Radinovich: Knows the people, issues of the district

He got to know Nolan in 2012 when they each campaigned, Nolan for Congress, and Radinovich for the Minnesota House.

Now, he's campaigning for the seat in Congress to which Nolan will not again seek reelection.

The large and diverse 8th District provides for some unique challenges, Radinovich said when he met with The Journal a couple weeks ago. He said he truly realized just how different each of the communities are within the district, as he traveled recently meeting residents of the district on a "listening and talking tour."

"There are a lot of differences, but there are a lot of commonalities, too, and that's really what this campaign is about," he said.

The four candidates for the 8th District seat who will face off in the DFL primary are good people, Radinovich said, adding they come from different parts of the district.

"I think we really need somebody who can speak to the issues that unite us," he said. "I think for a number of reasons I have the best chance to do that."

He points to the fact that he served in the state Legislature representing the southwestern part of the 8th District; was the assistant commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board working on economic development; was Nolan's campaign manager; and served as chief of staff for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for the first six weeks of this year.

"The 8th is so big and diverse, it has small towns, rural areas, and it's got a city like Duluth, which has different problems than other towns; southern portion, by some estimates, half the people in those communities drive in and out of the Cities on a daily basis to work," he said. "I look at my experiences, bundled together, representing a lot of the life experiences of the people across this district."

He said the district has been impacted by what he calls a changing economy. Illustrating the point, he notes that 14,500 miners produced 40 million tons of iron ore in 1980; today, the same 40 million tons of ore are being produced, but it only takes 3,900 miners.

That change is also taking place at paper mills, farms, factories, even at the local grocery stores, where people may now do their own grocery check outs, he said.

"One person is doing the job that maybe eight or 10 people used to do," he said. "We've seen productivity go up, but we haven't seen wages increase at the same rate. We have a country that's more productive and wealthier than it's ever been before and yet we've seen acceleration in the gap between those who can afford the things they need to live and those who can't."

Radinovich said government has a role to play: "To make sure that the way we operate in this country reflects our values."

He comes from a family of blue-collar workers, he said. The family moved to the nation about 105 years ago, starting in Eveleth and ending in Crosby-Ironton, working mostly as miners, while his dad, step-dad and brothers are electricians.

"People working for a living really need to have somebody who understands what life is like in Washington DC fighting on their behalf," he said.

He said the three main points of policy that should be focused on to improve life are:

1. Keeping our promises - protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare for those nearing or in retirement. "There are a lot of ways to do that," he said.

2. Investments in people - studies have shown that investing in early childhood education will provide a high return over their lives; access to quality programs at age of 3 show less divergence in achievement over their life; increased opportunities for child care.

He also said he favors free community technical colleges, which were offered 40 years ago.

"These institutions are closely aligned with local communities and can create a jobs pipeline right from those communities and they're very nimble and flexible," he said.

Radinovich points to Central Lakes College in Brainerd, where a four-year nursing program in a two-year school is offered. CLC partners with St. Scholastica to assist with a shortage of nursing in the region caused by an aging population requiring more care.

The partnership has allowed people who live in the region, to obtain the training needed to qualify for jobs there, rather than forcing them to leave the area for the training, or seeking qualified people from outside the area.

"It's removing barriers in the economy as we grow and change," he said.

3. Universal health care, "a Medicare for all system." The U.S. pays more per capita for health care than any other industrialized nation in the world, he said.

"We see results that are good, on the high end for those that can afford health care, but we don't have the kind of health care that's adequate for everybody," he said.

In addition, he said money that should be devoted to care ends up paying for things other than care.

He pointed to the "penny per pill" bill, designed to address the opioid crisis, that would have required pharmaceutical companies to pay 1 cent for each pill they sell.

"(The pharmaceutical companies) hired 36 lobbyists - more lobbyists than there are senators in the majority party - to descend on the Capitol and to strip that bill (in the House) of its tax on pharmaceutical companies and they were successful in doing it," he said.

The example, he said, "Shows that the average person doesn't have a seat at the table when it comes to the things that are happening in their government, and also shows us - and this is the worst part in my opinion - that our health care dollars are going to pay for the lobbyists who are lobbying against our interests in St. Paul. The system is broken."

Making the changes he suggests, he said, would allow the middle class to expand. "If we fail to make those changes, they will continue and exacerbate," he said.

Radinovich is 32, and when he served in the Minnesota House was the youngest member at that time. He said he looks at youth as an asset. He noted he'd be older than Nolan was when first elected to Congress.

"I am not beholden to some of the orthodoxy, that other people might be," he said of his age.

He said he's been asked how he's different from Nolan. And while he said they share many of the same values, and Radinovich said he believes he's been a great legislator, there are some differences.

"I think I have unique perspective about what this changing economy means to people of my generation and how we're going to have to deal with that over the course of our lifetimes," he said. "I think that every election should be about the future: Where are we now and where do we want to go to?"

And while he said products are now made by less people, and jobs in mines and paper mills are not guaranteed to the local high school graduates, he said people still should be able to pick their course in life.

As he travels the district, he said he's not been surprised by anything he's heard from residents because he's lived here and knows them: "It's education, health care, child care, it's access to high speed internet, flattening the playing field for the rural part of the state... economic development: how do we get jobs?"

Throwing subsidies to companies to locate somewhere isn't the answer. "We should be building the work force to attract small entrepreneurs," he said of jobs.

Radinovich said the policies and solutions offered by President Donald Trump's administration won't move the nation forward.

"Nostalgia is one of the worst impulses," he said. "It says to us that our best days are behind us. I absolutely believe the best days are in front of us. And what we need to do is make sure people are ready to go out there and seize them and act on them."