(ABC 6 News) – Voters had the chance to meet Jake Johnson on Saturday, a current Rochester Mayo High School teacher who is running to represent voters at the federal level.

It comes after Johnson announced on Thursday that he would challenge Representative Brad Finstad’s seat.

It was quite the turnout as the community filed into the cafeteria in support of Johnson. The meeting began with people making their rounds to get to know the new candidate, followed by Johnson saying a few words to the crowd.

He expressed thoughts on a few key issues facing our community and country, particularly the recent tariffs imposed by President Trump.

“These are real people in our district and our communities who are being crushed by these tariffs, so it’s not just a bumpy road for some people, it’s volatile and it’s seriously and negatively impacting their lives,” Johnson said.

It’s a topic congressman Brad Finstad shared his own thoughts on with ABC 6 earlier this week, saying more focus on who the country is trading with, as well as how much, is what’s important in the long run.

“If we wake up one day to a country that becomes our advocacy and we are completely reliant on XYZ from them, we are very vulnerable, and so this is a good chance for us to kind of reset the deck,” Finstad said.

Tariffs weren’t the only topic of conversation at the meet and greet, Johnson said he wants to hold as many town halls as possible, in order to hear voters’ voices all throughout the district.

“We’re gonna hold a town hall in every county, to listen to people and hear their concerns and value them, right, I value people’s willingness to engage in the process through communication,” Johnson said.

Being heard has been a main criticism that has been used against Finstad, who responded to the concerns to ABC 6 this past week as well.

“We are constantly engaging with our constituents. You know over close to 50,000 email correspondents, so we are communicating. We are trying to be as available as possible,” Finstad said.

Johnson ended the meet and greet saying he couldn’t wait to get started and is thankful for how many people came out for support.

If you are interested in the exclusive interview ABC 6 News did with Rep. Brad Finstad, you can find that here.