Second Congressional District Rep. Angie Craig: I'll keep fighting to cut costs, protect freedoms

During my two terms serving the Second District in Congress, I've worked hard to tackle the problems Minnesotans are facing, but I'm not done yet.

I am immensely proud of the work we've done in the past two years. We made historic investments in renewable energy, delivered essential infrastructure funding to communities across Minnesota, passed critical legislation to invest in community policing, expanded health care access to 14 million more Americans and passed the first gun safety bill in decades.

It's easy to feel that our country is more divided than ever, but I've made it my mission to break through those divisions and find consensus. It's because of that work that Common Ground Committee ranked me in the top 3% of bipartisan members of Congress and that I was able to get four bills signed into law under President Donald Trump.

I'm running for re-election for the Kruegers, who got caught in the ACA's "Family Glitch" and would have had to spend 25% of their income on health insurance — with a toddler at home and twins on the way. I brought their story all the way to the White House, where I stood with the president as he signed a solution into law, granting 62,000 more Minnesotans access to affordable health care.

I'm running for Jody and Dave, who spend thousands of dollars a year on Jody's insulin. My bipartisan bill capping insulin copays at $35 a month for folks on Medicare and Medicaid was passed and signed into law this summer. Passing a bill to cover those on private plans and the uninsured is one of my goals for a third term.

And I'm running for the Slifkos. Cory Slifko was an officer with the South St. Paul Police Department for 20 years and died by suicide in 2019 after suffering from work-related PTSD. I heard about his story and called his wife, Katie, who told me she could not access the benefits Cory earned, so I wrote the bill to try and change that. A federal law was signed this summer.

This election is about the hardworking Minnesotans in the Second District, but it's also about the direction in which we want to steer our nation.

This election will determine whether our democracy can be saved from those trying to tear it down. This election will determine if women across our country have access to safe reproductive care. It will determine whether families like my wife, Cheryl's, and mine are still recognized under the law. Whether the prescription drug reforms we passed this summer stay intact, whether we continue our critical investments in renewable energy and whether our seniors can depend on the Social Security benefits they earned through a lifetime of hard work.

If extremist Washington Republicans have their way, they'll roll back all that progress. They'll ban abortion, slash Social Security and Medicare on the backs of our seniors and reverse our health care reforms. How do we know? Because they've told us. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that we should believe them when they tell us what they're going to do.

This congressional seat does not belong to any political party or to me. This seat belongs to the people of the Second District.

In that spirit, voters have a choice to make in this election. A choice between someone who is clear about what she believes and why, vs. someone who scrubs unpopular positions from his website and refuses to admit the current president won the last election. If re-elected, I promise to continue to stand up to special interests, work to lower our costs and support small businesses. My opponent has literally cheered on inflation, saying it's something that has been helping his election prospects.

As your federal representative, I will always protect your rights and freedoms, I'll stand up to help your businesses grow and I've proven I'll work with whoever I need to in order to get the job done.

It is truly an honor to serve you in Congress, and I humbly ask for your vote on Nov. 8.

Angie Craig represents Minnesota's Second Congressional District.