# Joe McDonald

Joe McDonald is a Republican member of the Minnesota House for district 29A.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Minnesota House, district 29A
- Serving since: 2013-01-08
- Current term: MN 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/6292245e-1db4-4a8e-ba2a-a036e7b68044

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6292245e-1db4-4a8e-ba2a-a036e7b68044 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

0% of McDonald’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Minnesota, in the bottom 5% of State House Republicans.

## What McDonald says (MN 2025–26 session)

66 classified statements: 66 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | McDonald | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.0% | 2.9% | 232 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 6.1% | 9.3% | 410 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 9.1% | 31.9% | 708 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 677 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 0.0% | 12.7% | 764 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 1.5% | 1.4% | 241 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Economics and Public Finance 67% (State House Republicans 12%); Families 17% (State House Republicans 3.6%); Government Operations and Politics 17% (State House Republicans 18%); Taxation 17% (State House Republicans 8.1%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State House Republicans 4.4%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.27 (standard error 0.02), from 53 donors and 640 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 36% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (MN 2025–26 session)

291 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Minnesota House 100%). Party unity 97.8% (97.5%). 9 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Niska Motion Suspension of Rules · HF 1849 Term limits provided for governor and lieutenant governor, and constitutional amendment proposed. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF1849/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · HF 2354 Medical assistance fraud governing provisions added and modified, attorney general provided subpoena and enforcement authority, criminal penalties… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2354/
- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Long motion Suspension of Rules · HF 5149 Law enforcement access to sensitive locations restricted, civil remedies established, concealing identity crime modified, scope of use of force… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF5149/
- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Repassage, as amended by Conference · SF 4612 Omnibus Health and Human Services supplemental appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4612/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage · SF 334 Human Services Systems Modernization Advisory Council and Legislative Commission on Human Services Systems; creation · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF334/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · SF 5200 Miscellaneous oversights, inconsistencies, ambiguities, unintended results, and technical errors correction · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5200/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Niska motion Take from the table · HF 2133 Income tax; pass-through entity tax technical correction made. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2133/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · SF 1943 Pet shops prohibition from selling cats and dogs · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF1943/
- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Passage · SF 4401 Omnibus Cannabis bill · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4401/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Repassage, as amended by Conference · SF 4476 Omnibus Human Services supplemental appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4476/

## Legislation (MN 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 35 bills: 35 reached committee, 0 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 111. 0.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Minnesota House 4.4%; rank 114 of 131).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HF 4992: Health carriers required to offer reference-based pricing health plans, open-ended promise-to-pay contracts prohibited, provider number framework established,… (in committee, 2026-04-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4992/
- HF 4997: Safe Battery Collection and Recycling Stewardship Act enacted, covered electronics device manufacturer electronic waste recycling program established,… (in committee, 2026-04-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4997/
- HF 4947: Wright County; Trunk Highway 24 intersection improvements funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-13) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4947/
- HF 4858: Sellers required to accept United States currency for purchases. (in committee, 2026-04-07) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4858/
- HF 4676: Recipients of legacy money required to include alternative text on websites to describe legacy logo. (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4676/
- HF 4665: Number of proof of residence oaths a person can sign on any election day reduced from eight to two. (in committee, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4665/
- HF 4386: Employee allowed to opt out of participation in paid leave program. (in committee, 2026-03-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4386/
- HF 4295: County authorized to approve up to 24 chickens on any lot by ordinance. (in committee, 2026-04-07) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4295/
- HF 4292: Fees charged by commissioner of commerce for license applications and renewals modified. (in committee, 2026-03-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4292/
- HF 4385: Salisbury Bridge rehabilitation funding provided, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-03-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4385/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $3,350 (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 0% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2112884420097052743
- 2026-09-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2103900988826624398
- 2026-09-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2102959125353144793
- 2026-09-19 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2101322280215195911
- 2026-09-18 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2100964883881717979
- 2026-09-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2098541966300471591
- 2026-09-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2098062389186883832
- 2026-08-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2092452305769582899
- 2026-08-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2087025450019070223
- 2026-07-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/joemacphoto/status/2080268143281291769

## Links

- Official site: https://www.house.mn.gov/members/profile/15360
- X: https://x.com/joemacphoto
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepJoeMcDonald/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joemacphoto
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-mcdonald-924ab854

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/6292245e-1db4-4a8e-ba2a-a036e7b68044