Doug Chapin for Congress
September 24, 2026 · Newsletter
You Know What Things Cost.
You don’t need an economist to tell you what ground beef costs.
You don’t need a new poll to tell you whether filing up your tank hurts more than it used to.
You don’t need another politician on TV to explain what happened when you swiped your card at the grocery store.
You already know.
You know because you watched the total skyrocket at the checkout.
You know because filling up the tank means doing a little mental math about what else needs to wait until payday.
You know because a car repair that used to be an inconvenience can suddenly become the thing that throws an entire month off track.
And that’s what makes something Congressman Tom Emmer said last week so insulting.
Appearing on Fox Business, Emmer told a national audience that “beef is at less than $2 a pound for ground beef.”
No it f*cking isn’t.
In August, the average price of ground beef across the country was nearly $7.16 per pound. Here in MN and the Midwest at large, it was $6.92, up from $6.31 a year ago.
That isn’t a rounding error. It isn’t the difference between shopping at one grocery store instead of a different one. It’s a statement about an economy that shares almost NO resemblance to what families are actually dealing with when they walk into one.
And maybe that helps explain something we’re seeing across the country right now.
People are tired of being told not to believe their own grocery receipts.
The Numbers Are Starting to Tell the Same Story
This isn’t just something we hear in conversations with voters. The polls are increasingly difficult to try and ignore. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the end of August, 47% of registered voters said the cost of living would be the single most important factor in their decisions when they enter the voting booth this November.
Not immigration. Not whatever controversy was dominating the news cycles that evening. The cost of living.
Which is starting to feel like the cost of surving.
In the same survey, 71% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the sky rocketing prices.
And in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll just released this week, dissatisfaction clearly extends well beyond Democrats. Among Republicans, approval of Trump’s handling of the cost of living fell from 70% in January to 44% in September. A 26% drop among REPUBLICANS.
Also, 70% in January? 70%?!
The same poll showed that Republicans think Trump’s handling of the broader economy at large fell from 80% to 56% over the same nine-month period.
Those numbers can’t tell us what any individual voter will do this coming November. But, they tell us something important about what we’re all experiencing.
This isn’t a partisan issue (despite what Tom Emmer might say about it being “a BS issue”).
A grocery bill doesn’t know how you voted. Neither does a rent payment, your mortgage, or the gas pump.
This is What “Affordability” Looks Like
Sometimes the language we use to talk about the economy makes ordinary life sound like a CSPAN show.
Inflation. Consumer Confidence. Real Wages. Purchasing Power.
Yes, those things matter. But, families don’t experience the economy as a line on a chart. They experience it at the kitchen table. They experience it when they put something back on the shelf because the price has somehow doubled. They experience it when they pull out a credit card for groceries because payday is still three days away.
They experience it when their kids need something unexpected and there simply isn’t enough money left in the checking account.
Right here in Minnesota, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis just reported that the cost of living has become less affordable for many workers, and even some higher-income workers.
For lower-income workers, the Fed found that everyday expenses were becoming increasingly difficult to manage and that certain unexpected costs, like car repairs, were starting to become what they termed as “near catastrophes.”
Even large retailers have reported more customers shifting purchases from cash and debit cards to credit.
That sounds a lot more like an economy where people have to take out short-term micro loans to finance their groceries than one where we’re all sitting around the kitchen table with $2 hamburgers.
Meanwhile, at the Very Top…
There was another number circulating this week.
$7 billion.
That’s Forbes’ latest estimate of President Trump’s net worth.
At a moment when millions of Americans are responding to polls saying that they can’t afford anything and feel like they’re drowning, the president is making billions off his Presidency. Members of Congress earn salaries that are WAY out of touch with their average constituent (even when they’re absent for 80+ days). And, one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington is telling Americans that ground beef costs less than $2 a pound.
Do the people making decisions in Washington even understand what we’re dealing with?
Because right now, there are a whole lot of really upset Americans realizing that the Trump Administration is only looking out for themselves.
Tom Emmer Has Been in Washington for Nearly 12 Years
What has he truly done for any of us in that time? How has he made ANYTHING better across the Sixth?
Tom Emmer isn’t the new guy trying to figure out how Congress works. He’s repped the Sixth since 2015. Today, he’s the House Majority Whip which is one of the most powerful positions in the House of Representatives.
So when families in St. Cloud, Anoka, Monticello, Elk River, Buffalo and communities across this district say they’re struggling to keep the lights on, they deserve more than someone going on television, looking into the camera, and telling them hamburger costs $2 a pound.
