39:37] Just walk us through one more time

[00:39:38] weighing that decision

[00:39:40] why you believe

[00:39:41] that's the best path forward

[00:39:42] to beat Angie Craig in November.

[00:39:44] Look, all I can do

[00:39:45] is do the right thing.

[00:39:47] And I think right now,

[00:39:48] handing Angie Craig

[00:39:50] an easy victory is not the right thing.

[00:39:52] And so for me, it's been

[00:39:54] an honor and a blast to meet

[00:39:56] with grassroots activists

[00:39:57] all across the district.

[00:39:58] I've learned so much

[00:40:00] and I've made lifelong friendships.

[00:40:02] It's been an amazing opportunity

[00:40:04] to do that.

[00:40:05] But at the same time,

[00:40:06] you have to walk in Chugum

[00:40:07] and I've been fighting hard

[00:40:09] for the endorsement,

[00:40:09] but I've also been building the campaign

[00:40:11] to go against Angie Craig

[00:40:13] and to actually beat her.

[00:40:14] And so on day one,

[00:40:15] I'll be ready to do that

[00:40:16] because I've been able

[00:40:17] to raise the resources

[00:40:18] to get that done.

[00:40:20] To get your message out there,

[00:40:21] you have to have the resources.

[00:40:22] And we've been doing that.

[00:40:24] We have over six hundred and sixty

[00:40:26] thousand dollars cash on hand right now.

[00:40:27] It's 10 times what my opponent has.

[00:40:30] I'm going to be able to go against Angie Craig.

[00:40:32] I know she's scared of our campaign.

[00:40:34] I know the left is scared of our campaign.

[00:40:36] I'd taken flack from a Democrat.

[00:40:39] George Soros funded Super PAC.

[00:40:41] If you're taking flack,

[00:40:43] that means you're over the target.

[00:40:44] We're over the target.

[00:40:45] They're scared of us.

[00:40:46] And I'm going to be honored to be in the fight

[00:40:48] to go against Angie Craig and beat her.

[00:40:50] We want to thank you for coming in today.

[00:40:53] And we hope that we can continue the dialogue.

[00:40:55] Where can people follow your campaign

[00:40:57] for more information?

[00:40:59] Yeah, you can definitely go to Joe for and then two dot com.

[00:41:03] So it's J O E F O R M N two dot com.

[00:41:06] Also, check me out on Twitter and Facebook

[00:41:08] and all the socials.

[00:41:09] Great. Well, thank you so much

[00:41:10] for spending some time with us today.

[00:41:11] We look forward to watching the campaign.

[00:41:13] And as always,

[00:41:14] we'd love to have you back at some point

[00:41:15] down the road to talk more about the race.

[00:41:16] But good luck.

[00:41:17] Safe travels across the second district.

[00:41:18] Thank you so much, Michael.

[00:41:19] Thank you so much.

[00:41:20] Thank you.

[00:41:21] Thank you.

[00:41:21] Bye bye.

[00:41:24] Becky, we just interviewed Joe Terab.

[00:41:27] Your take.

[00:41:28] He certainly is an impressive individual.

[00:41:31] Has his career as a prosecutor in the Marines,

[00:41:35] going through law school, very impressive.

[00:41:37] Certainly somebody who really is in it

[00:41:40] for the right reasons,

[00:41:41] looking to fight for justice and our liberties

[00:41:43] and take on Angie Craig and the Liberals.

[00:41:45] My initial take is CD2 is a beast, man.

[00:41:48] I think that it's really going to be

[00:41:50] while it is a toss up or not a toss up.

[00:41:51] It's a lean dem,

[00:41:52] but I think it's very close there, right?

[00:41:54] It's right on the fringes.

[00:41:55] And having worked there before,

[00:41:58] it's certainly there are some really blue parts

[00:42:00] and some really red parts and a lot in the middle.

[00:42:02] It's going to be a lot to take her down in general.

[00:42:06] She's got a war chest.

[00:42:07] She's got the friends.

[00:42:08] She's got all of these Hollywood elites

[00:42:10] and the Liberals, all up the wazoo,

[00:42:13] like Andrew Craig, want to see her bring her around.

[00:42:16] And the biggest thing I think that,

[00:42:18] whether it's Joe or Taylor,

[00:42:20] messaging against Angie

[00:42:22] is really going to have been trying to poke holes

[00:42:24] because her, like Joe mentioned,

[00:42:26] she is able to present herself as this nice moderate

[00:42:30] who has worked really hard and kept her head down.

[00:42:33] And so I think that there are a decent amount

[00:42:36] of voters in the second who buy into that.

[00:42:38] And so it's really going to take poking holes in that.

[00:42:41] But I think Joe, he really seems like he's ready to fight

[00:42:44] and go to the primary and be successful.

