Occupation Writer, Farmer Name Rudy Takala | Political party Republican Party | |
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Religion Missouri Synod Lutheran Residence Pine City, Minnesota, United States | ||
The hard line rudy takala discusses russian hackers breaching dnc computer servers
Rudy Takala is a conservative writer.
Contents
- The hard line rudy takala discusses russian hackers breaching dnc computer servers
- Early life
- Political background
- Commentator
- Electoral history
- References
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?" and briefly in a featured story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune 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.
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%.
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; 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.
Commentator
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."
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.
After joining the Washington Examiner in 2015, he met and profiled members of Congress from both parties. They included Tom Cotton, Tim Scott, and Ron Wyden in the Senate, and Marsha Blackburn, Dave Brat, Louie Gohmert, Ted Lieu, Will Hurd, and Mike Pompeo in the House. He also profiled Lee E. Goodman, a Federal Election Commission chairman, and Ajit Varadaraj Pai, a senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission.