Incumbent Angie Craig, a moderate Democrat, beat Republican challenger Joe Teirab Tuesday to win her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The race for Minnesota’s Second Congressional District was one of the most closely watched Congressional races in the state, and one of the more closely watched contests in the country.
Craig earned 55 percent of the vote with most precincts reporting. Teirab earned 42 percent.
Teirab, 37, a former federal prosecutor who was running in his first bid for public office, is the son of an immigrant from Sudan and ran on a moderate platform.
The race has possible implications for which political party wins or retains control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans held a slim nine-seat majority going into Election Day.
A steady shuffle of GOP supporters donning sport coats and red Make America Great Again hats began to fill up the ballroom at the Radisson Blu in Bloomington Tuesday night, as the Minnesota Republican Party hunkered down to watch the election results.
Before results were tabulated Tuesday, Teirab made an appearance at the GOP’s election watch party at the Radisson Blu in Bloomington, and said he felt good about his campaign and its closing message. Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Marine, said he felt enthusiasm Tuesday at polling places in southern suburban cities like Farmington and Rosemount.
“I think people are going to want change,” Teirab said before Craig’s victory.
Teirab said he heard most from voters about the economy, and reiterated he is against a federal abortion ban, saying the issue should be decided by individual states.
Republican congressmen represented the district for most of this century, but that changed when Craig, 52, first won office in 2018. Since then, the district has started to shift toward Democrats, with President Joe Biden winning it by 7 percentage points in 2020. Trump won the district by 1 percentage point in 2016.
The Second District encompasses southern Twin Cities suburbs like Eagan, Shakopee and Burnsville and extends southwest to Northfield.
Most of Craig’s election wins have been close. But in that time, she’s amassed a campaigning machine that’s proved hard to beat, according to Erin Covey, an editor with the Cook Political Report.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Craig outraised Teirab by more than three times at $6.1 million to $1.7 million.
“She has become one of the strongest campaigners in the House Democratic Caucus,” Covey said.
Craig is one of the most moderate Democrats in the House, voting multiple times to condemn Biden’s U.S.-Mexico border policies. Craig hammered Teirab on his past advocacy against abortion rights in college and his seat on the board of a pregnancy support center that opposes abortion.
Teirab tried to counter Craig’s narrative by pledging to vote against any federal abortion ban. He took a moderate stance on immigration, supporting more funding for border patrol to curb illegal immigration but also to process backlogged applications for asylum seekers.
Teirab’s rhetoric on immigration sharply contrasts with Donald Trump.
“I think we can talk about the issue of immigration in a way that’s respectful when we’re not vilifying people who want to come here,” he told Sahan Journal in September.
This is part of Sahan Journal’s live election coverage. Check back for updates.
