High school math teacher seeks to win US House seat in Minnesota by emphasizing affordability

His father was a garbage collector and his mother read meters for the local gas company. They relied on food stamps for groceries and Medicaid for healthcare. When it was time for Johnson to go to college, Pell grants and Stafford loans helped him pay the bill.

“We were broke,” Johnson said. “I got to grow up living what I thought was an American dream, where you work hard and a lot of people invest in you.”

It’s this upbringing that pushed Johnson to run for Congress, trying to take back a US House seat that hasn’t been held by a Democrat since 2018, when Tim Walz vacated it to run for governor.

The congressional district is one of 44 across the country that Democrats say are “in play” in the midterms as the party seeks to gain a majority in Congress. And Johnson is one of a handful of Democratic candidates with a background in the labor movement who are trying to connect with workers frustrated with the economy.

A former member of the bargaining team and a government relations coordinator with Education Minnesota, the state’s teacher union, Johnson said he’s advocated for increased benefits for teachers and fought to prevent school closures through his union.

“To me, a lot of the great things that happen in public schools happen because of unions. We’re the ones fighting for smaller class sizes. We’re the ones fighting for reasonable wages,” Johnson said. “That’s happening because of teachers’ unions. We’re the ones that are raising the bar as far as teacher quality.”

Johnson is running against incumbent Republican Brad Finstad, who has held the seat since 2022, and he is trying to convince voters that Finstad has supported policies that have hurt them. Trump’s tariffs have especially caused a surge in prices, Johnson said, in the predominantly rural district that he says is the ninth most agriculturally productive in the US.

“A huge piece of affordability is ending the tariffs and rebuilding our export markets and lowering input costs for our farmers, small businesses and families,” Johnson said, adding that the Iran war has also increased fertilizer costs. “We’ve already got farmers who are planning ahead for the fall going, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get my fertilizer preordered for next season.’”

He also argued healthcare cuts by the Trump administration, from cutting Medicare and Medicaid to slashing research, have greatly affected the district as it is home to the Mayo Clinic medical center.

“Healthcare cuts have been particularly pronounced here. We have felt it acutely. We’ve had to close four clinics in our district alone,” he said.

Johnson also criticized his Republican opponent for refusing to hold any in-person town halls, opting for virtual town halls. Os republicanos nacionais pediram contra a realização de reuniões presenciais em meio a protestos em eventos do Partido Republicano.

“Finstad parece ter escolhido os seus poderosos apoiantes políticos, os seus doadores corporativos, em vez das pessoas deste distrito”, disse Johnson. “Queremos deixar bem claro que é para quem Brad trabalha, e eu, que não aceito dinheiro corporativo do Pac e sou financiado pelas pessoas deste distrito, estou disposto a me reunir com todos para ouvir suas preocupações.”

O escritório de Finstad não respondeu a vários pedidos de comentários.

Uma pesquisa de fevereiro de 2026 conduzida por uma empresa de pesquisas democrata descobriu que Finstad tinha um índice de aprovação de 35% no distrito, com 38% de desaprovação. Numa pesquisa sobre as eleições intercalares, Finstad liderou Johnson por 44% a 41%, com 15% dos eleitores indecisos.

De acordo com o Cook Partisan Index, o distrito tem +6 a favor dos republicanos. Mas Johnson argumentou que muitas das políticas de Trump foram profundamente impopulares e proporcionam uma abertura para os democratas no distrito.

“Finstad continua atrelado a políticas que são muito, muito impopulares neste distrito, acho que nos dá uma abertura, nos dá a oportunidade de falar exatamente sobre onde as pessoas estão”, disse Johnson. “Eles querem que a guerra acabe, querem que as tarifas acabem, querem que as suas escolas sejam totalmente financiadas, querem oportunidades novamente para que possam viver o seu sonho americano.”