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To Editor, Austin Daily Herald

Brad Finstad showed us how little he cares about his constituents on a regular basis with his votes in Congress that are against the interests of the 1st District. Last week, he voted to shut down the government because he couldn’t get his way. This is not good governing. It is stubborn and selfish. Government shutdowns negatively impact all of us, not just those whose lives are turned upside down by losing income. Critical infrastructure projects would have been halted, national parks closed, social security impacted, just to name a few. Brad doesn’t care.

He continues to submit to whatever Trump wants. He voted against a strong bi-partisan bill that would have helped solve the southern border crisis that he says he is so worried about because it was what Trump asked for. He voted against support for Ukraine, even though all reputable world leaders recognize that if Ukraine falls, we are setting the stage for Putin to invade other countries like Poland.

Now, Trump wants to impose new tariffs on imports from other countries, especially China. A recent study by North Dakota State University found that our farmers’ exports would be drastically impacted by as much as a 67% drop or more than a $15 billion loss. (MN Star Tribune, October 3, 2024) Much of our region’s soybean crop goes to China, but Brad doesn’t care.

We deserve a representative who cares about the citizens of the district. Rachel Bowman has pledged to have field offices in our communities and to hold town halls to hear input from all citizens. Brad only cares about photo ops. Even Hagedorn held town halls.

I encourage you to look closely at Finstad’s voting record and see for yourself that he does not represent our district as it deserves to be represented. We need someone who will listen to us.

Sue Grove

Austin, MN