[00:42:46] Time will tell.

[00:42:47] We'll certainly have another conversation later down the line,

[00:42:50] but I understand the not going for the endorsement,

[00:42:55] not abiding and going to a primary

[00:42:57] makes sense in my head.

[00:42:59] Yeah.

[00:43:00] I guess I'm reading between the lines a bit.

[00:43:02] Your take is, I guess I'm sensing this is a big step.

[00:43:05] This isn't, this is the second congressional district

[00:43:07] you've worked, I live there,

[00:43:08] but you've worked it from an operation standpoint.

[00:43:10] This is a major league race.

[00:43:12] And so in order to be a major,

[00:43:15] in order to run in a major league race,

[00:43:17] you have to be a major league candidate.

[00:43:18] And so I think there's going to be a learning process

[00:43:22] for whoever ends up being the main candidate

[00:43:26] against Angie Craig.

[00:43:27] Is that what you're gonna say?

[00:43:28] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:43:28] And I think to be perfectly frank

[00:43:30] from my viewing of it,

[00:43:32] it appears that Taylor Rahm is going to come out

[00:43:35] with the endorsement.

[00:43:37] It appears that Joe has the fundraising lead.

[00:43:40] There are certainly different things

[00:43:41] that come with both of those things being in your back pockets.

[00:43:44] So I think we'll see how they fight it out.

[00:43:46] We'll see how if they fight a lot out against each other,

[00:43:50] if they're still fighting Angie Craig

[00:43:51] in the mix of that

[00:43:52] because that certainly as a campaign

[00:43:54] you have to look at that whole picture.

[00:43:56] You're obviously trying to get past the August primary,

[00:43:59] but you also need to be having those arrows

[00:44:02] going towards your incumbent opponent.

[00:44:04] And that's Angie Craig and she

[00:44:07] I like to wear my partisan hat as much as the next person,

[00:44:09] but she's been a pretty hard worker

[00:44:12] and seems to have well taken yes some votes

[00:44:15] that we can certainly Joe mentioned

[00:44:16] and then we can poke holes in.

[00:44:18] It from my understanding

[00:44:20] in conversations with people in the second district

[00:44:22] there's not a huge uproar against Angie Craig.

[00:44:26] Yes, she has done a very good job

[00:44:29] of positioning herself in this

[00:44:31] and Joe talked about it a bit

[00:44:33] in terms of poking some holes in that.

[00:44:34] That's going to be a messaging struggle

[00:44:36] to get that message out so people understand that.

[00:44:39] I do want to ask you about one thing

[00:44:40] which I thought was interesting.

[00:44:42] Both Ram and Terab are lawyers.

[00:44:44] Crazy.

[00:44:45] They're both lawyers, but on different sides

[00:44:46] of the spectrum and I want to share a story

[00:44:48] which I think I've shared.

[00:44:50] I know I've spoken with folks in both campaigns

[00:44:53] and I've shared this story before

[00:44:54] which is there was a state senator that I knew

[00:44:56] he's since passed away, Tom Neville

[00:44:58] was a state senator and I first met him

[00:45:01] when I worked to the Senate in 99 and 2000

[00:45:03] and I was helping on some of the incumbent races

[00:45:06] and remember him talking to me about

[00:45:08] the fact that his opponent at the time

[00:45:10] for when he was running for reelection in 2000

[00:45:13] he was being criticized about some of his past work

[00:45:16] or some of the work he was doing as a lawyer.

[00:45:19] Senator Neville at the time was a defense attorney

[00:45:22] and had done some work.

[00:45:23] And so he was frustrated

[00:45:25] that it wasn't more recognized by people in the public

[00:45:29] that the person accused of a crime has just as much

[00:45:33] it also needs to be protected in the process.

[00:45:35] And I remember having this kind of conversation

[00:45:37] when he when we talked about it and I said

[00:45:39] you have every right to choose your profession

[00:45:42] that you choose to do.

[00:45:44] It's a citizen legislature.

[00:45:45] There are jobs that exist out there

[00:45:47] that do not necessarily equate sometimes

[00:45:51] to serving in public office.

[00:45:52] And so I understand your zealous advocacy

[00:45:55] on behalf of your client,

[00:45:56] but that doesn't mean that the public loses

[00:46:00] the right to be critical about the type

[00:46:02] of cases and stuff that you worked on.

[00:46:04] And it was struggle in that kind of conversation

[00:46:06] we have for him to understand that, yes

[00:46:08] he had every right to do what he was going to do.

[00:46:11] He had every right to zealously advocate for his clients.

[00:46:13] But when you decide to zealously advocate

[00:46:15] on behalf of some clients who are not some

[00:46:19] of the best in society

[00:46:20] in terms of the crimes that they've committed

[00:46:22] that is absolutely fair game in an election cycle.

