Pro-Trump former Minnesota GOP chair Jennifer Carnahan running for late husband’s House seat

Jennifer Carnahan, the wife of the late Minnesota Rep. Jim Hagedorn and former Minnesota Republican Party president, announced Monday that she is running for Congress to fill the vacant seat when she died last month.

“While my heart is still heavy after Jim’s death, the encouragement I have received from all over Southern Minnesota has inspired me to continue his current legacy to complete the rest of his tenure,” he said. said Carnahan in a statement. “In the last few weeks before his death, Jim told me to keep going, to keep on achieving my dreams, and to win that seat.”

“I am committed to continuing my husband’s legacy of fighting to secure the border, uphold conservative values, safeguard the integrity of our election, and serve the people of the first district of the Minnesota Congress,” she added.

Hagedorn died February 17th. He announced that he had kidney cancer in July 2021 and was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in January after testing positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Tim Walz has scheduled a special election primary on May 24, and special elections will be held on August 9 to fill the remainder of Hagedorn’s term. Voters will select a candidate to represent the district for a full term during the November general election.

Jennifer Carnahan became president of the Minnesota Republican Party in 2017 and resigned in August after her close partner and GOP donor Anton Lazzaro was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. According to CBS Minnesota, there were also allegations of a toxic work environment at the party and allegations that Carnahan ignored allegations of sexual harassment by his staff. Carnahan has denied the allegations and said he was not aware of Lazzaro’s alleged criminal behavior.

There are at least eight more Republican candidates and six Democrats running in the race to replace Hagedorn. The district extends over much of southern Minnesota, bordering Iowa. Hagedorn was elected in 2018, changing the district from Democrat to Republican. Prior to the election of Hagedorn, the district was represented by Walz, who is currently the Democratic governor of Minnesota.

“Like President Trump, I am a businesswoman and a fighter,” Carnahan said in a statement. “Here in Minnesota, I broke the status quo and returned to the Republican Party. Now, I’m asking for the support of southern Minnesota to do the same in Washington.”