WASHINGTON – As U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson is mired in negotiations over the next farm bill, his Republican opponent in Minnesota is working to unseat the longtime Democrat in a congressional district that overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump.
Trump himself weighed in last weekend with a tweet in support of Republican Dave Hughes. It was a welcome bit of attention for Peterson's challenger in a race that has not drawn the same emphasis from national Republicans who have focused on flipping Trump-backing districts in southern and northeastern Minnesota from Democrat to Republican.
"So far it's kind of a sleeper race," said Hughes, a 21-year U.S. Air Force veteran.
Hughes lost to Peterson by 5 percentage points in 2016, with little name recognition and hardly any money, as voters in the district backed Trump by 31 percentage points. Now Hughes is hopeful he can finally convince constituents that Peterson is out of touch with the rural, western Minnesota district that sprawls from Canada, along the North and South Dakota borders and nearly down to Iowa.
"He's ridden this ostensible wave of maverick-ism, if I can make up a word, but I think that's a lot of sound and fury and not much substance," said Hughes, who lives in Karlstad with his wife, Amanda, and their seven children.
Peterson is best known for being the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, its former chairman and the longest-serving member on the panel. He's among a small group of federal lawmakers trying to negotiate a final five-year farm bill by Sept. 30, at a time when many farmers are reeling from low commodity prices and a trade war.
"It takes so long to get there," Peterson said of
