Michelle Fischbach

MOORHEAD — Rep. Michelle Fischbach, fighting to keep her seat in the U.S. House, seeks to bring a rural voice to Washington.

Fischbach, a Republican who represents Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, spoke about her accomplishments and stances on key issues during a meeting with The Forum Editorial Board in September.

Fischbach, from Regal, is facing Wadena Democrat Erik Osberg in the Nov. 3 election.

Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District covers much of western Minnesota. The district includes cities like Moorhead, East Grand Forks, Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Park Rapids, Perham, Wadena and Willmar.

Fischbach was first elected to Congress in 2020, winning over longtime Democrat Rep. Collin Peterson. She was reelected in 2022 and 2024.

Voters think she is a strong voice for rural Minnesota, Fischbach told The Forum.

“We have more we can do to support the ag community, support our rural communities and I have been honored to do that and humbled to represent the 7th District,” Fischbach said.

Before she was elected to Congress, Fischbach served in the Minnesota Senate from 1996 to 2018, and as Minnesota’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2019.

Fischbach listed getting money to small towns for infrastructure needs and the passage of a year-round E15 policy in the House as top accomplishments. In 2026, 11 infrastructure projects across the 7th District received federal funding, according to Fischbach’s office. The E15 provision is included in the Farm Bill, which the Senate has not yet passed.

Amid the war with Iran and a renewed trade war with Canada, farmers are facing high fuel prices and uncertainty during harvest season. Fischbach said tax provisions in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act and health and trade policies included in the yet-to-be passed Farm Bill will help Minnesota's farmers.

“It’s not a perfect world right now for them to be succeeding exactly,” Fischbach said. “But you know, it is an issue of national security, and we look at it that food security is national security, and so we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help them.”

While high fuel prices are hurting Minnesotans, gas prices also fluctuated under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, she said.

“That’s not to diminish or discount anyone’s pain right now that they’re going through because of those prices, but there isn’t a one switch that can turn it off at this point,” Fischbach said.

Fischbach is concerned by certain tariffs enacted by the Trump administration, she said.

“We are not in love with every tariff,” Fischbach said, adding that she believes President Donald Trump was able to leverage tariffs to get countries to negotiate on trade with the U.S.

Fischbach serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, along with its Trade Subcommittee. The subcommittee continues to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to talk about the importance of agricultural exports, Fischbach said.

“I don’t know if there’s anything we could do differently exactly at this point, but we are continuing to push for those trade agreements, making sure that we have the exports, that we have the markets for our commodities,” Fischbach said.

When protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents clashed in Minnesota during a immigration crackdown early this year, Fischbach voiced support for the federal agents. In a Facebook post after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, Fischbach characterized the incident as a “targeted assault on ICE agents” resulting from “the dangerous rhetoric from sanctuary policies and the politicians who back them.”

One of two fatal ICE-involved shootings in January, the killing sparked anti-ICE protests across the Twin Cities and pockets of greater Minnesota.

Fischbach told The Forum she heard support for ICE from her constituents.

“From what I’ve heard from people is they were disappointed in the fact that our state leaders and our leaders in Minneapolis wouldn’t support ICE getting rid of the worst of the worst,” Fischbach said.

A Minnesota Public Radio news report found fewer than a quarter of those arrested during Operation Metro Surge had a criminal conviction on their record.