[00:46:25] And one thing that I've picked up on a bit

[00:46:28] is some questions about, I think both candidates

[00:46:31] are gonna have some discussions

[00:46:32] about their legal records.

[00:46:34] But it's clear that one campaign is somewhat sensitive

[00:46:37] and that's Rom's campaign with some of his past work

[00:46:40] that he's done as a lawyer.

[00:46:42] And I would just say not all jobs

[00:46:45] that not private work that you do in your private life

[00:46:48] does not necessarily equate

[00:46:50] and not everyone will consider the work

[00:46:53] that you do in your private life

[00:46:54] to be a net asset when you're running

[00:46:57] in a general election, is that fair to say?

[00:46:58] Yeah, everything that you do

[00:47:01] and who you are can be picked apart, right?

[00:47:03] How you spend your free time,

[00:47:04] who you spend your free time with.

[00:47:06] There's guilt by association.

[00:47:07] There's if you have some, for example,

[00:47:11] marijuana legal in the state of Minnesota.

[00:47:13] If a candidate ran under the Republican banner

[00:47:17] who openly was promoting that they like

[00:47:20] to do that in their free time, 100% okay.

[00:47:23] Not necessarily probably going to align

[00:47:25] with what folks are talking about.

[00:47:27] Now that's not, it's apples and oranges here.

[00:47:30] But I'm saying there,

[00:47:32] when you are a candidate, unfortunately or fortunately,

[00:47:35] those things can be discussed and picked on.

[00:47:37] And it appears that Joe,

[00:47:39] then the Tay-Rab campaign is using that

[00:47:42] and that's a fair thing for them to assess and criticize.

[00:47:47] I wish in this particular kind of small way

[00:47:49] that Republicans would do a better job

[00:47:51] of getting ahead of this stuff.

[00:47:52] It's something that I've said privately to folks

[00:47:54] that this is this type of material

[00:47:56] and we've seen what happens with the Democrats

[00:47:58] and how they can weaponize and this type of political stuff.

[00:48:02] And to think it's off limits,

[00:48:04] I think is a misreading of the political environment

[00:48:08] that we're in.

[00:48:09] And I think both candidates have records in the court

[00:48:12] which is interesting to see.

[00:48:14] One on the prosecutor side, one on the defense side.

[00:48:16] But both of those records are open to scrutiny

[00:48:19] and analysis by the voters.

[00:48:20] That's what happens when you run for office.

[00:48:22] Your records get litigated.

[00:48:23] So we'll see what happens

[00:48:24] but it was interesting to talk to him.

[00:48:25] Other takes that you have.

[00:48:27] Yeah, he's very likable.

[00:48:29] I do think he sounds a little green on some of the messaging.

[00:48:32] I think he needs to firm up

[00:48:33] just being a little bit more concise

[00:48:35] and thoughtful in tying some of the things together

[00:48:38] from my messaging background.

[00:48:41] But he seems like a good guy.

[00:48:42] He seems like he's got obviously got some good money

[00:48:44] in the bank has been working on that.

[00:48:46] I hope that anytime anybody is going to not abide again,

[00:48:50] we talked about this a little on the front end.

[00:48:51] It sounds like he's got good supporters around him

[00:48:54] but you certainly need to build up that system

[00:48:56] of folks who are gonna be out there working for you.

[00:48:58] And we have this convention in just a few days.

[00:49:02] As Joe mentioned, he's going to be there.

[00:49:04] He is seeking the endorsement,

[00:49:05] not abiding if he does not win.

[00:49:07] It will be interesting to see

[00:49:09] what those numbers come out as

[00:49:11] and how many ballots it may go

[00:49:13] because I've been through some brutal ones.

[00:49:15] Six rounds, 11 rounds into 2 a.m.

[00:49:18] Recoming back the next day.

[00:49:20] Usually CD conventions have a hard end cap

[00:49:23] of they either need to get an endorsement or not

[00:49:26] and it sounds like because you've already pledged

[00:49:28] to go to a primary that if it was going too long,

[00:49:30] you would just pack up and go towards the primary.

[00:49:33] So yeah, my take is one ballot

[00:49:36] and then it's off to the primary

[00:49:38] and we'll see where it goes.

[00:49:39] But we'll be covering it.

[00:49:40] We'll be breaking it down as we continue.

[00:49:42] Let's have a bet here though

[00:49:43] because I feel you can't just go one ballot, right?

[00:49:46] You got to see if you can get some movement on the second.

[00:49:48] No, I think it's a one ballot.

[00:49:49] Do you think?

[00:49:50] I think it's a one ballot.

