Joseph Paul Radinovich (born April 7, 1986) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. As a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 10B in north-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He was the DFL candidate for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Minnesota's 8th congressional district Minnesota's 8th congressional district covers the northeastern part of Minnesota. It is anchored by Duluth, the state's fourth-largest city. It also includes most of the Mesabi & Vermilion iron ranges, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in th ...

in the November 2018 general election, losing to Republican

Pete Stauber Peter Allen Stauber (born May 10, 1966) is an American politician, former professional hockey player, and retired law enforcement officer from Minnesota serving as the United States representative for Minnesota's 8th congressional district. A mem ...

Early life

Radinovich was born and raised in Crosby, Minnesota. In eighth grade, the Crosby-Ironton School District which he attended proposed a large budget cut, leading Radinovich to attend a school board meeting and to participate in a student walkout. Radinovich attended Crosby-Ironton High School, where he competed in cross country and track and field. While he was in high school, one of his close relatives attempted suicide, leading Radinovich to miss most of his junior year in order to be in the intensive care unit with his family. In February 2004, Radinovich's mother was killed by his step-grandfather, who then killed himself. He attended Macalester College from 2004 to 2007. In 2005, when the teachers in Crosby-Ironton went on strike, he returned to his hometown to walk picket lines with faculty members. In 2018, Radinovich became engaged to former State Representative

Carly Melin Carly Melin (born August 13, 1985) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represented District 6A, which included portions of ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Radinovich was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012, defeating Dale Lueck 50.7% to 49.3%. Before winning the general election, Radinovich defeated David Schaff in the primary. Schaff criticized the then-25-year-old Radinovich for being "extremely young." Soon after his election, Radinovich faced a difficult situation over his position on legally recognizing same-sex marriages, after his district voted for

Minnesota Amendment 1 Minnesota Amendment 1 (also called Minnesota Marriage Amendment or Minnesota Gay Marriage Amendment) was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment proposed to ban marriage between same-sex couples in the state of Minnesota, that appeared ...

by a large margin. A series of suicides by gay students in the Anoka school district in 2011 convinced him that same-sex marriage should be legal. The students' deaths were especially compelling for Radinovich due to his own family's experience with depression and suicide. Radinovich's voting to legalize gay marriage proved controversial for both the public and his House colleagues, and he was defeated by Dale Lueck in his 2014 House re-election bid, 48% to 52%.

Campaign work

After being defeated for reelection to the Minnesota House of Representatives, Radinovich became campaign manager for Congressman Rick Nolan's successful 2016 reelection in . In 2017, Radinovich managed Jacob Frey's successful campaign for Minneapolis mayor, then became the chief of staff for Frey's administration. In 2021, Radinovich managed Frey's mayoral re-election campaign, winning 56% to 44%. In 2022, he began managing the campaign for

Don Samuels Don Samuels (born 1948/1949) is an American politician and activist, who served as a member of the Minneapolis City Council from 2003 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Samuels came to national attention as a candidate for the DFL nominat ...

, who is running against incumbent

Ilhan Omar Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota ...

in the Fifth Congressional District. Samuels lost the DFL endorsement to Omar (receiving 37% of the delegate votes to Omar's 62%) but decided to stay in the race through the August primary.

2018 U.S. House campaign

On February 15, 2018, Radinovich announced his candidacy for

, following Representative Rick Nolan's announcement he would not seek re-election. He won the Democratic primary on August 14, 2018. Radinovich was subsequently endorsed by former

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and former Vice Presidents

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

and Joe Biden. Radinovich's campaign was opposed by $7.1 million in negative advertisements from the

Congressional Leadership Fund The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Super PAC, which was closely linked to former House Speaker John Boehner and House GOP leadership, was founded in ...

and

America First Action The America First Policies Institute (AFPI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) think tank that was founded in 2021 to promote former U.S. President Donald Trump's public policy agenda. The organization was founded by Brooke Rollins, who serves as presid ...

Super PACs. Radinovich faced former St. Louis County Commissioner

in the November 2018

midterm election Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...

, losing to Stauber by a margin of 50.7% to 45.2%.

References

External links

Rep. Joe Radinovich
''official Minnesota House of Representatives website''
Rep. Joe Radinovich
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Radinovich, Joe 1986 births 21st-century American politicians American campaign managers Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Living people Macalester College alumni Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives People from Crosby, Minnesota