GOP worried as controversial widow eyes husband's vacant seat

The widow of a recently deceased GOP congressman is looking to run for his House seat -- much to the alarm of other Republicans.

Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN) died last month after a lengthy battle with kidney cancer, and his scandal-plagued widow Jennifer Carnahan is laying the groundwork for her own campaign for that vacant congressional seat, reported Politico.

“I think she has a lot of unresolved political baggage that will put the congressional district in play for the Democrats,” said Michael Brodkorb, a former deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP. “[She] will also bring an unnecessary level of drama and resurface some unresolved issues."

Carnahan resigned last summer as chair of Minnesota's Republican Party after a donor was charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking, although she insists she was unaware of those activities, and some Republicans are troubled by her comments about her husband's illness.

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“Jim is going to die of cancer in two years,” she said in a recording made public last year. "None of this matters because Jim will be dead in two years.”

She also appeared to criticize her husband on social media for not posting about her enough on his own Facebook account.

“Glad you posted spending your birthday with your wife, who drove 3 hours out of her way to show you love and kindness guess it’s clear how much that meant to you," Carnahan posted, and then commented about a half hour later: “I bought you dinner and wine at Chankaska. There is not a single post about it, but the post about your birthday is of your employees? It’s degrading, condescending and upsetting to me on many levels.”

Carnahan declined to say whether she would run for her husband's seat, but one House Republican involved with the National Republican Congressional Committee said she faced an uphill battle from the start.

“I guarantee Jim’s friends are going to end up endorsing someone else,” that GOP lawmaker said. “[Will she run as] just Carnahan? Is it Jennifer Carnahan-Hagedorn? Or is it just completely Jennifer Hagedorn?”