It infuriates me that all of us, as his constituents, are being told bald faced lies by that old gym sock of a human being.
We deserve to be repped by people grounded in the world they’re actually living in! We need representation that is OF THE PEOPLE.
Because whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, or someone who stopped paying attention to politics years ago (I can’t blame you), there’s something so damn frustrating about being told that things are getting cheaper while you’re standing at the gas pump watching the exact opposite happen.
You can’t “message” your way out of this situation Tom. You can’t spin it away into some “communists are going to take over” nonsense. And you certainly can’t tell someone who just paid $6 or $7 for a pound of hamburger that it actually costs $2.
People know what they paid. And people are pissed.
Show Up and Listen, Not A Strange Concept
There’s a strong temptation in politics to believe that every problem requires a better slogan.
Usually it doesn’t.
Sometimes it requires listening. Not talking.
That’s exactly what Doug Chapin has spent this whole campaign doing across the Sixth District, at doors, community events, parades, town halls, and conversations with people who don’t agree with him on everything.
And what we’ve heard over and over isn’t particularly complicated.
News Flash!
BREAKING NEWS:
People want to be able to afford their lives. We want decent jobs to mean something.
We want to buy groceries without having to worry before we see the total. We want to own a home someday or simply afford the one we already have.
We want to take our kid to the doctor without wondering what the bill will look like. We want to be able to take a vacation without going into more debt. We want to work hard, play by the rules, and have some reasonable expectation that we’ll be a little better off next year than we were this year.
That’s not asking too much.
Because we’ve held up our end of the bargain.
No political party has an automatic claim on voters.
You earn their trust by showing up. You earn it by listening. You earn it by being honest about what they’re going through.
And, you actually get your a** back to your district and talk to them face to face.
The Receipt Doesn’t Lie
There are only a few weeks left until Election Day. Between now and then, we’re going to hear a lot of numbers. We’ll hear polling numbers. Jobs numbers. Inflation numbers. Approval ratings. Economic growth. Campaign fundraising totals.
And politicians from both parties will choose whichever numbers make their argument look strongest.
But there is another set of numbers that matters.
$6.92 for a pound of ground beef in the Midwest.
$6.00 for a gallon of diesel.
$4.50 for a gallon of gasoline.
The balance on the credit card. The mortgage payment. The rent. The insurance premium.
Those numbers don’t come with a press secretary. They don’t care which party controls Congress. They don’t change because somebody went on television and told you things are better.
They’re just there. And every day, every single day, we have to figure out how to make them work.
That’s the reality Tom Emmer seems to want to paint over with total lies.
Because you can spin a poll. You can spin a speech. You can spin a press release.
But we know what things cost. And you can’t spin that.
Around the District: Taking the Conversation to Your Door
If this election is going to be about what people are actually experiencing, then we need to hear from the people experiencing it.
That’s why Team Chapin is hitting the pavement across the Sixth District in a BIG way over the next week and a half.
From Andover and Lino Lakes to St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Zimmerman, Blaine, Ramsey, Centerville, Watab Township and beyond, volunteers will be knocking doors and having conversations with voters about what matters to them, what they expect from their representative, and what they want the future of this district to look like.
Because campaigns shouldn’t just talk at people. We listen.
And there’s no better way to do that than one neighbor, one doorstep, and one conversation at a time.
Every door matters. Every conversation matters.
Whether you can join us for an afternoon, an evening, or just a couple of hours, there are so many opportunities throughout the district to get involved! No experience is necessary, we’ll make sure you have what you need to get started!
Pick a door knock near you, bring some comfortable shoes, and come help us meet the people who will decide what comes next for Minnesota’s Sixth District.
40 Days
Forty days. That’s all that stands between where we are today and Election Day.
For months, we’ve talked about what people across this district are experiencing, the rising costs, the frustration with Washington, and the feeling that WAY too many people making decisions have completely lost touch with reality.
Now comes the part where conversations become action. Over the next forty days, thousands of doors will be knocked by volunteers all over the Sixth district. Calls will be made, post cards will be sent, and yard signs will spread like dandelions.
Most importantly, voters will decide what kind of representative we deserve.
We know what things cost. We know what our communities are facing. And we know we’re Ready for Better.
Forty days. let’s get out there and make every one count!
#Flipthe6th #LFG #ReadyforBetter
If you can, please send this to someone you know who’s fed up with things and wants to stay connected with our campaign!
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