Jeff Ettinger reflects on campaign for Congress

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Congressional Candidate Jeff Ettinger spoke with KEYC’s Jared Dean about Tuesday’s special primary election.

Jared Dean: “Thank you for joining me tonight. Mr. Ettinger, talk to me a little bit about what is going on in your head tonight.”

Jeff Ettinger: “Jared, good to see you again. I’m just excited to hear what the voters have to say. We’ve been hard at it for a couple of months here in the second stage of the election, traveling all over the district and talking to lots of voters. But tonight’s the night we’ll get to see what the report card is for both the special general final here and also our primary for November.”

JD: “When you’re going around southern Minnesota talking with voters, what are some of the most important topics that you’re hearing that needs to be covered in Washington?”

JE: “There is a great deal of concern, I hear, from voters about the state of our democracy. They’ve been watching the January 6 hearings this summer and are concerned that there are races all over the country where people are running with almost the express purpose of getting in the way of the will of the voters next time. And so that is a major problem, and it was one that our own district played a part in because Congressman Hagedorn refused to certify the election last time.”

JD: “What sorts of lessons are you hoping to take from the last few months into this term if you do win tonight?”

JE: “I mean, I think the notion that people really are looking they recognize that we have some challenges in our country and are looking for things to get done. And so whether it’s joining a group like the problem solvers caucus that I’ve heard about from Congressman Dean Phillips, where 28 Republicans, 28 Democrats and really trying to look at things on a more bipartisan basis, but just when you get things done on a local basis, this often you don’t even care what the partisan background is of your neighbor. And so that could work, I think, better in Washington as well, and it certainly fits the southern Minnesota mold.”

JD: The last question for you here today, Jeff, I’ll give you the floor here. Is there anything else that you want to say as a message to the voters, what this experience has been like, or anything at all?”

JE: “I mean, I ran as somebody who had not been in politics before to provide voters with a choice of somebody who could go to Washington and be a change agent, who could bring a less partisan approach but have a real track record of getting things done. So I’m hoping that’s going to resonate with voters, and I look forward to having that opportunity to do just that for them.

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