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At a recent Trump rally in Minnesota on Sept. 18, Rep. Hagedorn (MN-01) stood right next to Trump violating social distancing guidelines without a mask on. Hagedorn said that he would “serve as a conservative reinforcement to the president.” That is, he would serve Trump, not Minnesotans. He has certainly not served southern Minnesotans in his past two years in the House. He has served Trump.

For example, Hagedorn fully supports the Trump administration’s lawsuit scheduled to be heard a week after the election to totally repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no replacement. This would result in millions losing access to health insurance due to preexisting conditions (e.g. cancer, diabetes, COVID-19, etc.) that are specifically targeted in the lawsuit. If the ACA protections for those with preexisting conditions are gone because of the Trump/Hagedorn/GOP-supported lawsuit, millions will lose access to health insurance due to preexisting conditions alone. Overall, at least 23 million Americans will lose their health insurance if Trump and his GOP are successful at the Supreme Court. Hagedorn has proposed “high-risk pools,” which are another way of saying people with preexisting conditions will never be able to afford comprehensive health insurance again. Many would be simply denied coverage outright.

If you have ever been to a doctor, you probably have a preexisting condition. For instance, when my son was young and I was paying a $500 per month health insurance premium just to insure him,  he needed a tonsillectomy. Because he had been to the doctor with colds and strep before (but never diagnosed with tonsillitis), the insurance company said the tonsillectomy was a preexisting condition and did not pay one dime for the doctor’s visits, the operation or subsequent ER visits. Because I had to pay for his health care out of pocket, I could never afford health insurance for him again until the ACA passed many years later. Hagedorn wants to make sure nobody can get affordable health insurance again — especially people with preexisting conditions.

Health care is only one example of how Hagedorn has failed Minnesota. From his maskless, non-socially distanced behavior at the Trump rally, Hagedorn is clearly against public health, science and trying to mitigate the economic devastation caused by Trump’s disastrous response to the pandemic that has resulted in approximately 200,000 American deaths so far.

If you want someone to fight for you and your family, fight for health care, fight to solve the pandemic public health and economic devastation, and fight for southern Minneostans every day in every way, vote for Dan Feehan (House MN-01), Tina Smith (Senate), Dan Sparks (MN Senate 27) and Thomas Martinez (MN District 27A). You will be voting for decency, empathy, competence, science and the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), good governance and getting things done to help all Minnesotans. Thank you.

Lisa Johnson

Albert Lea