Photo by Clay Schuldt Jeff Ettinger poses outside of the New Ulm Journal office on Thursday.

NEW ULM — Jeff Ettinger, the DFL candidate for Minnesota’s First Congressional District, visited New Ulm Thursday.

Ettinger previously served as CEO of Hormel Foods and now leads the Hormel Foundation. Earlier this year, Ettinger announced his campaign for the U.S. Congress. He currently traveling across the district speaking with constituents and said the top three issues he hears about the most are the economy, individual rights and protecting democracy.

On the economy, Ettinger said it is a mixed situation. There is low unemployment but inflation is high and creating challenges for a lot of people.

Early in his campaign, Ettinger released a list of 10 actions to help with inflation. All ten actions can be found on his campaign website.

A few were enacted already this summer including tapping into the strategic oil reserve and allowing the sale of E15 blended gas all year.

The inflation reduction act bill that passed in August allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs and create incentives to expand green energy options.

Ettinger said because he was unsuccessful in the special election, he could not vote on the inflation reduction act. Instead his opponent. Brad Finstad, voted against it.

“From the people I talk to in the district, a lot of them value a number of things in that bill, but that was a decision [Finstad] made.”

Going forward, Ettinger believed greater competition would combat inflation. He supported Senator Amy Klobuchar’s antitrust bill that would restore competition in crucial industries. Ettinger pointed to the tech companies that sprang up and then got bought up by a few companies. These companies also collect personal information, which he finds troubling.

On individual rights, Ettinger said abortion has been front and center with the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court. He said there is a general concern among Minnesotans that their rights could be taken away from people and turn some into criminals for decisions they make in their private lives. To take something that had been a right for 50 years and take it away, was alarming to many people.

Ettinger said ultimately the best solution is to codify Roe v. Wade into law, which he supports.

In protecting democracy, the top concern was voting rights. Ettinger said it was important to make sure votes were counted and not nullified by fake electors and refusals to certify elections.

Ettinger called the district’s late Congressman Jim Hagedorn’s vote to not certify the 2020 Presidential Election an appalling decision.

In the special election earlier this year, Ettinger lost to Finstad by 4% of the vote (around 5,000 votes) but said he never considered challenging the results. He did not feel it was necessary to challenge the integrity of his neighbors who volunteer to be election officials.

Ettinger called the Minnesota candidates who are still claiming the 2020 election was stolen are ridiculous. He specifically called out Republican candidate for Secretary of State, Kim Crockett for her false accusations of election rigging and Republican governor candidate Scott Jensen’s repeated calls to jail current Secretary of State Steve Simon over unsubstantiated election fraud claims.

“To me, it really steps over the line to undermine people’s faith in democracy like that,” Ettinger said.

Ettinger said he had met people who have already voted this year through the early voting system and they appreciate the option. There are parts of the district that have to vote by mail because there is no precinct and it has worked fine for years in Minnesota and other states without incident.

Ettinger supports the changes to the Electoral Count Act, sponsored by Sen. Klobuchar. The act overhauls the presidential vote certification process, putting the vice president’s role in the certification process as ministerial, without power to accept, reject or ajudicate disputes over electors. This act passed through the committee 14-to-1 with bipartisan support. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has even indicated support for the change.

Ettinger also supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

November’s election is a repeat of the special election held in August with Ettinger and Finstad running for the seat. Finstad won the special election a few months ago. Ettinger was asked what has changed in the last few months.

He acknowledged the special election kicked off a gauntlet of elections, but in November the turnout is expected to be higher. Ettinger said primary elections bring out fewer voters. In November, all the college campuses will be back in session, which he has visited.

The district has also changed with redistricting. Le Suer County is no longer in 1st Minnesota while gaining Goodhue and Red Wing.

Ettinger said in the previous elections, there was not much on the ballot to bring people to the polls. In November, several races will be on the ballot, including the governor’s race, which should increase interest.

Ettinger said a staunch conservative is probably not going to vote for him, but during this campaign, he has met people across the district who are in middle politically. He has also met people who describe themselves as Republicans but not Trump Republicans. Many do not like the direction the party has gone.

Ettinger feels it is important to campaign everywhere. If a candidate can gain 5% or 10% in communities where they don’t perform well, that can make a difference and is a philosophy of his campaign.

“I am running as a non-politician, as someone who has been a business and community leader,” Ettinger said. “Southern Minnesota has been a purple area for years. Southern Minnesota could be a leader in Congress in the sense it provided a less partisan approach. I think I could provide that.”

The mid-term election is Tuesday, November 8.