Rudy Takala

Rudy Takala
Born Rush City, Minnesota
Residence Pine City, Minnesota
Alma mater Hamline University (BA)
American University (MA)
Occupation Writer, farmer
Political party Republican
Religion Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod

Rudy Takala is a conservative writer.

Early life

Takala was born in Rush City, Minnesota and grew up on a dairy farm in neighboring Pine City. Takala was homeschooled for nine years before earning a bachelor of arts in legal studies and economics from Hamline University in 2009 at the age of 20. He completed a master of arts in political communication from American University in 2015.

Political background

Takala was elected chairman of Minnesota's Pine County Republicans at the age of 18. He was re-elected against one of his party's former candidates for Congress in 2009 with 60% of the vote, and again in 2011.

In early 2009, Takala announced his decision to run for the Minnesota House of Representatives in House district 8B, which at the time encompassed all of Kanabec County and parts of Pine & Isanti counties. He was frequently referred to as a Tea Party candidate over the course of the campaign, at length by Politics in Minnesota in an article titled "Grand Old Party or Tea Party?"[1] and briefly in a featured story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune[2] published shortly before the election. Takala earned a reputation for fiery populist rhetoric and oratory ability during the campaign, winning a 55% majority vote by Republican delegates for endorsement by the Republican Party of Minnesota on March 23, 2010.[3]

Takala lost the primary election to Roger Crawford on August 10, 2010. He carried his own Pine County by 696 votes to 486 votes for his opponent, equating to a tally of 58% to 42%.[4]

It was also during the campaign that Takala began holding forum-themed meetings named "Simply Right," which were frequented by luminaries of the Minnesota Republican Party. Guests who have appeared at the meetings have included Tony Sutton, a former chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party; the Republican Party's 2010 gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer; Pat Anderson, Minnesota's state auditor from 2002–2006;[5] Republican Congressman Chip Cravaack; and Kurt Bills, the Republican Party's 2012 candidate for United States Senate. The group evolved into a political action committee in 2011. Takala served as its executive director.[6]

Commentator

Francesca Chambers & Rudy Takala speaking at an America's Future Foundation Panel at Reason Magazine in Washington, D.C. in January 2014

After running for the Minnesota House, Takala wrote and provided occasional commentary on Minnesota politics. He was often critical of both major political parties for not doing enough to slow the rate of government growth in Minnesota. In 2011, he was quoted by Politics in Minnesota as saying of Republicans in the state legislature, "There was too much talk about the rate of growth [of spending]... we should have been talking about cutting."[7]

He received 1,214 votes at the 2012 Minnesota State Republican Convention to become a delegate to the Republican Party's National Convention in Tampa.[8]

After joining the Washington Examiner in 2015, he met and profiled members of Congress from both parties. They included Tom Cotton,[9] Tim Scott,[10] and Ron Wyden[11] in the Senate, and Marsha Blackburn,[12] Dave Brat,[13] Louie Gohmert,[14] Ted Lieu,[15] Will Hurd,[16] and Mike Pompeo [17] in the House. He also profiled Lee E. Goodman,[18] a Federal Election Commission chairman, and Ajit Varadaraj Pai,[19] a senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission.

Electoral history

References

  1. ↑ Politics in Minnesota. Grand Old Party or Tea Party? July 28, 2010.
  2. ↑ Star Tribune. GOP Awaits Primary Tea Leaves August 5, 2010
  3. ↑ Pine City Pioneer. Republicans Can't Endorse Candidate April 4, 2010.
  4. ↑ Pine City Pioneer. Takala takes Pine, Crawford claims overall victory August 10, 2010.
  5. ↑ Red Rock on Air. Getting Back on the RIGHT Track July 10, 2009.
  6. ↑ Politics in Minnesota. Tea Party activist Takala starts political fund. August 19, 2010.
  7. ↑ Politics in Minnesota. Many in GOP Base Angry at Legislature August 5, 2011.
  8. ↑ Press Publications. Pine City Well Represented at Republican Convention June 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ Washington Examiner. Tom Cotton: 'Deterrence, once lost, is very hard to regain' June 27, 2016.
  10. ↑ Washington Examiner. Tim Scott: IRS has 'gotten worse' April 25, 2016.
  11. ↑ Washington Examiner. Ron Wyden: Sharing no secrets, asking tough questions June 20, 2016
  12. ↑ Washington Examiner. Marsha Blackburn: Are the Clintons playing by the same rules as everyone else? April 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ Washington Examiner. Dave Brat: 'The American people are waking up' February 7, 2016.
  14. ↑ Washington Examiner. Louie Gohmert: Waging war against Washington spending May 23, 2016.
  15. ↑ Washington Examiner. Ted Lieu: Congress is in the 'dark ages' on cybersecurity May 9, 2016
  16. ↑ Washington Examiner. Will Hurd: ‘Our friends are saying the U.S. doesn't have our backs' January 31, 2016
  17. ↑ Washington Examiner. Mike Pompeo: Why politicians need to understand encryption January 24, 2016.
  18. ↑ Washington Examiner. Commissioner: FEC power grabs are the real 'dysfunction' January 4, 2016.
  19. ↑ Washington Examiner. FCC commissioner: Something changing in America about the First Amendment March 14, 2016.
  20. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State. 2010 Primary Election Results. August 10, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.