Gene Rechtzigel

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Gene Rechtzigel

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

August 13, 2024

Gene Rechtzigel (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Minnesota's 4th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on August 13, 2024.

Rechtzigel also ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Minnesota. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on August 13, 2024.

Elections

2024

U.S. House Minnesota

See also: Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2024

Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Democratic primary)

Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated May Lor Xiong in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum (D)	67.3	242,802
		May Lor Xiong (R)	32.6	117,618
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	623

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 361,043
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum	100.0	37,530

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 37,530
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

May Lor Xiong defeated Gene Rechtzigel in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		May Lor Xiong	63.0	7,777
		Gene Rechtzigel	37.0	4,558

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,335
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mike Casey (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Rechtzigel in this election.

U.S. Senate Minnesota

See also: United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Minnesota

Incumbent Amy Klobuchar defeated Royce White, Rebecca Whiting, and Joyce Lacey in the general election for U.S. Senate Minnesota on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amy Klobuchar (D)	56.2	1,792,441
		Royce White (R)	40.5	1,291,712
		Rebecca Whiting (L)	1.7	55,215
		Joyce Lacey (Independence-Alliance Party of Minnesota)	1.5	46,377
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	3,578

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,189,323
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Minnesota

Incumbent Amy Klobuchar defeated Steve Carlson, Ahmad Hassan, Ole Savior, and George Kalberer in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Minnesota on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Amy Klobuchar	94.3	305,055
		Steve Carlson	2.9	9,535
		Ahmad Hassan	1.5	4,891
		Ole Savior	0.8	2,478
	Submit photo	George Kalberer	0.5	1,578

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 323,537
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Derek Logan (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Minnesota

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Minnesota on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Royce White	38.5	74,814
	Submit photo	Joe Fraser	29.3	56,909
	Submit photo	Raymond Petersen	8.4	16,237
		Alycia Gruenhagen	7.7	15,017
		John Berman	7.3	14,158
		Patrick Munro	4.9	9,444
		Christopher Seymore	2.6	5,020
		Loner Blue	1.4	2,727

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 194,326
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• David Hilbrich (R)
• Gene Rechtzigel (R)
• Mike Ruoho (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Rechtzigel in this election.

2022

See also: Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated May Lor Xiong and Diane Peterson in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum (D)	67.6	200,055
		May Lor Xiong (R)	32.3	95,493
	Submit photo	Diane Peterson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	11
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	414

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 295,973
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated Amane Badhasso and Fasil Moghul in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum	83.4	58,043
		Amane Badhasso	15.2	10,557
		Fasil Moghul	1.4	997

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 69,597
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Evan Kail (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

May Lor Xiong defeated Jerry Silver and Gene Rechtzigel in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		May Lor Xiong	44.1	9,574
		Jerry Silver	34.1	7,399
		Gene Rechtzigel	21.9	4,753

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,726
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mikki Murray (R)

2020

See also: Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (August 11 Democratic primary)

Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2020 (August 11 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated Gene Rechtzigel and Susan Pendergast Sindt in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum (D)	63.2	245,813
		Gene Rechtzigel (R)	29.0	112,730
		Susan Pendergast Sindt (Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota)	7.6	29,537
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,034

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 389,114
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Incumbent Betty McCollum defeated Alberder Gillespie, Tiffini Flynn Forslund, David Sandbeck, and Reid Rossell in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Betty McCollum	84.0	80,048
	Submit photo	Alberder Gillespie	6.6	6,327
		Tiffini Flynn Forslund	4.5	4,312
		David Sandbeck	3.6	3,425
	Submit photo	Reid Rossell	1.2	1,154

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 95,266 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Gene Rechtzigel defeated Sia Lo in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gene Rechtzigel	50.9	9,182
	Submit photo	Sia Lo	49.1	8,866

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,048 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Travis Ekbom (R)

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary election

Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4

Susan Pendergast Sindt advanced from the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis Party of Minnesota primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 4 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Susan Pendergast Sindt	100.0	618

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 618 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Minnesota's 4th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Betty McCollum (D) defeated Greg Ryan (R) and Susan Pendergast Sindt (Legal Marijuana Now) in the general election on November 8, 2016. McCollum defeated Steve Carlson in the Democratic primary, while Ryan defeated Nikolay Nikolayevich Bey and Gene Rechtzigel to win the Republican nomination. The primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.

