Swanson actually defeated a congressman in 2006 in the DFL primary for Attorney General, funny how history repeats itself.
I think many of the criticisms about Swanson joining in the race are very gendered. She owes nothing to Walz, who didn’t even win the party’s endorsement, and she has every right to join the race. Walz was going to run for Governor regardless of whether Swanson entered the race a year ago or last month, so it really doesn’t matter anyway.
Swanson is the stronger candidate anyway, she performed the best out of all the statewide DFL candidates in 2010 & 2014, while Walz almost lost to a badly-funded, unknown challenger in 2016, even as Collin Peterson easily won re-election in a much redder district right next door.
Winning by 5 points does not indicate an easy win.
