John Munter (Minnesota) - Ballotpedia

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John Munter (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Minnesota's 8th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 13, 2024.

Munter completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Munter was born in Albion, New York. He received a high school diploma from Duluth East High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 1972 and a degree from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 1988. His career experience includes working as a writer and for Delta Airlines before reitiring.^[1]^[2]

Elections

2024

See also: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024

Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Republican primary)

Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (August 13 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Jennifer Schultz in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber (R)	58.0	244,498
		Jennifer Schultz (D)	41.9	176,724
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	384

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 421,606
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Jennifer Schultz defeated John Munter in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Schultz	91.0	32,149
		John Munter	9.0	3,194

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,343
= 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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Harry Welty in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber	90.5	36,928
		Harry Welty	9.5	3,874

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,802
= 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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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Munter in this election.

2022

See also: Minnesota's 8th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Jennifer Schultz in the general election for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber (R)	57.2	188,755
		Jennifer Schultz (D)	42.7	141,009
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	316

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 330,080
= 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 8

Jennifer Schultz defeated John Munter in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jennifer Schultz	86.1	38,545
		John Munter	13.9	6,199

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 44,744
= 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

Theresa Lastovich (D)
Ernest Oppegaard-Peltier (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8

Incumbent Pete Stauber defeated Harry Welty in the Republican primary for U.S. House Minnesota District 8 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Stauber	91.0	51,410
		Harry Welty	9.0	5,075

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 56,485
= 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.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Munter completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Munter's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I won 6,199 votes in 2022 8th Primary. I am married with four children living retired after 17 years with Delta on an ancestral hobby farm in Warba near Grand Rapids. My opponents are way too timid and beholden to their parties. I am accepting no donations with money being the bain of politics. My web site is MUNTERforCongress@substack.com where I have a long list of opinion pieces published in the Duluth News Tribune, Grand Rapids Herald Review, and the Reformers expressing my many different viewpoints which differ from both major parties often. I consider both parties corrupt and beholden to AIPAC (the Israeli Lobby), Big Pharma (trying to pass an international Pandemic Treaty robbing us of national sovereignty), Big Tech (which has colluded with Democrats to suppress free speech), Big Ag (which is wasting 1$ billion a year on non-ecological ethanol subsidies, and the Defense Department (which should be producing more 155 mm mortar shells and not wasting money on a reboot the ICBM system or useless air craft carriers).

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

We need to rebuild the Middle Class which was well over 60% of us when I was a kid and is now well under 50%. The home mortgage income tax exemption has been the biggest wealth generator for the Middle Class. We need to ban Wall Street practices such as buying up 25% of homes last year and flipping them to rentals. We need for HUD and USDA to back low interest, no down payment mortgages for first-time home buyers with good credit scores and a home owners course. We need to lower the Canadian soft lumber tariff and provide block grants for cities and towns to develop building sites with water, electricity, and sewer.
Administrations for decades have been arrogant and incompetent in pushing NATO borders right to Russia's border resulting in the failing Ukraine War and aligning themselves with the genocidal right-wing government in Israel in another failed war. 'Destroying Hamas' cannot be done and now we risk a wider war with Lebanon. The biggest funder of Joe Biden is AIPAC--the Israeli lobby-$11.2 million over the course of his career. AIPAC also funds about 400 of the 535 House seats and this Israeli lobby has promised to spend $100 million in this election cycle to defeat all of its enemies who are trying to hold Israel accountable to the laws of war and towards a positive outcome such as a two-state solution instead of ethnic cleansing.
Big Farmers as a requirement to obtain insurance and to assist small farmers in remaining competitive with them need to 1) Maintain cover-cropping on all their crop land 2) Do dry storage and composting of manure 3) Feed a seaweed supplement to all their cattle to reduce methane emissions. Only a handful of asparagosis seaweed a day can reduce their methane emissions by 80%-99%. These three measures would substantially reduce carbon and methane emissions from agriculture.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

