Marine, former prosecutor Joe Teirab enters race against Rep. Angie Craig in 2024

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Teirab announced Wednesday that he's running in 2024 as a Republican for the Second Congressional District seat held by Democrat Angie Craig.

Teirab, 36, said he's running to fight for safer communities and to get the national debt and deficit under control.

"I am the son of a Sudanese immigrant," Teirab said in a news release. "I am the grandson of a World War II POW. I grew up in a small town in southwest Minnesota before attending Harvard Law School and joining the United States Marine Corps. If there is one lesson that generations of my family have taught me, it is the value of service and giving back."

Teirab said he's prosecuted drug crimes linked to Mexican cartels and helped prosecute a racketeering case against the Bloods gang in Minneapolis.

"I've seen government waste and how people take advantage of our country's generosity when I helped the effort to prosecute those who stole over $250 million meant to feed hungry children and instead funded their lavish lifestyles," he said, referring to the pandemic-era Feeding our Future fraud.

Teirab grew up in Windom, graduated from Cornell University and Harvard Law School and served more than four years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, including deployment to Iraq.

His news release said he lives in Burnsville, but Hennepin County records show he bought a condo in Minnetonka in July 2022 and paid homestead property taxes in May and October of this year. Candidates aren't required to live in the district they seek to represent.

His campaign said he recently moved into the district.

Burnsville criminal defense lawyer Tayler Rahm already has entered the race to challenge Craig, who is seeking a fourth term in the political swing district. Tyler Kistner, who has run twice before, also is eyeing the race again.

Former Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy also announced his run for Craig's seat, but hasn't shown signs of campaigning.

DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said: "Republicans have struggled to run against Angie Craig's record of delivering for her district on issues from funding for local law enforcement to lowering the cost of prescription drugs."

Martin said that whoever survives the GOP primary will "face a tough campaign against a proven leader who has delivered time after time for residents of the Second District."