Another candidate is running against Finstad in the 1st Congressional District
Jun. 16—ROCHESTER — Oliver Morlan, a Zumbro Falls native and member of a family-owned business, announced that he is running for Congress in the First Congressional District as an independent candidate. The seat is currently held by Rep. Brad Finstad, a Republican.
"I'm running to increase independent representation," Morlan said. "I'm trying to inspire that not just here in the district, but across Minnesota. I just feel that the country is in need of desperate change."
A 2018 graduate of Century High School and self-described lifelong musician, Morlan, 25, said there is public impatience with how Congress is conducting its business and an appetite for holding the body "fiscally and ethically responsible." He said both parties are guilty of passing misleading spending and budget bills that "run up the deficit, cause massive inflation and are too big to fully scrutinize."
Jake Johnson, a longtime teacher with Rochester Public Schools, is running for the DFL endorsement to challenge Finstad for his congressional seat. Finstad was elected to Congress in a 2022 special election and has since been re-elected to two two-year terms in the GOP-leaning district.
Given the dominance of the two-party system, independent and minor-party candidates have a poor track record, historically speaking, of winning elections. Often lacking the fundraising prowess and infrastructure of the major parties, they struggle to get the name recognition necessary for victory. There are currently no independent members serving in the House of Representatives.
With little political experience, Morlan acknowledged that he was "running against all odds" and that he would be relying on his "own resources" and a "lot of community support" to compete. Still, he argues that the environment was favorable to an outsider and pointed to the criticism directed at Finstad for failing to hold in-person town hall meetings.
"I think that kind of non-representation might be the key factor here," Morlan said.
Morlan said he plays a leading role as a trainer for D&M Industrial Cleaners, a commercial cleaning business that serves clients across southeastern Minnesota. As a musician, Morlan worked a short stint as a teacher at Pure Rock Studios in Rochester.
Morlan said he supported term limits and was a tax-cut advocate, but would vote against President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" bill that would extend the tax cuts passed in 2017 because "it is just too big."
"The way this country was set up was so that regular people from any background could throw their hat in the race and see if they could make change in this country," Morlan said. "And I feel that we've kind of gotten away from that in more recent times."
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Hamilton Spectator
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- Hamilton Spectator
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'But I think, both with the president and his administration and with members of Congress, that we need to bring the temperature down. There's no place for political violence ever. And the rhetoric — words matter.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Boston Globe
28 minutes ago
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Congress is holding emergency briefings on security after Minnesota shootings
Advertisement In 2011, Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot and wounded at an event in her Arizona district. In 2017, Republican Rep. Steve Scalise was shot and wounded as he practiced for a congressional baseball game with other GOP lawmakers near Washington. In 2022, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul was attacked in his home by a man who broke into their San Francisco home. And in 2024, two different men tried to assassinate Donald Trump during his presidential campaign. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up All four survived, some with serious injuries. But those attacks, among others and many close calls for members of both parties, have rattled lawmakers and raised recurring questions about whether they have enough security — and whether they can ever be truly safe in their jobs. Advertisement 'I don't have a solution to this problem right now,' said Minnesota Sen. 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