The Brad Pitt of Minnesota Politics

Interesting article about the youthful Republican challenger in Minnesota's eighth congressional district, a Democratic stronghold. When I first saw his TV ad I thought he was a conservative Democrat (an oxymoron in Minnesota), since the ads don't identify him as a Republican.
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VIRGINIA, Minn. — He has been anointed the Brad Pitt of the Republican Party. And on a recent day on the trail, rookie congressional candidate Stewart Mills was struggling to fine-tune his message on an issue of critical importance to his campaign: his hair.

Mills, with his jaw-length blond locks and muscular physique, has been compared to the heartthrob movie star by everyone from a national party official to adoring teenage girls. And if it seems a little trivial and objectifying — he is, after all, running in one of the more closely watched, competitive House races in the country — Mills doesn’t mind.

The GOP is seeking diversity of all sorts — ethnic, gender, generational — as it works to shed its image as the party of stodgy white men and adapt to the nation’s fast-changing demographics. Having a guy who projects the youthful image of Mills can only help, GOP officials say, and they’re prepared to spend millions of dollars to help him unseat Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/...ction-stewart-mills-108199.html#ixzz35ezatcVI

 

See what I meant when I said I thought he was a Democrat? He is the heir of a chain of sporting goods stores (hunting, fishing, camping, outdoors, some team sport stuff) here in the upper midwest--Mills Fleet Farm stores.

Another take on it:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/range-race_793910.html

 

Here's your candidates in the Minnesota eighth district: