Why I choose Jeff

 

 

 

"In the beginning, he was my second choice. However, the more I got to know him and his views, he is now definitely my first choice..."

I started to put this article together yesterday. I decided to wait for a day due to the events which happened in the West Bank over the weekend. Like most of us, I had no idea that Jeff Johnson would have unscheduled surgery on a perforated stomach yesterday morning. The good news is the surgery went fine and Jeff is recovering at one of our finest hospitals.

Before the current campaign season I did not know Jeff. I knew of him, but did not know him personally. I had heard from mutual friends that Jeff is a very good and decent man as well as a highly qualified Hennepin Country Commissioner. The fact that he wants to run for Governor of this state, surprises me not.

I wanted to have the chance to chat with all Republican candidates who were running for Governor, Congress in CD6, and Senator. I did indeed get a chance to talk to most of them. I have talked to both Rhonda and Tom in the race for Congress in CD6; I have talked to Mike McFadden and Jim Abeler in the race for Al Franken's Senate Seat; and I have talked to Jeff Johnson and Marty Seifert in the race for Governor. I did not talk to Kurt Zellers nor Scott Honour as they have either skipped or eschewed our state's endorsement process.

Not to sound too Minnesotan, every candidate I have spoke to was not only very nice, but also meets my threshold for job qualifications. Leading up to the Rochester Convention, Jeff Johnson is the person I knew the least . One evening shortly before we left to Rochester, Jeff called me at home. Even with his busy schedule, he took the time (almost a half an hour) to call me to make sure I knew him and his positions on issues.

Even though I had made up my mind to support Dave Thompson, the half hour phone call with Jeff almost caused me to change from "green to red" (campaign colors). Jeff told me about his Minnesota roots, his family, his faith. As a transformational man, these topics mean something to me. Then we talked about issues. I asked him the tough questions - taxes, Met Council, LRT and so on. Jeff never ducked and weaved. He was in my "no spin zone". The transactional part of me really liked the way he answered my questions. Jeff scored a lot of points with me that evening.

However, at the start of the convention, I was still a "green guy" (Dave Thompson supporter). I would tell people I was a "51-49" supporter for Dave. The 49 was for Jeff Johnson. In other words, should Dave not get the votes, I would have no trouble, no trouble at all, supporting Jeff. And that is exactly what happened.

Since the convention, I have gotten to know Jeff even better. I am convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he is the person to lead our state. I have joined his team on his Veteran Advisory Counsel. I contribute to him, I campaign for him, and I march for him in parades. While he is mending, I will go the extra mile to help out.

One thing I will say in conclusion. As much as I know Jeff is the best person to lead this state, any one of the four Republican candidates would be light years better than what we have now. What does this mean? If Jeff does not survive this meaningless primary on August 12th, I will be both sad and disappointed. It will make a mockery of our entire representative democratic way of selecting candidates, all the way from the precinct caucus to the state convention. I will however, support and vote for the Republican winner of the primary. ANYBODY will be better than four more years of Mark Dayton.