Politics & Government
Reformer Radio: Rep. Jordan Rasmusson On The Future Of The GOP
Rep. Jordan Rasmusson is a 28-year-old Republican lawmaker from Fergus Falls serving his first term in the Minnesota House.
July 2, 2021
Rep. Jordan Rasmusson is a 28-year-old Republican lawmaker from Fergus Falls serving his first term in the Minnesota House.
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Although his age might indicate he’s the future of the Republican Party, he is also a throwback to the past, with a resume Republicans once longed for — Harvard College, the elite consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and Sen. Mitt Romney’s old firm, Bain Capital.
Rasmusson is encouraging his fellow Republicans to move beyond President Donald Trump, though he’s well aware the hearts of GOP partisans remain with the 45th president.
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“I think if we’re going to win here statewide in Minnesota, we’re going to have to have a different playbook,” he told me during an interview for Reformer Radio.
Reformer Radio · A freshman Republican on the future of the GOP
A Capitol source told me earlier this year that Rasmusson was a guy to watch, so I interviewed him about the future of the GOP and wrote a column about it. He’s clearly smart, and already accomplished for someone so young. I fear there’s no longer a place for people like him in the Republican party anymore.
During our Reformer Radio interview, I pressed him on the conflict over the future of the GOP, about which he mostly demurred.
He seemed most excited talking about how the party can reach suburban independents, as well as the people of color in his district and in the Twin Cities, who Republicans have ignored while their 15-year losing streak in statewide races groans on.
Particularly inspiring during our interview were his thoughts on Jan. 6, when he watched with horror as the U.S. House chambers — where he was once served as a high school page — was under attack. The question is whether the Republican Party shares his devotion the country’s democratic legacy and institutions.
The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..