Democrat Joe Radinovich collected unemployment benefits despite earning a nearly six-figure income in the same year, according to financial filings.
A recent financial disclosure form shows Radinovich collected over $2,700 in unemployment benefits in 2017. In the same year, Radinovich earned over $96,000 in other income including $87,500 from his stint managing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s campaign.
Radinovich, a Democrat, is in a competitive race to represent Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District. Republican Pete Stauber has pulled ahead, with a recent New York Times poll showing Stauber leading by 15 percentage points.
Caroline Tarwid, the spokesperson for Stauber’s campaign, called out Radinovich for taking unemployment, saying he wasn’t laid off from his job but instead is a career politician bouncing from political job to political job at the taxpayer’s expense.
“Whether he is voting to increase taxes by $2 billion on Minnesotan families or taking taxpayer-funded unemployment payments the same time he was making almost $100,000, Joe has a history of taking from people in need,” said Tarwid. “Joe thought his short, one-term tenure in St. Paul entitled him to taking unemployment insurance from Minnesotans who are actually experiencing hardships, not just getting kicked out of the Capitol by your voters.”
As Alpha News previously reported, Radinovich is not shying away from his vote in favor of a $2.1 billion tax increase as a state legislator. When called out on his history of supporting tax hikes in a recent debate, Radinovich said he is “guilty as charged.” Radinovich praised the bill as a tax on the wealthy, saying it impacted those who could “afford the most to pay a little more.”
Alpha News reached out to the Radinovich campaign for comment on Radinovich collecting unemployment benefits. The campaign did not respond prior to publication.
