Two GOP candidates for U.S. Senate debate ahead of primary

Minnesota's primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 12 and voters in the Republican primary will choose a candidate to take on first-term DFL Sen. Al Franken.

Two of the candidates — state Rep. Jim Abeler of Anoka and Iraq war veteran and St. Paul teacher David Carlson — joined The Daily Circuit Tuesday in the MPR News studios to discuss their differences ahead of the primary.

Here are a few highlights of the discussion.

Health Care

"We weren't broken," said Abeler about MNsure, the health insurance exchange launched by the state last fall. "There was nothing to be fixed."

When pressed about the 41 percent drop in uninsured rates following the start of MNsure, Abeler stood by his description that the program is a failure.

"The success is that they told more people you could have the coverage you could have had before," he said, adding, "It is a federal solution to a Minnesota problem."

Carlson said he isn't opposed to MNsure and advocated for a bipartisan solution to address the state's health care problems, saying, "I think it is really important to kind of switch it up."

The GOP

Both candidates said the Minnesota Republican Party is facing challenges, but they differed on where that challenge is coming from.

"This country was founded on equality," Carlson said. "The Republican Party has lost that focus."

For his part, Abeler characterized the challenge as perception problem among voters. "I think the heart and soul of our party has been stereotyped as big biz and corporate greed," Abeler said. "That's not us."

GOP endorsed candidate Mike McFadden

Carlson, on McFadden: "He bought his way through the endorsement. His main argument to be a senator is that he has money."

Abeler didn't make any direct attacks on the perceived front runner. Instead, he said he is running against what he called "a broken system."

McFadden declined the MPR News debate.