Republican U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who serves as Senate majority leader, traveled to Minnesota Tuesday to join Michele Tafoya for a series of campaign stops as polling continues to show a tight race for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Thune and Tafoya visited Cambria, where they met with company leadership and workers before participating in an agricultural roundtable with farmers hosted by the Minnesota Farm Bureau, which has endorsed Tafoya’s campaign. The visit also included a fundraiser for Tafoya’s campaign that raised nearly $300,000.
“The best farm policy comes from producers, from people who are actually out there making a living on the farm,” Thune said during a press conference at Pfarr Family Farm in Le Sueur. “We can have all these meetings in Washington as we’re talking about policy, but there’s no substitute for getting out and hearing firsthand from the people who are actually out there producing the food and fiber that feeds and clothes and fuels our world.”
Thune said securing year-round E15 remains one of his priorities as Congress works on a new farm bill, calling it “enormously helpful and important.”
“If you want to see fuel costs go down, create more supply of fuel, and we can do that with E15,” Thune said.
Thune also used the trip to highlight growing national Republican interest in Minnesota’s Senate contest.
He acknowledged that Minnesota is not often thought of as a state where Republican candidates have “a great opportunity for success.” This year, however, Republicans “have an extraordinary candidate” while Democrats have “nominated somebody that is so far left on the political spectrum and owns all of the polices of this previous administration.”
“If you’re a voter of Minnesota and you care at all about good government, the level of fraud that’s been part of the Walz-Flanagan administration has been second to none,” he said. “I think a lot of voters here in Minnesota are going to want to see that cleaned up.”
When asked if national Republicans plan to invest more financially in Tafoya’s campaign, Thune said it’s “something we hope to see happen.”
“We have strong candidates across the country, like Michele Tafoya, working to strengthen our Senate Republican majority. The contrast couldn’t be clearer between our policies and those of the radical left,” Thune said in a statement to Alpha News.
Tafoya is facing DFL Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in one of Minnesota’s most competitive races this election cycle. Five consecutive polls have shown the contest within the margin of error.
“We have a message of fresh leadership. We have a message of getting rid of the fraud, waste and abuse that the Walz-Flanagan administration oversaw, and there’s no getting around that,” Tafoya commented.
“It means a lot to me personally, but I think it also should be a signal to the state, and really to the country, that this is a race that is national, and people are watching,” she said of Thune’s visit.
Symone Harms
Symone Harms is a Media Production and Business Marketing student at Bethel University. She is actively involved in The Royals Investment Fund, The 25, theatre, and other leadership positions. She also cohosts Rooted, a podcast dedicated to being rooted in truth, growing in freedom, and prospering in life. A Minnesota native with a passion for storytelling and digital media, she aspires to a career in broadcasting as a news anchor and reporter.