U.S. House, Minnesota District 4 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Betty McCollum Incumbent	57.8%	203,299
	Republican	Greg Ryan	34.4%	121,032
	Legal Marijuana Now	Susan Pendergast Sindt	7.7%	27,152
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	461
Total Votes				351,944
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State

U.S. House, Minnesota District 4 Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Betty McCollum Incumbent	94%	33,336
Steve Carlson	6%	2,128
Total Votes		35,464
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State

U.S. House, Minnesota District 4 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Greg Ryan	82%	5,618
Gene Rechtzigel	12.3%	845
Nikolay Bey	5.7%	390
Total Votes		6,853
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Gene Rechtzigel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Gene Rechtzigel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Gene Rechtzigel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Gene Rechtzigel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

The following issues were listed on Rechtzigel's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Health: Gene for People Rechtzigel wants to make ​You safe from the Zika Mosquitoes, potential GMOs health hazards, while giving you affordable health care of your choosing from orthodox medicine and alternative medicines; and thereby insure you the right to know (listed with the price) what is in your food at both the grocery store and restaurants before you buy or order. Business: Gene for People Rechtzigel wants to eliminate the out-of-control poverty in MN Congressional District 4 by granting tax incentives and enterprise zones that will, replace the big corporate wealth vacuum cleaners (corporate stores are sucking the wealth out of our communities and returning only low paying jobs), encourage, support a vast expansion of family owned small businesses to eliminate poverty and to keep the wealth from ones hard labors within our communities! Gun Rights: Gene for People Rechtzigel says the Attorney General, and City Prosecutors need to pullback their proactive policing tactics​ that is turning what has always been civil law and civil rights, into criminalizing the Minnesota and United States Constitutional Rights of the good people of this State and Country.​​ The radical extremist gun control lobby needs to take responsibility for the killings from their promotion of fear and hatred towards anyone who is seen with a gun Taxes: Gene for People Rechtzigel will work to bring the lowest income tax rate down to 3% on incomes between $12,000 to $44,000. No taxes on incomes under $12,000, the 3% income tax will start after the first $12,000 of each individual's annual income; the 12% flat tax will be on incomes between $44,000 to $144,000 on an individual's annual income. National Security: I am here to start a Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities, to investigate American 's current Security Crisis! United States urgently needs to upgrade its electrical grid against a high altitude electromagnetic pulse attack that would fry all electronics in a huge land area! Israel needs to secure, and oversee the Middle East with FULL MILITARY AID AND SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED STATES!	”
—Gene Rechtzigel's campaign website, http://www.geneforpeople.com/current-issues2.html and http://www.geneforpeople.com/mn-cd4-compaign-platform.html

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Gene Rechtzigel campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Minnesota District 4	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2024*	U.S. Senate Minnesota	Withdrew primary	$0	N/A**
2022	U.S. House Minnesota District 4	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2020	U.S. House Minnesota District 4	Lost general	$20,075	$20,075
Grand total			$20,075	$20,075
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

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Footnotes

[show]

Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Amy Klobuchar (D)

Tina Smith (D)

Representatives

District 1

Brad Finstad (R)

District 2

Angie Craig (D)

District 3

Kelly Morrison (D)

District 4

Betty McCollum (D)

District 5

Ilhan Omar (D)

District 6

Tom Emmer (R)

District 7

Michelle Fischbach (R)

District 8

Pete Stauber (R)

Democratic Party (6)

Republican Party (4)