As a purple state with 134 House districts, many of Minnesota’s races this year are highly competitive. Three of those races include suburban districts 34A in Champlin, 41B in Hastings, and 45A in Tonka Bay. And in each of these races, there’s a Republican running as a “moderate” candidate, despite a history of holding deeply conservative positions on everything from free school lunches to gun control.
This scrutiny comes after an equally divided, 67-67 House gave Republicans stopping power in the 2026 legislative session. Several policies failed along party lines, like requiring ICE to present a judicial warrant to enter schools, banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, and protections for veterans targeted by predatory fees.
Any of these bills would have become law if one Republican joined Democrats in backing them. With the midterm election less than 40 days away, Democrats must take back at least one seat in the House to start passing bills like these.
These three candidates are running as moderate candidates willing to work bipartisanly–a benefit after this year’s rough session. But their political histories and past comments show that may not be the case.
Danny Nadeau (34A)
Rep. Danny Nadeau is the incumbent for this district, elected in 2022. His campaign is centered on “rebuilding trust” and “commonsense solutions,” bolstering education, and rooting out wasteful government spending. In his campaign website’s “About Danny” section, he says political ideologies are working their ways into state laws. But his past comments on a variety of subjects suggest that he wants his ideologies to become law.
On his “About Danny” page, you can still see his opinion on labor unions as it relates to his landscaping business. He says as his business grew, labor unions “targeted” his company to “make it a union contracting company.” While Nadeau gives labor unions credit for improving working conditions, he says small companies like his struggle under their pressure. “Labor unions need to recognize their ability to cause harm and respect risk-taking entrepreneurs,” his site reads.
In his first year as a state representative, Nadeau opposed a bill that would cap excessive price increases for generic or off-patent prescription drugs. He compared setting drug prices to setting the price of cement, saying, “Everything costs money.”
That same year, Nadeau targeted Minnesota’s Free School Meals for Kids program, which gives a free breakfast and lunch daily for any student enrolled. This has been a common theme for Republicans since the program began. At a Champlin town hall, Nadeau claimed that universal school meals are unnecessary because any child who needs lunch was already getting it from a federal program.
Before the 2026 legislative session, Nadeau was interviewed by the Minnesota Hospital Association, an advocate for hospitals and health reformers. As the leading GOP member of the House Health Finance and Policy committee, Nadeau said Minnesota “doesn’t really value healthcare like we should. He then went on, appearing to mock those who can’t afford their healthcare by saying, “as soon as someone faces a $20 or $100 copay, it feels like the world is ending.”
William Beck (41B)
William Beck is running for district 41B, the seat left open by a Republican Rep. Tom Dippel, who is running for Senate district 41. Beck’s priorities are similar to most Democrats: affordability for healthcare and taxes, data center policy reform, and supporting teachers and school districts. His website also says that he wants to end taxing Social Security benefits. But a podcast clip shows Beck stating that cutting Medicare and Social Security would “solve a lot of our problems.”
That clip is from an episode of Action 4 Liberty’s podcast, Truth Hurts, in May 2023. Action 4 Liberty is a far-right activist group in Minnesota that Beck has deep ties to.
Beck was one of two editors for Action 4 Liberty’s 2021 Legislative scorecard. This annual scorecard evaluates how Republican state representatives vote, and scores them on whether they voted for the GOP party’s ideals, or against them. That same year, he appeared on the Action 4 Liberty podcast, talking about “the BIG win for conservatives in the Speaker Vote Saga” and discussing a “media hit piece on health freedom advocates.”
In February 2023, Beck authored an article for Action 4 Liberty titled “Corrupt GOP Insults Action 4 Liberty Volunteers at Carlton Convention.” The article covers that year’s GOP convention, where “a GOP establishment goon,” Mitch Williamson, criticized the group. Beck said Williamson was sent there to “spread lies about the organization, divide conservatives and insult grassroots volunteers.” In August 2023, Beck was named the director of operations for the entire group.
Beck also has a connection to the representative leaving the seat, Tom Dippel. He served as Dippel’s campaign manager in 2024, the last election cycle. Dippel pulled off a one-point victory that year against Democrat Jen Fox, who is running against Beck this year in 41B. Beck filed a complaint on Dippel’s behalf to the Campaign Finance Board (CFB).
The complaint was filed against Forward Majority Action Minnesota, an independent expenditure political committee promoting Democratic candidates. It alleged that Forward Action distributed a campaign mailer saying Dippel “agrees with the Alabama Supreme Court decision to ban IVF.” Beck said Dippel has “never publicly spoken on the IVF issue and is comfortable stating that he does not support the ban of IVF.” The CFB dismissed the complaint without prejudice.
Andrew Myers (45A)
Rep. Andrew Myers was elected in 2022 and remains the state representative for this district. His brand focuses on bipartisan leadership that amplifies “the voices of the boots on the ground in our communities; not activists.” Representing suburban communities of Hennepin County like Excelsior, Orono, and Tonka Bay, Myers admits, “in the suburbs, I’ve gotta be pretty moderate about things.” But he recognizes that he may not follow those ideals personally.
At his February 2024 campaign announcement, Myers answered a question about how the GOP causes and convention processes work within his campaign. He started his answer with the line above, before following up by saying, “I’ve lived my life as maybe not a moderate. It’s just if you’re gonna have these seats as conservatives in Minnesota, you can’t celebrate that stuff.” This is notable, as the district runs splits fairly moderate in its voting habits.
When it comes to key partisan votes, Myers has skipped a few. He ultimately abstained from voting on Universal School Meals–otherwise known as the Free School Meals for Kids program–which passed in 2023 70-58, though he originally had voted no when it was first passed on the House Floor. At the time, there was a 70-64 split in the House where Democrats held the majority, meaning Myers wasn’t the only Republican not to vote on the bill.
He also did not vote on the 2026 Red Flag law, which would have expanded who can file for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) under the state’s current red flag law, which was established in 2024. The bill–and all gun control bills-ultimately failed in the tied House in this year’s legislative session.
