In one of the nation’s most closely watched races, former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab pulled off a win Tuesday night in the Second Congressional District’s Republican primary election to face Rep. Angie Craig in November.

Teirab was supposed to have a clear path to challenge Craig after attorney and political newcomer Tayler Rahm suspended his campaign in July to become former President Donald Trump’s senior adviser in Minnesota.

But Rahm’s name remained on the primary ballot, so it was unclear until Tuesday evening whether his supporters would have an impact in the race.

“Tonight’s definitive results send a clear message that Republicans are united and ready for change. We are ready to support candidates who will strengthen our economy, secure the border, and restore safety in our communities,” Teirab said in a statement.

Teirab has Trump and the National Republican Congressional Committee behind him, along with the money needed to run a formidable campaign against Craig.

Yet, even after he suspended his campaign, Rahm had support among his loyal base of grassroots conservatives, who helped propel him to victory over Teirab at the Republican Party’s Second District endorsing convention.

Rahm’s campaign literature was still being distributed ahead of the primary, and his lawn signs remained visible across the district. Some of his supporters had said they still would not vote for Teirab even though he had Trump’s endorsement.

“The couple thousand of us that are activist class, I don’t think any of us are swayed by that at all,” Rahm supporter Paul Tuschy said ahead of the primary, adding that he knocked on as many as 2,800 doors for Rahm.

After Rahm left the race, neither he nor the Second District GOP came out in support of Teirab.

The NRCC, which recently put Teirab on its Young Guns list, took a victory lap following this win.

“Republicans are fully behind Joe Teirab because the voters of Minnesota are sick and tired of the hyper-partisan politics from Angie Craig and extreme Democrats who are making Minnesota communities less safe with their radical policies. Angie Craig knows she is in deep trouble, and we look forward to flipping this district red with Joe Teirab,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.

Tayler Rahm talks to supporters during the GOP's Pints and Politics fundraiser for Senate District 56 at Cowboy Jacks in Apple Valley on April 9. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)

Craig, seeking her fourth term in Congress, faced just one lesser-known primary opponent, Marc Ives, who said he entered the race after Craig voted on a bill to send $26 billion in aid to Israel. Craig decisively beat Ives on Tuesday evening.

Craig has faced tough races throughout her tenure since she defeated former GOP Rep. Jason Lewis in 2018.

As in previous cycles, Republicans are actively trying to flip the swing district Democrat’s seat.

In 2020, Craig narrowly won her re-election bid by just over 2 points against the GOP’s Tyler Kistner, and by just over 5 points in a 2022 rematch.

Craig won by a slimmer margin in 2020, when Trump was at the top of the ticket. This could be another tough year for her, going against a well-funded opponent who has the backing of Republicans nationally and with the former president once again driving Republican turnout as the party’s presidential nominee.

The congresswoman hit Teirab for being the candidate of Washington Republicans and said she would soon see him on the debate stage.

“My opponent, Joe Teirab, is a guy who recently moved to the district because he saw a political opportunity,” Craig said in a statement. “He’s a guy who has spent months doing anything to win the support of Washington Republicans. And he’s a guy who has made it his life’s mission to take away reproductive freedoms from families and give those decisions to politicians.”