Next Tuesday, voters in the south Twin Cities suburbs will decide whether to give U.S. Rep. Angie Craig a fourth term or to elect her Republican challenger, Joe Teirab. It’s likely to be Minnesota’s closest congressional race.
Craig, a Democrat first elected to represent Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018 after defeating Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis, faced two serious challenges 2020 and 2022, when many political observers considered the district to be a tossup.
The race is again considered competitive this year, though Craig, 52, enjoys a significant fundraising and incumbency advantage over her opponent. Some national elections analysts, such as the Cook Political Report, see the 2nd District as leaning Democratic this year, though candidates aren’t taking anything for granted.
“This race is always incredibly competitive, and especially in presidential year cycles,” Craig said. “In 2016 of course, I lost by just 2%, and in 2020, I won by just over 2%. So we’re running hard through the finish line with just few days left here.”
The economy, abortion
The economy is a top issue for candidates in the district this year. Teirab, a 37-year-old former federal prosecutor who lives in Burnsville, has tried to tie Craig to inflation resulting from government spending.
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“She is now is a career politician — she stands for the status quo,” Teirab said. “People can’t afford the status quo anymore.”
Meanwhile, Craig, a former newspaper reporter and medical technology executive who lives with her wife in Prior Lake, has touted her independent record in Congress and efforts to lower the price of drugs like insulin. She has characterized her opponent as an “anti-abortion activist” more beholden to fellow Republicans than constituents in the district.
Abortion continues to be a major issue in suburban races like the 2nd District, though Republicans have attempted to downplay its significance by saying it is a state issue, not a federal one.
Teirab says the issue is settled in Minnesota — where court decisions and state law provide some of the strongest protections for abortion in the county — and therefore not of great relevance to voters. And he says he wouldn’t support a federal ban.
But Craig has pointed to Teirab’s membership on the board of a crisis pregnancy center, a service that counsels women against abortion, and past anti-abortion remarks as a sign that voters can’t trust him on the issue.
“The people here are really independent,” Craig said of the 2nd District. “They value their freedoms. They don’t want politicians in their doctor’s offices. They don’t want them messing with their small businesses. And those are values that I share deeply, and they’re values that have driven my work in Congress.”
Teirab says the pregnancy center, called New Life Family Services, persuaded his mother to not have an abortion when she was pregnant with him.
Public safety, the border
Besides the economy, Teirab has made public safety and the border central to his campaign, saying his experience prosecuting violent crime gives him better insights into law enforcement than Craig.
Republican Joe Teirab. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
“I am always going to have law enforcement’s back, and it’s not just words for me, it’s the actions and experiences that have that backed up,” he said.
Teirab, the son of a Sudanese immigrant, has criticized Craig for not supporting a GOP bill that would have funded a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Craig, who is endorsed by the Minnesota Peace and Police Officers Association, has countered Teirab’s attacks on her border record, noting she has often split with fellow Democrats on the issue — including a GOP-backed limit on the number of asylum seekers allowed to enter the U.S. She’s been a critic of President Joe Biden’s handling of illegal Immigration.
How competitive is MN-2?
As in past years, there’s a lot of money getting spent on the race, which is once again shaping up to be the most expensive of the state’s eight congressional seats. As of mid-October, Craig’s campaign spent more than $6.3 million during this election cycle. Teirab spent about $2.2 million.
Outside spending often overshadows spending by the campaigns themselves. Though so far this year, there hasn’t been as much independent money reported.
In 2022, campaign finance tracker Open Secrets tracked around $19 million in outside spending, roughly split between Craig and Republican Tyler Kistner.
This year, there’s been just a little more than $1.4 million tracked, with virtually all of it supporting Craig.
“We’re not seeing the kind of resources pumping into it or ad buys that we thought we would see,” said Hamline University political science professor David Schultz, who explained that national groups are funneling money to other competitive races. “That suggests to me that they’re making a cost-benefit analysis at this point.”
Schultz said the race would be more competitive if it was an open seat.
Craig and Teirab aren’t the only candidates on the ballot, though they’re the only ones actively campaigning for the seat.
Tom Bowman, a man from outside the district who was running as a “constitutional conservative” after being recruited by a national Democratic Party-affiliated group, dropped out of the race and endorsed Teirab after saying he was “set up.” Bowman withdrew from the race too late to be removed from the ballot.
Accusations of third-party spoiler candidate recruiting is hardly a new thing in the 2nd District. Republicans were accused of recruiting pro-marijuana legalization candidates to hurt Democrats in 2020 and 2022.
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