An Albert Lea man running for the 1st District congressional seat supports single-payer health care.

Colin Minehart, 62, is facing DFL-endorsed candidate Dan Feehan for the party’s nomination during primary elections Tuesday. Jim Hagedorn, Carla Nelson, Steve Williams and Andrew Candler are running in the GOP primary.

“Too long they’ve kicked the can down the road,” Minehart said of the country’s approach to health care.

He said health care access is a “huge issue.” To Minehart, supporting broadband expansion is crucial because of his belief that the future of health care includes an increase in telemedicine services.

Minehart compared the Affordable Care Act to the creation of Social Security during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency in that both needed initial adjustments but need to remain. 

“That is the direction we have to move in this country,” Minehart said.

Minehart and his wife, Sue, owned Long Branch Saloon, now known as Bend in the Road, in Manchester after he left college. The couple have since owned separate restaurants in Manchester and Alden, and he has worked as a sales consultant with electronic pull tab company Compliant Gaming.

The couple now owns the Mine Agains restaurant in Alden.

Minehart graduated from the University of Minnesota, and he and his wife have two children who are college graduates and live in the state.

He said doctors are sometimes unfairly penalized because of patient outcomes, adding “kicking the can down the stream” can no longer happen in health care.

“This is about building coalitions when you get to the federal level,” he said.

 

Tariffs

Minehart called tariffs instituted by President Donald Trump’s administration “absolutely horrible,” adding farmers will not be able to plan their operations with the uncertainty tariffs have brought.

He predicted consumers would suffer because of tariffs and called the measure “a way to re-distribute the wealth.”

“This is really a bigger, twisted mess than people understand,” Minehart said.

If elected, he hopes to serve on the Agriculture Committee, adding he believes addressing the issue can be done bipartisanly. 

 

Taxes

Minehart said “the rich are getting richer,” under the tax bill passed earlier this year by the Republican-controlled Congress.

“The jury’s still out on all of it,” he said.

“It’s not getting back down to the people they thought (it) would get back down to.”

Minehart pledged to work with Republicans to address the situation.

“It’s real simple,” he said.

 

Qualifications

Minehart cited his experience in the area as a qualification. He spoke highly of local residents and said he wants more recent graduates to stay in the area.