Tim Walz

Blue Earth resident Jim Hagedorn is the endorsed Republican candidate in the race for the First Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat Tim Walz.

The two will face off in the General Election next week, on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

It is not the first time they have done so.

In 2014, the two went head to head in the Nov. 4 General Election. Walz won relatively handily, 122,851 to 103,536, or 54.2 percent to 45.7 percent.

Hagedorn has been on the campaign trail for this rematch ever since.

Jim Hagedorn

In 2014, Hagedorn had failed to get the party’s nomination, losing out to Aaron Miller. However, Hagedorn took on Miller in the Primary Election and won.

Now, in 2016, Hagedorn won the party’s endorsement, but faced competition from Steve Williams in the Primary Election.

Hagedorn won 76.5 percent (10,851) to 23.5 percent (3,330).

Walz did not face primary competition in either election.

Walz, a former teacher at Mankato West High School, was first elected to Congress in 2006, when he defeated six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutnecht by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. He has won re-election ever since, and is seeking his sixth term.

Walz grew up in Nebraska, before moving to Mankato in 1996, with his Minnesota-born wife, Gwen. Both became teachers at Mankato West.

Walz also served 24 years in the Army National Guard, reaching the rank of Command Sergeant Major, before retiring in 2005.

In Congress, Walz is a member of the House Agriculture Committee, currently serves as the ranking member on the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee.

Walz says his past successes as a congressman have been the 2015 Clay Hunt Act, which boosts veterans suicide prevention programs, and the 2008, Post-911 GI Bill, as well as the 2014 Farm Ag Bill.

Hagedorn was born in Blue Earth, raised near Truman, where his father and grandfather ran a farm. Hagedorn’s father, Thomas, was a congressman as well as being a farmer.

Hagedorn spent much of his adult life working in Washington, D.C. He was a legislative aide to Minnesota Congressman Arlan Stangeland, also a Republican.

Hagedorn also worked in several government agencies, leading several programs designed to trim back government funding and spending.