By Trey Mewes

The Mankato Free Press

NORTH MANKATO — As Dan Feehan sees it, people need to get involved if they want things to improve.

That ‘s what the 34-year-old North Mankato resident says motivated him to join the Army, teach math to middle school students, work for the Department of Defense and ultimately work as the acting assistant secretary of defense. It’s also what’s motivating the Democrat to run for U.S. Rep. Tim Walz’s 1st Congressional District seat next year. Walz is running for governor.

Feehan formally announced his candidacy Monday.

“I have been serving Minnesota in a way my whole life,” Feehan said in an interview last week. “I would just like to do it now from my home, in my home state.”

Feehan was born in St. Paul and grew up in Red Wing. He served in the military from 2005 to 2009, which included two tours in Iraq. He also served in the Illinois National Guard from 2009 to 2011 and earned the rank of captain. He became a fellow in the White House under former President Barack Obama in 2013 and was later nominated as a deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Yet his recent move to North Mankato drew attention from Democrats and skepticism from Republicans who claim Feehan is a carpetbagger — a candidate who moves into an area without any local ties. He has also been accused of being recruited by Democrats in Washington, D.C., to run for office in a politically purple district that almost swung Republican in last year’s election.

Those critics are wrong, according to Feehan. He decided to run earlier this year on his own and spoke with Democratic Party officials to weigh his options.

In addition, Feehan has relatives in the area and used to come to North Mankato as a child, which played a large part in his family’s decision to move here.

Feehan said he developed an interest in public service when he was small. He remembers being in a Fourth of July parade about 30 years ago when his father, Patrick Feehan, tried to run for Congress, and how his mother explained they were riding for his father while his father tried to work for others.

“It’s such a simple, beautiful concept that I’ve carried with me everywhere I go,” he said. “It was that inspiration that I want my kids to have. I want my two sons raised here in southern Minnesota just like I was, just to get those values.”

Feehan is focusing on three main issues as a congressional candidate — health care, national security and economic growth.

While Feehan believes the U.S. will eventually turn to universal health care coverage similar to other countries, he thinks Congress needs to make small but necessary steps to improve health care rather than repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

“As a policymaker, your first principle is ‘Do no harm,’” he said. “So you have to diagnose the problems selectively and make sure if you’re going to make changes and you’re going to make reforms, it has to be targeted.”

That could mean efforts to further expand Medicaid, lower Medicare’s age eligibility and lower the cost of prescription drugs, among other things.

Feehan also supports more federal workforce retraining programs to fill open jobs in skilled industries, as well as initiatives to ensure veterans take advantage of educational opportunities offered by federal programs. He’d also like to see more attention paid to the U.S. agricultural industry and fewer barriers for younger workers to become farmers.

The former defense adviser wants Congress to have more of a say in the nation’s use of armed force. Feehan advocates for Congress to reauthorize military action each year and for more strategic direction from the Trump administration.

“I think first and foremost the role of civilian leadership in the U.S. government is to answer questions of strategy,” Feehan said. “And that is a role, I believe, is not being done right now. What is the end state we are trying to achieve?”

Feehan will vie for the Democratic nod in next year’s race against at least four other competitors: former state Sen. Vicki Jensen, of Owatonna, John Austinson, of Eyota, Johnny Akzam, of Rochester and Colin Minehart, of Albert Lea. Joe Sullivan, of Mankato, is reportedly weighing a run, and at least eight more competitors across the district are exploring a campaign for the Democratic nod.

“Twenty years ago, we’d be begging for candidates,” said Jim Hepworth, vice chair for the 1st Congressional District DFL. “It doesn’t seem like we have that problem now.”

Feehan hopes to show residents he can be a leader in an extreme political climate. He said he plans to tour the region and earn respect from people on both sides of the aisle.

“You have to be able to grind it out with people who are not seeing eye to eye with you,” he said. “I’ve never achieved anything in life with like-minded people. You have to be able to compromise, you have to be able to find common ground.”

—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.