Tag: Jeff Johnson

EXCLUSIVE: MyPillow’s Mike Lindell Opens Up About Trump, Crack, ‘Evil’ Ellison, and More

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Mike Lindell

Mike Lindell, founder and CEO of MyPillow, first met President Donald Trump the summer before the 2016 election. “When I met him, I go: ‘Wow, there’s nobody on this planet I’d rather have be my president than Donald Trump,’” he told The Minnesota Sun, a state-focused news site that, like The Tennessee Star, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Star News Digital Media. Lindell was launched into the political scene after that summer meeting when he came out in support of then-candidate Trump. “First of all, let me get it straight. I was never a politician. I didn’t know a conservative from a liberal before I met Donald Trump,” he said in an interview. “I went all-in to back him and to get behind him to be our president. That’s when I actually had to learn what liberal is and what conservatism was. I had to learn all this.” Since then, Lindell has doubled-down on his support for the president, and has done so proudly. The MyPillow founder was recently chastised on social media for refusing to pull his advertisements from Laura Ingraham’s Fox News show. “I didn’t back down. I advertise across the board,” Lindell said, noting that he’s…

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Minnesota Politicians Invade State Fair, But Voters Want to Leave Politics At Home

Anthony Gockowski
Tom Walz, Jeff Johnson

Each year, the Minnesota State Fair looks more and more like a political convention, but this year fair-goers seem to have had enough of the politicization of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. Both major parties, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party and the state GOP, have booths at the fair with their respective candidates for elected office campaigning all day long throughout the fairgrounds. DFL candidate for governor Rep. Tim Walz and his running mate Peggy Flanagan chronicled their adventures at the fair on Twitter, posting of video of Walz delivering “Sweet Martha’s Cookies” to the GOP booth. “Minnesotans can show this nation that our politics doesn’t need to be narrow and divisive. It can be inclusive, it can be hopeful, it can be visionary, and it can be about one Minnesota gathering together,” Walz said to a crowd of fair-goers. Kicking off the Minnesota State Fair with a visit to the @MinnesotaDFL booth! Together, we can make our vision for #OneMinnesota a reality. pic.twitter.com/Tg52inyLEG — Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 23, 2018 Walz’s opponent, Republican Jeff Johnson, is also making his presence known at the annual gathering, which broke its opening day attendance record Thursday with 122,695 Minnesotans in attendance. “Excited to be…

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Republican Jeff Johnson Closing In On Tim Walz In Minnesota Governor’s Race

Anthony Gockowski
Jeff Johnson, Tim Walz

The latest poll out of Suffolk University shows that Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Johnson (pictured, left) trails his opponent Rep. Tim Walz (pictured, right) by only five points in the race for Minnesota’ governorship. The poll, conducted between August 17 and August 20, surveyed 500 Minnesotans on their opinions of candidates running in the upcoming gubernatorial and senatorial races, all of which are guaranteed to be high-stakes races for the typically blue state. Recurring physical and mental health issues have sidelined Gov. Mark Dayton, who will not seek reelection, leaving the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party endorsement open for Rep. Tim Walz, who is leading Johnson by a small margin of five points, according to Suffolk. In the governor’s race, Minnesota voters ranked healthcare as the most important issue facing the state, with gun control measures placing near the bottom at just 4.8 percent. The economy and taxes both tied for second at 16 percent. Among those polled, 47 percent answered that they are “extremely interested” in the race,” while another 32 percent responded that they are “very interested.” 90 percent of respondents said they will “almost certainly” vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Looking at the two Senate races in Minnesota,…

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VP Pence Will Return to Minnesota, Highlighting High-Stakes Election for Republicans

Anthony Gockowski
Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence plans to return to Minnesota for the second time in one month, highlighting the unusual importance of the consistently blue state for the 2018 elections. On August 8, both Pence and President Trump visited Duluth, Minn. to campaign for Pete Stauber, a candidate for the state’s Eighth Congressional District who won last week’s primary. Republican Party of Minnesota Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan announced Pence’s return in an August 20 press release, expressing her excitement to welcome him back. “This election cycle, the future of our country and state are on the line and its a priority of the MN GOP to send more Republicans to Washington DC to support the President’s agenda,” Carnahan remarked. She went on to point out the high-stakes nature of Minnesota for Republicans in the 2018 election, calling it an “election year unlike any we have seen since perhaps the late 1970s.” “We look forward to supporting our current administration and carrying them through to the 2020 election,” she added. As indicated by Carnahan’s statement, the state GOP has stood by the Trump administration on the campaign trail, perhaps explaining former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s upset loss to Jeff Johnson in the primaries.…

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Johnson and Walz Spar Over Taxes, Refugee Resettlement In First Minnesota Gubernatorial Debates

Anthony Gockowski
MN Governor Debate

It’s been just one week since Rep. Tim Walz and Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson won their respective primaries, but the two are already hitting the debate circuit in their race for Minnesota’s governor seat. On Friday, the two went head-to-head in front of a live audience in Nisswa, Minn., showing right off the bat that the fundamental differences between the two candidacies will come down to taxes and diversity-related issues. Johnson, on the one hand, promised not to raise a single tax, prompting his opponent Walz to criticize him for closing “the door on any potential negotiation.” He put himself “in a box that does not allow you ideologically to have that discussion,” Walz suggested. While both agreed that costs of healthcare in the state are too high, their visions of a solution were far different. Walz expressed support for a single-payer healthcare system, while Johnson favored a free-market solution. “I don’t believe that as governor I should be able to tell someone that if you think limited coverage is best for you, I know better. Let’s give people more options and choice,” Johnson commented, though Walz retorted by revealing that he believes “healthcare is a basic human right.”…

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In Upset Over Pawlenty, Johnson Will Face Off Against Dem Walz in Minnesota Gubernatorial Race

Anthony Gockowski
Jeff Johnson, Tim Walz

After a shocking upset over former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Republican nominee Jeff Johnson is set to face off against Rep. Tim Walz in the Minnesota gubernatorial contest. Pawlenty, the last Republican to occupy the Governor’s mansion, failed to secure the nomination from the state party, but vastly outspent the Hennepin County commissioner in his bid for his old job. Throughout the campaign, Pawlenty struggled to distance himself from his criticism of President Trump, previously calling him “unhinged and unfit.” Although Johnson had issues of his own with Trump, he managed to position himself as the Trump-favorite along the campaign trail, earning the president’s “total endorsement” after his Tuesday night win. “Jeff Johnson of Minnesota had a big night in winning the Republican nomination for Governor against a very strong and well known opponent. Thanks for all the support you showed me,” Trump tweeted. “You have my complete and total endorsement. You will win in November!” Jeff Johnson of Minnesota had a big night in winning the Republican nomination for Governor against a very strong and well known opponent! Thanks for all of the support you showed me. You have my complete and total Endorsement. You will win in November! —…

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