MN U.S. Dist. 1 Special Primary: James Rainwater

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – James Rainwater is a professional problem solver, working as an attorney, mediator and arbitrator. He believes that’s what makes him stand out as a candidate for Minnesota’s First Congressional District.

“I had enough of the chaos and insanity,” he said.

That’s why he’s running. Rainwater said he’ll bring a fresh perspective to Washington D.C.

“I think I bring a lot of maturity, a lot of solid judgement and passion to the issues,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater’s top issues include national security, voting and equal rights and the environment.

“My three chief issues, would be national security - and that entails a wide variety of issues. Equal rights and voting rights. As we are seeing more restrictions put on voting, just the civic right to go vote for someone. And that’s being constrained and restrained,” he said. “Third is environment. We are clearly into a different weather pattern than we were years back and I think that needs to be addressed more vigorously than it is now.”

With those top executives, Rainwater keeps a list of 13 issues he’s eager to tackle. You can find them on his website.

While he’s running as a Democrat, Rainwater calls himself an Eisenhower Republican.

“The whole idea of Eisenhower Republican, is fiscally conservative, don’t spend more than you make. But socially progressive,” Rainwater said.

Above all, Rainwater believes he stands out from the crowd, because of his skills he’s obtained as an attorney, mediator and arbitrator.

“What I do is I get people I don’t know, to do things they don’t want to do with people they don’t like. If that isn’t something that could bridge gaps between Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals, then I don’t know what is.”

Outside of his job, and his grassroots campaign, he lives in Lake City with his wife, Margo. He also has two adult step children.

The special primary election is May 24. No matter the turn out, Rainwater plans to stick with the campaign in the general election in August.

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