California Congressman Xavier Becerra swung through Minnesota Monday, stumping for Third District congressional candidate, state Sen. Terri Bonoff.
Becerra, a surrogate for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, is also stumping for congressional candidates in various states. Becerra and Bonoff on Monday sat down with reporters to talk about the congressional race in which Bonoff is challenging GOP incumbent, U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen.
"A lot of us are going to come down and work as much as we can in districts like the Third," Becerra said. He said Bonoff, a four-term state senator from Minnetonka, is Paulsen's most formidable opponent yet. Paulsen has beat previous Democratic challengers handily.
"I'm not sure how much the resources were there for some of our previous candidates," Becerra said. "Terri is out there and really quickly establishing that she's going to compete when it comes to the resources."
Becerra, a Democrat from Los Angeles, criticized Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, for his harsh rhetoric on immigrants, women and Muslims. Both he and Bonoff said Republicans like Paulsen should denounce Trump more broadly.
So far, Paulsen has offered tepid support saying he expects to vote for the GOP nominee but that Trump hasn't yet earned his vote.
"You've got an incumbent who doesn't address the offenses that have been declared by the Republican nominee for president," Becerra said.
Bonoff says she's more representative of Third District voters than Paulsen is.
"People are surprised by Erik Paulsen's record because people thought he was a Jim Ramstad-type congressman," referring to Paulsen's predecessor who she said was pro-choice but worked frequently with members of the opposing party.
Bonoff said Paulsen's conservative positions on same-sex marriage and other social issues make him too conservative for the district.
"While we are fiscally conservative -- and I stand with them on that. I've had a 22-year career in business -- we also don't believe that government should play a role in dictating morality"
Paulsen's campaign manager, John-Paul Yates, criticized Bonoff's past support for tax increases in Minnesota in a statement and said:
"Both presidential candidates are historically unpopular and unlike Terri Bonoff, Erik hasn't endorsed either one of them," Yates said.
