Larson faces two former Democrats in 1st District race 

Congressman John Larson is seeking a 13th term representing the 1st District, but this year he faces two opponents.  

Both opponents describe themselves as former Democrats.  

Republican Jim Griffin said he changed parties because he didn’t like the direction of the country, while Mary Sanders joined the Green Party because of her anti-war views.  

Larson, a Democrat, said he wants to return to Washington to continue fighting to increase Social Security payments to adjust for inflation.  

He said the way to do this is to remove a cap on payroll taxes that fund Social Security – the cap will increase from $168,600 to $176,100 next year.  

“Can you think of a better economic development locally where every member of Congress knows this money is coming back?” Larson asked, adding increased benefits would give seniors more money to put back into the economy.

He also said he supports “comprehensive immigration reform” that can include increased security at the border, but also faster times for asylum applications and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants currently in the U.S.

Additionally, Larson believes the federal government should fund the construction of more affordable housing.  

Griffin said Congress should focus on bringing back manufacturing jobs that were moved overseas to grow the middle class.  

“(I) grew up in a wonderful time in the '50s and '60s when we had a wonderful middle class based on manufacturing jobs and security,” Griffin said.  

He said this, in turn, would help people afford housing and other needs. He also supports former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.  

But some of Griffin's policies are based on unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, including a belief that the federal government is working with elite bankers to undermine the U.S. and create a single worldwide government.  

“They're accountable only to the principal family banks which have as a goal to bring us to a one world order where they are the ruling sovereignty,” Griffin said of the Federal Reserve.  

He also believes the Federal Emergency Management Agency spent all of its funding on caring for undocumented immigrants, leaving no money to help victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton.  

FEMA has said its program to help the homeless, including undocumented immigrants, is separate from funding for natural disaster recovery.  

Griffin claimed the U.S. government has the ability to control the weather, as well, and claimed the government either failed to protect people living in storm paths or intentionally rerouted them.  

“John Larson won’t protect or stand up for the people who were murdered, killed down there as a result of these supposedly biblical storms. They’re not biblical, they’re communist-Marxist produced storms,” Griffin said.  

President Joe Biden has called it “stupid” to claim the federal government can control storms.  

Larson, meanwhile, said he was not fully aware of Griffin’s claims and that he’d let voters decide how much weight to give them.  

Sanders, meanwhile, said the U.S. should reduce military spending and focus on a policy of peace.  

“Being an anti-war activist for so many years, I decided that the Green Party was more in line with my particular values,” Sanders said.  

She said this would also help families financially by helping them with some of their biggest needs. For example, Sanders said cutting military spending would free up funding for universal healthcare and affordable housing.  

She said the U.S. should take a more “humane” approach to immigration and focus on addressing the conditions – including U.S.-imposed sanctions in some cases – that motivate immigrants to come to the U.S.  

All three candidates said they support a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion, but only Larson and Sanders said they would vote for codifying Roe v. Wade at the federal level.  

Griffin said states should decide, and those that legalize abortion access should also teach the Ten Commandments in school.