A closely watched swing-district battle, a rematch in northeastern Minnesota and a race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips are among the state’s congressional races to watch this November.
The elections for Minnesota’s eight U.S. House seats will help determine who controls the chamber for the next two years. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Here are four U.S. House races to watch in Minnesota over the next two months.
Craig vs. Teirab
Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig is seeking a fourth term representing the swing Second District, which encompasses south suburbs and Dakota, Scott and Le Sueur counties. She and her wife, Cheryl Greene, have four sons and recently moved from Eagan to Prior Lake.
Craig has focused on lowering health care costs, sponsoring a bill to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month. She’s also voted to codify abortion rights into federal law and requested the Biden administration take executive action to improve security at the southern border.
The Democrat has faced tough races since she was first elected in 2018. She defeated Republican Tyler Kistner by just over 2 percentage points in 2020, and then beat him by a wider margin two years later.
Craig is facing a well-funded challenger in Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and Marine who’s backed by former President Donald Trump. Teirab helped prosecute some of the cases involving Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit that is accused of stealing $250 million from a federal program aimed at providing meals to children during the pandemic.
Teirab, who lives in Burnsville, says he wants to lower taxes, cut government spending and strengthen security at the southern border.