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Third District Republican Congressman Erik Paulsen says he is likely to write in Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s name for president.

In his first interview since disavowing Republican nominee Donald Trump, Paulsen told MPR News Friday that he is intent on voting for a Republican anyway.

Rubio came in first in Minnesota's Republican precinct caucuses in March and won in the 3rd District. A few weeks later he was out of the presidential race. Rubio would have to certify as a write-in candidate for the vote to be tabulated.

Earlier this year, Paulsen said he anticipated voting for the party nominee, but later said Trump would have to earn his vote. Paulsen didn’t rule out a vote for Trump until the emergence of a video where the New York businessman is caught talking crudely about women.

“I was hoping he could earn my vote," Paulsen said. "It’s pretty clear he hasn’t, and he can’t.”

Paulsen said he would not back either Libertarian Gary Johnson nor independent candidate Evan McMullin.

“I’m a Republican, so I’m going to vote Republican,” he said.

Paulsen is in a tough re-election race drawing millions of dollars in outside TV ads. His opponent, state Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, has made Trump a theme of her campaign and hammered Paulsen for not doing enough to stand up to Trump.

Paulsen said he “wouldn’t be surprised” to see Democrat Hillary Clinton win his suburban district, pointing out that Democrat Barack Obama carried it twice.

He said voter frustration over the tenor of this year’s campaign demands that the next Congress and president leave the bickering behind.

“People expect results. They expect solutions. And I’ll just keep working on issues that truly matter to people. We just need to make sure we have folks that are thoughtful and that are going to be working across the aisle and moving the ball forward on important issues,” Paulsen said.

“Regardless of who is elected president you are going to need leaders on trade, for instance. I’m very discouraged that both of the candidates are not talking about the opportunities with a trade agenda. I’m going to be pushing for a very robust trade agenda,” he added.

Politics and Government News

Capitol View®

Brian Bakst

Author

Erik Paulsen says he will vote for a Republican, but not Donald Trump. His DFL opponent has made Trump an issue in the campaign.

Paulsen likely to write in Rubio for president

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