Rachel Bohman, DFL's endorsed 1st District candidate, disputes being a sacrificial lamb (2024)

ROCHESTER — Sacrificial lamb or long-shot candidate?

As the DFL-endorsed candidate to run against GOP Brad Finstad, Rachel Bohman will compete for a congressional seat that has often been a battleground.

Not so much these days. Represented equally by both DFLers (Tim Walz, Tim Penny) and Republicans (Jim Hagedorn, Gil Gutknecht) over the decades, the largely rural district has turned a darker shade of red within the last couple of election cycles.

Even though President Joe Biden won the state comfortably in 2020, Donald Trump bested Biden by 10% points in the 1st District. And even though the DFL swept all statewide offices in 2022, including governor, not a single DFL candidate won the 1st District.

It explains why DFL candidates with greater name recognition shied away from taking on Finstad, who was often more preoccupied with a challenge from his right flank than from the center in his first full term. In an interview, Bohman said she is getting no help from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political committee that supports Democratic candidates in their bids for the House.

Bohman chuckled when asked whether she is taking one for the team. She argues that elections are typically referendums on the incumbent and that Finstad, who ran as a moderate and, once in Congress, has voted as an “ultra-conservative," is vulnerable.

Finstad voted against a stopgap bill to keep the government open during a budgetary impasse, Bohman said. He voted against a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that would have brought nine clean water projects to the district. He opposed additional funding to Ukraine in its war with Russia. She says that Finstad holds “extreme views on women’s reproductive health” by co-sponsoring a bill that defines human life as beginning at conception and that, if passed, would create a nationwide abortion ban.

Bohman also cites a Washington Examiner article that put Finstad in a three-way tie as the least effective member in Congress.

“I believe that this district deserves better. And I’m certainly willing to communicate that across the district,” Bohman said.

A former Rochester Township Board elected official and assistant county attorney, Bohman said her work in public service springs from her own hardscrabble upbringing. Raised in Rochester by a single mom who at times struggled with addiction, Bohman grew up poor. Her family didn’t have a TV, a dining room table or a car and lived off public assistance.

Aspiring for a better life, her mom earned a degree at what was then called Rochester Technical School and worked at Mayo Clinic for a while. Bohman also saw education as the ticket to a better life, attending the University of Minnesota and William Mitchell College of Law.

Bohman is the first woman to run for Congress in the 1st District in 24 years. Mary Rieder ran in 2000.

“Growing up the way that I did, I always remembered what this community did for our family,” Bohman said. “The community gave us extra rides, gave us Christmas gifts. We had food baskets at the holidays from generous donors. And to me, that is what always reminded me of the good in our community. And I, through my education, wanted to create a better life for myself, but I always wanted to make sure that I paid it forward.”

PB: Why are you running for Congress?

Bohman: I’m running because, again, the community when I was growing up in the conditions that I had … I will never forget the kindness and generosity of our community. I know that we are a much stronger community when we work together. I really believe that. So I want to bring that across the district.

Does it concern you that you are not getting support from DCCC?

It does not, because I believe that this district really wants somebody who can work across party lines. I believe that running is about serving our community, and it’s less about walking hard party lines. And to the extent that I can run as a person who is willing to work with people in a bipartisan way, I want to do that as much as possible.

One thing that distinguished the two DFLers who once represented the 1st District, Tim Walz and Tim Penny, was their views on guns. They were unabashed Second Amendment supporters. Where do you stand on gun control measures?

I support reasonable gun violence prevention measures like background checks and assault weapons bans for the safety of our children, our first responders and all of us. I also support the rights of responsible gun owners and hunters to practice their Second Amendment rights.

If you read the news about the economy, it is at a two-year high. News is generally good about job creation. But Biden’s handling of the economy remains low, the high 30s. Why do you think that is true?

I can’t speak on how people feel about Biden. One of the things I love about running in this race is that I get to run as a person for a different body than the president. Congress is independent of the president, and I am excited to run on my own issues.

Some of the things that I’m hearing from individual voters is the cost of groceries. Farmers are producing the goods, but their prices are being driven higher due to larger corporations. And so I do have some concerns about how that impacts the consumers and the farmers. So that’s just one issue. I hear about health care. I hear about child care. I hear about agriculture. So I think the economy in and of itself is, especially in this district, encompassing many different areas where people are feeling drained or feeling like they just can’t seem to make it.

If you were elected, what would be the first bill that you would seek to pass that symbolizes a priority of yours?

We need to pass a bipartisan farm bill for our district. And unlike my opponent, who’s been sitting on the agricultural committee and has failed to do that and didn’t support reauthorization of the farm bill as well, I believe that our agricultural community needs to have some reassurance and some direction for future farming and planning.

I wanted to ask you a foreign policy question that has a domestic element. College campuses were convulsed with protesters recently over what they say is the genocidal treatment of Palestinians. President Biden said he’s withholding large weapons, so they can be used if Israel attacks the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. But Congress just passed legislation meant to supply and support Israel in its war with Hamas. Where do you stand in terms of Biden’s handling of Israel?

It’s a very complicated issue. I would say, I really respected what the Republican House Speaker (Mike Johnson) did. He put his job on the line. He really felt like those foreign aid packages were needed. And I really commend the speaker in his work on that and grateful that he was able to lead the body through that important funding.