Voters will have to weigh heavily Paulsen’s experience and seniority against Phillips’ fresh perspective in a race that is in the national spotlight.
Erik Paulsen is capable, affable and intelligent. If re-elected he will likely continue to represent the district exactly as he has over the last decade – as a moderate to conservative Republican. He has risen through the ranks to a position on the Ways and Means Committee, chairperson of the Joint Economic Committee and co-chair of the House Medical Technology Caucus.
By now voters in the 3rd District are very familiar with Paulsen, who spent 14 years in the Minnesota Legislature before he was first elected to Congress in 2009. But we believe there is appetite, and need, for change in the district held by Republicans since the 1960s.
View the complete editorial by the ECM Editorial Board on the Sun-Sailor-Post website here.