Minnesota Republican candidate for Governor Jeff Johnson says if elected he will slow the growth in the minimum wage. Not unexpected for a Republican, but the way he said it seemed to suggest workers were being paid low wages because they didn't want to have careers.
“The minimum wage should not be what anybody aspires to, they should aspire to a career. They should aspire to a job that allows them to raise a family. The minimum wage won’t do that.”
Johnson made the comments to the press a day after winning a plurality in a four candidate Republican primary that had very low voter turnout. The competing DFL primary which didn’t have as many competitive races attracted about 7,000 more voters. Johnson said he doesn’t see that as an indicator that he faces problems in his general election battle with Governor Mark Dayton.
“Republicans are not accustomed to primaries. We just don’t have them. We haven’t had one for 20 some years.”
Hot button building issue really not so big
Johnson also admitted that the spending on a new Senate office building is really a small amount in the big picture. “In the grand scheme of things its a small amount of money in the overall budget. But it’s a pretty important symbol as to where the priorities are right now with all DFL control and in the Dayton administration. I think people want to stop it.” Republicans have seized on the new building as a campaign issue.
Despite that, Johnson repeated that he would stop the stop the project, if practical. If it couldn’t be stopped he would find another use for the building.
Tuesday’s primary results sets up a Republican ticket for all state-wide offices that is all white and all male. Johnson’s running mate is Bill Kuisle. Governor Dayton’s (DFL) running mate is Tina Smith, a woman. His currently Lt. Governor is also a woman.
“I think it’s, it’s a little demeaning to suggest that women won’t vote for us because we happen to be two males,” Johnson told a reporter who raised the question.
Video of the entire press conference available at The UpTake.