[00:49:51] I've been saying that for quite some time

[00:49:52] that I think it's a one ballot victory

[00:49:54] which is interesting because some might listen

[00:49:56] to my analysis here and say that I've...

[00:49:58] Oh, you think it will be done?

[00:49:59] Ron will be endorsed ballot.

[00:50:01] I absolutely believe that Ron will win

[00:50:02] on the first ballot.

[00:50:03] And start polls and what I've been seeing

[00:50:05] coming out of conventions do appear.

[00:50:07] I thought you were saying that it was not gonna be done

[00:50:09] on one but that Joe would just step away.

[00:50:12] I think it's gonna be one ballot.

[00:50:13] That's decisive, thanks.

[00:50:14] I think Ron will win on the first ballot.

[00:50:15] The question is in the percentage,

[00:50:17] particularly because I think when you announce the week of

[00:50:20] you're gonna seek but not abide by the endorsement

[00:50:23] and run in the primary, that can be...

[00:50:26] There are a number of endorsement zealots.

[00:50:29] And I came into the party, my first campaign

[00:50:31] that I worked on was Bob Trish's race in 96.

[00:50:34] I started in 95.

[00:50:35] He did not abide by the endorsement.

[00:50:37] He chose to seek but not abide by the endorsement.

[00:50:40] So I've had it...

[00:50:41] My first campaign was that kind of process

[00:50:43] and I was at the last state convention

[00:50:46] where they did not reach an endorsement.

[00:50:47] There were some bureaucratic issues

[00:50:48] that happened at the convention.

[00:50:50] The party changed the rules to allow that

[00:50:52] but at the 1996 endorsing convention

[00:50:55] there was no candidate endorsed for the United States Senate.

[00:50:57] I later had jobs at the party

[00:50:59] and worked at the party where my job was to enforce

[00:51:01] the endorsement process,

[00:51:02] particularly when I was a party officer,

[00:51:04] both at the local and state level.

[00:51:05] But my positioning on the endorsement process has evolved.

[00:51:08] And this is the exact type of situation.

[00:51:10] I understand that there are passionate people these days

[00:51:14] that in 2024 that desperately want people

[00:51:16] to abide by the endorsement

[00:51:18] but my messaging on that hasn't changed

[00:51:19] which is show me how the endorsement process

[00:51:22] is helping in particular in these statewide

[00:51:24] or in these swing districts,

[00:51:26] these highly targeted districts,

[00:51:27] how that endorsement process is working.

[00:51:29] And in this particular instance, I don't think it is.

[00:51:32] Just my last comment on this is

[00:51:34] I've also worked on, so I worked help it with

[00:51:37] Scott Honor who ran for governor in 2014.

[00:51:39] He went down to the convention in Rochester,

[00:51:41] did a press conference saying,

[00:51:43] I'm not going for the endorsement.

[00:51:45] I'm going straight to a primary.

[00:51:47] Was unsuccessful in the primary.

[00:51:49] Mike McFadden was a little bit of a trailblazer

[00:51:51] in the I'm going to be seeking

[00:51:54] but not abiding by the endorsement.

[00:51:56] And I was working on his endorsement team as well

[00:51:58] and then on staff as his press secretary.

[00:52:01] And he is one, he went in and he worked tirelessly

[00:52:05] for three days.

[00:52:06] That was one that we closed out at 2 a.m. I think

[00:52:09] and came back the next morning was chaos.

[00:52:11] He did even though he said that he was not gonna abide

[00:52:14] did come out on top and receive that endorsement

[00:52:17] in 2014 for Senate against Franken obviously

[00:52:20] would not successful in that general.

[00:52:22] But one nugget I want to say about that is

[00:52:25] I love the one thing I love about politics

[00:52:27] are the relationships and friendships

[00:52:28] and that McFadden 2014, two of the guys

[00:52:31] on that endorsement team are both on opposite sides

[00:52:34] of this battle in CD2.

[00:52:35] So it's always funny to see as things break down

[00:52:38] and see as they come back around.

[00:52:39] But it will be this weekend is also CD7.

[00:52:42] So we'll have lots of big CD conventions to watch

[00:52:45] will be coming back I think around

[00:52:46] and talking more about CD7 and Otter Tail

[00:52:49] and some of the chaos again, the disruptors

[00:52:51] that can be within the delegates

[00:52:53] and the party apparatus.

[00:52:55] Good folks, bad folks, they will be interesting to watch.

[00:52:58] Thanks for doing this.

[00:52:59] Have a good one.

[00:53:02] We wanna thank you for listening to this bonus episode

[00:53:05] of the breakdown with Broadcom and Becky.

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[00:53:18] The breakdown with Broadcom and Becky

[00:53:19] will return this week with a new episode.

[00:53:22] Thank you again for joining us.