Republican Jennifer Carnahan is hoping to follow an all-too-familiar path to Congress, but with a twist.
Electing the widow of a recently deceased congressman to the House of Representatives is an American tradition. Cue Carnahan’s run for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, which opened unexpectedly in February when her husband, Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn, died after a bout with cancer. But unlike many in Carnahan’s position who have run for office in the ensuing special election, the 45-year-old congressional candidate has enjoyed a political career and profile all her own.
Carnahan is the former chairwoman of the Minnesota Republican Party, a position she held for more than four years before being pushed out under controversial circumstances last summer. In that role, Carnahan was a ubiquitous presence on television and radio promoting and defending the party, conservative policies, and former President Donald Trump. And she was a mainstay on the fundraising circuit on behalf of the Minnesota Republican Party.
In other words, Carnahan’s candidacy in the special primary in the rural, southern district is not her first foray into politics, and she, theoretically at least, has more to offer voters in this Republican-leaning House than the comfort of family ties to the politician they lost earlier this year. “People know me,” Carnahan told the Washington Examiner in recent days. “They know I was on the front lines fighting for President Trump.”
“People know the work ethic that I have and know I’m there for the grassroots and the people of the district,” she continued, adding, for good measure: “I’ve never been afraid to go after the Left or call out the media for their extreme positions.”
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Carnahan spent 15 years in marketing and strategy for Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Minnesota before opening a woman’s clothing boutique and becoming more active in politics. She was born in South Korea but raised in Minnesota after being adopted by her American parents, and that part of her story has had a deep impact on her approach to politics, and really, on her decision to immerse herself in politics.
“I’ve had so many opportunities in my life, through hard work, to live the American dream, and I’m running for Congress because I feel we’re at a point where we’re seeing a complete transformation of this country and our freedom is very fragile,” she said. And exactly why does Carnahan believe “our freedom” is in such a delicate state? “One area of concern is what we’re seeing with our children in schools.”
The Left, Carnahan argues, promotes an ideology that declares that “the color of our skin determines our outcome in life. … That’s not the American dream — that’s a far-left ideology that’s manipulating our children.” She added, “What our country is founded on is that no matter what your beginnings are … anybody can accomplish anything.”
The special primary in the vacant 1st District is set for May 24, with the special general election scheduled for Aug. 9.
To win the nomination, Carnahan is going to have to get past a crowded primary field that includes state legislator Jeremy Munson, who has been racking up endorsements from prominent Republicans such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill. The circumstances surrounding Carnahan’s exit from the Minnesota Republican Party might also present something of a challenge.
Carnahan had recently been elected to a third, two-year term as the Minnesota GOP’s chairwoman before she left the post on the heels of a Republican donor with whom she was close being indicted on federal charges of child sex trafficking. Carnahan’s departure raised eyebrows further when it was revealed that the state party paid her a $38,000 severance. But Carnahan insists the story has been purposely manipulated and mischaracterized by her political opponents.
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“It was the drive-by media and establishment Republicans working to take down a good person like myself,” Carnahan said. “It was a complete smear job.”
“It was done very maliciously and calculated — which was unfortunate,” she added. “I am proud of my chairmanship.”