If elected I will go door to door to all my Congressional colleagues to work on legislation on a bipartisan basis to increase the supply of single family home ownership which is essential for the Middle Class to prosper. Something has to be done! Whole neighborhoods are bought up with cash on the barrel-head and flipped to high-end rentals since 2008. Now even the 'build-to-rent' number has gone up last year from 5% to 10%. Builders have no incentive to build Middle Class homes so we need to provide the building sites, the cheaper limber, and the financial backing to make that happen

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I admire Marianne Williamson for the insightful policies on her web site

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

See my many opinion pieces on MUNTERforCongress.substack.com where I address climate, the Gaza War, Medicare Advantage, critical minerals, agriculture, near-shoring our supply lines and industry from China to Central American, as well as a large bucket list of things we can do for single family homes and rebuild the Middle Class.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

It is most important to think independently without being bought off by special interests and corrupt greed.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am not bought and paid for and I am more engaged in the public issues important to the 8th District than my opponents.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To live a life of integrity.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to destroy corporate investment in the single family home market.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The re-election of Eisenhower in 1956

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked on the assembly line making Jeno's pizza rolls.

What is your favorite book? Why?

My own...I wrote a book on the Gospel of Thomas: 'The Integral Gospel of Thomas Made Easy' in 2016 on Amazon.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Frodo living in the Shire

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I quickly forget them.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Every strenuous work out at the Y.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

It is closest to the people where someone in a big city or Congressional district can run and win without a lot of money.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

No, in fact, it has a tendency to be corrupting.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Without the Middle Class we will not remain a democracy.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

A three term limit might given lobbyists more power but it would free up members at the end of their term to vote more freely.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

WE have had lots of great DFL reps in the 8th District who have brought a lot of projects into our district. WE have the jobs here. We need to bring good policies into the district so families can find homes.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

I know a single person in my district who has worked at a high-paying IT job for a decade and still has difficulty finding a home to buy. On the other hand, nearby, I see a 1920's farmhouse with two bedrooms and one bath and a nice old barn on 40 acres in the middle of nowhere on the market for $350,000. This is nuts.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Attorney General Garland after he was censored by Congress should indict himself to show how non-partisan he is.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise will be necessary to defeat big corporate interests.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

I would lobby vigorously against pork barrel Defense and Space projects and funding for Israel. Ukraine is more nuanced where we don't want to see them collapse but they need to negotiate an end to the war. Finland gave over 1/3 of their country to the USSR after World War II, people moved, and now they are voted the happiest country in the world for the past 7 years. This is a model. Ukraine is not going to defeat Russia. This is ridiculous.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

It should investigate Big Pharma's corruption and incompetence. It should intelligently investigate our true defense needs.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

none

What committees interest you?

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs==where I can impact policies favoring single family home ownership. Agriculture--where I can encourage ecological farming. Budget--where I can work against wasteful defense spending as well as work to cancel the Artimus Mars Project which is a huge waste money since radiation in space is too toxic for the human body to develop space colonies.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Congressional members should be prohibited from buying or selling stock. The Supreme Courts should have a mandatory code of ethics. All campaign financing should be transparent and corporate funding should be banned with a constitutional amendment.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Munter’s campaign website stated the following:

“

Short 'Rebuild the Middle Class' Stump Speech
Democracy cannot survive in America without the Middle Class which was well over 60% of us when I was a kid and is well under 50% of us now. The greatest engine of Middle Class wealth accrual has been the income tax home mortgage exemption, yet last year Wall Street bought up 25% of single family homes and flipped them to rental property. ‘Build to rent’ homes also increased from 5% of the market to 10%. This trend has got to stop! First time home buyers are being priced out of the market by high interest rates and cash on the barrelhead.

