Steven Wilson of Rochester has received the Independence Party endorsement for the 1st Congressional District seat.
Wilson recently completed a one-year tour in Iraq as a State Department diplomat and was embedded in the Army. His work involved job creation. Wilson said he has at least 20 years of experience in economic development.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wilson will take on two-term incumbent Democratic Congressman Tim Walz. In an interview, Wilson said his message is it is time to end the negativity surrounding Washington politics.
"We've got a lot of work to get done in Congress, and we've absolutely got to stop the negativity because it has just become too annoying to get past," Wilson said.
He said he is also emphasizing the importance of addressing the nation's rising debt. He backs setting a national debt limit in 2018 that would be 60 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. He said Congress needs to do more to solve the problem and not just rely on a debt commission.
"I support a debt commission, but I don't support the idea of just waiting and putting all of our eggs in that basket," he said.
Wilson formerly won the GOP endorsement in 2006 for Senate District 28 but was defeated in the primary by Republican Steve Drazkowski of Mazeppa. Drazkowski later lost to Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, but is now the state representative in House District 28B.
