Republican scion of the Mills Fleet Farm business family Stewart Mills III announced his candidacy to challenge U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) in 2014. He had been exploring a candidacy for several months with all signs pointing toward a run for office. Yesterday he made it official at events in Cloquet and Rush City.
The Star Tribune tried to pin Mills down on where he stands regarding the federal government shutdown, which began over an unsuccessful GOP attempt to delay Obamacare:
“I wish we wouldn’t have gotten there,” Mills said in an interview. “Certainly, I’m not in Congress, and I don’t have a voice in the process.”
And if he did, would he have joined in the GOP votes to link Obamacare to the spending resolution? “I’m not there, so it’s impossible for me to know.”
Mills will be contributing some of his family’s fortune to the campaign, but is actively raising money as well. Political watcher’s are rating Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District as “Leans Democratic” for time being, though the district is still sorting out its partisan composition after the surprise win of Tea Party favorite Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN8) in 2010, followed by his loss to traditional DFLer Nolan in 2012. The district had previously been held since WWII by Iron Range labor Democrats John Blatnik and then his aide-turned-successor Jim Oberstar.
It is very early days but I wonder what Stewart Mills stands for. His campaign website is devoid of position papers or issue related matters. It does have biographical information and I conclude he likes 4H, which is good.
I got a call from his people last night asking for money and I told them I had no idea where he stood on the issues and that I needed to know something like that before I could offer support of any kind.
A campaign based on “I’m not Rick Nolan and I’m a good guy” isn’t going to get the job done. It is early and he may well address these things in due course but so far I’m not seeing enough beef.
I also haven’t seen any competition for the nomination. For a rookie candidate such competition might be helpful.