In this short video-taped stump speech I outline what need to be done:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DjWwcZEBTE2FdxmW7BKxnaaTuMgKb40C/view?usp=sharing ^[3]

”

—John Munter’s campaign website (2024)^[4]

2022

John Munter completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Munter's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I oppose the Party-endorsed candidates because they think copper-nickel mining is ecological. It is not. Stauber voted against all infrastructure and supports state legislatures over-riding the popular vote. His party wants to sunset Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and raise taxes on poorest 60%. Schulz is beholden to special interests. 6 supreme Court Justices should be impeached. But, no abortion in third trimester. No vaccines for children. Trans youth should be affirmed but no chemical or surgical intervention for minors. I graduated from Duluth East, UMD, UDTS with an M.Div, retired after 17 years with Delta, live on a hobby farm in Warba with my family.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Schultz and Stauber both think copper-nickel mining can be ecological. It cannot. The copper, nickel, cobalt, and magnesium can all come from the Pacidic ocean bottom collected from potato-sized nodule picked up by robots in t
I oppose abortion only in the third trimester, covid vaccines for kids who are at no risk, and chemical and surgical interventions for minors.
Housing--downsize I-35 by half for affordable housing, promote USDA no down payment mortgages in rural cities and towns and modular housing.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Climate change--The few super-emitter wells three times more polluting than coal mines should be capped. Biden should invoke the Defense Production Act to spur making electric heat pumps to reduce emissions, USDA should be empowered to provide a handful of asparagopsis seaweed to all cattle per day to reduce their methane emissions by 80-99%, tariffs should be place on imports from Brazil until they stop destroying the rain forest which is near the breaking point. Cities and towns should all be encourage to develop a solar plus battery garden to cut off the peak monthly rate and save money for the citizens, the city, and the utility

In addition, corn should not be grown for ethanol which is not ecological but a Big Ag subsidy. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) booming exports to Asia should be re-routed to Europe and the US to reduce gas prices.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Putting people and the environment first.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I had to pass Greek and Hebrew in Seminary.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Realizing that the earths climate is being destroyed and we face the threat of fascism in our democracy

What legacy would you like to leave?

A healthier earth and happier people.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Grass roots candidates can run for a Federal office in a limited geographical area and have a chance of winning.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

No. Office holders are too beholden to campaign donations from special interests since the Republican Supreme Court has made money 'speech' and made corporations 'people'.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The Supreme Court case next November of North Carolina re-districting where the Court may affirm the 'independent state legislature ' theory giving state legislatures free reign to gerrymander at will without state courts constraint. Since Republicans control 30 of 50 state legislatures this may permanently enshrine them in power in Congress. Secondly it could so empower them that they would be willing to choose their own Presidential Electors regardless of whatever the popular vote is just based on frivolous and spurious 'stolen election' charges...or they could delay: "We need to recount more" past deadlines and stealing Democratic Electors.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

That would take a concerted study, but I would want to work on climate issues. The Ag committee would be a natural for my district

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Yes, new blood is good.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Oppose.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Jack Kennedy was a fresh and courageous leader

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Obviously. But Republicans since Gingrich and McConnell have been completely stone-walling Clinton, Obama, and Biden and have stolen four Supreme Court seats--two by 5 Republicans on the Supreme Court in 2000 (who had severe conflicts of interest) and who stopped the Florida Supreme Court Recount which would have correctly elected Al Gore....and two seats were stolen by Mitch McConnell who refused to hold hearings on Merrick Garland for a full year, then violated his own protocol hypocritically and pushed through Barrett at the end of Trumps term.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

We need to reverse the Trump tax cuts. Additional revenue should be obtained from financial transaction taxes on the order of .1 to .5 percent per transaction which would raise $7-38 billion a year. To fix Social security we should remove the earnings ceiling so that all income is taxed for Social Security.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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.

John Munter campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. House Minnesota District 8	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2022	U.S. House Minnesota District 8	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
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

External links

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 10, 2022
↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 18, 2024
↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ John Munter’s campaign website, “John's Substack,” accessed August 2, 2024

Minnesota's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Amy Klobuchar (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)

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