Race for Rep. Angie Craig’s seat is heating up and expected to sizzle 

WASHINGTON The race for U S Rep Angie Craig s nd District seat is in its early stages and has so far attracted just two candidates both DFLers named Matt But the contest to represent Minnesota s swingiest district in Congress is once again expected to be fiercely competitive and very expensive Craig s decision to run for retiring U S Sen Tina Smith s seat prompted the Cook Political Overview to change its rating of the nd District seat from safe Democrat to likely Democrat which makes the race more competitive for the GOP Erin Covey of the Cook Political Analysis announced the nd District race was downgraded a bit for Democrats because an open seat by definition is more competitive than one held by an incumbent She declared Democrats will continue to have a strong advantage But others think Craig s decision to run for the Senate gives Republicans a chance to do what they haven t been able to do for years claim the nd District for the GOP I think it s going to be a very close general referendum explained Hamline University political science professor David Schultz The district encompasses the Twin Cities suburbs and the southern portion of Washington County as well as the rural areas of Dakota and Scott Counties Le Sueur County and much of Rice County Since the district was created in its voters have elected both Democrats and Republicans to represent them Yet historically they have favored the GOP and that party held the seat for years before Craig was elected in But redistricting and the rapid expansion of the Twin Cities suburbs and exurbs have shifted the race towards the Democratic Party In Donald Trump won the district narrowly over Hillary Clinton but lost it to Kamala Harris who won of the vote last year This district has been trending to the left since Covey mentioned Fred Slocum a political science professor at Minnesota State University Mankato announced that while the district includes rural areas that likely will favor a Republican candidate it also includes suburban areas And in general in the Twin Cities suburbs the DFL has gained ground over the past to years as a number of suburbs previously heavily white have become more diverse with greater shares of racial and ethnic minorities Slocum commented He also reported the overturning of Roe v Wade has mobilized suburban women to vote for Democrats That helped Craig keep her seat Craig was able to fend off challengers by walking a fine ideological line While she strongly supports abortion rights and protecting social safety net programs she also adopted particular GOP stances including a hard line on immigration strong assistance for Israel and increased funding for police Craig was also able to raise millions of dollars in races that drew in the sponsorship of the national parties Her campaign spent nearly million to successfully fend off GOP challenger Joe Teirab last year Teirab spent about million Schultz reported the best candidate for the race is a centrist who can raise a lot of money Teirab may run again for the nd District seat So may Tayler Rahm a Republican who won the endorsement of the GOP at its nd District convention but dropped out of the Republican primary last year after being offered a job on the Trump campaign in Minnesota And Tyler Kistner who lost against Craig twice is stated to also be considering a run The two Matts Two DFLers have already disclosed they are running for the nd District seat state Sen Matt Klein and former state Sen Matt Little who also served two terms as the mayor of Lakeville Another DFL state senator Erin Maye Quade may also jump into the race Little disclosed any one of the Democrats in the race will face a tough general referendum It s going to be extremely competitive Little announced Republicans are going to target this seat with everything they have State Sen Matt Klein Little revealed he d run on pocketbook issues like affordable childcare and allowing people who are younger than to buy in to Medicare He s aware Democrats need to keep the nd District seat if they hope to take back control of the U S House in the midterms something that would require the flipping of just five seats The courts can t do it alone Little declared of the dozens of lawsuits challenging Trump s use of his executive authority to remake the executive We need to take back Congress Little explained his time as mayor of Lakeville gives him a boost in a major population area in the district and helps him campaign in rural south Dakota County Meanwhile Klein a physician of internal medicine announced he hopes to be elected to provide a counterbalance of scientific fact and trust to Fitness and Human Tools Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr a vaccine skeptic Representing the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area Klein concedes that winning over the red areas of the district will be a challenge And he s willing to use Craig s winning centrist-driven formula The path has already been forged by Angie Klein disclosed He also reported the Democratic primary is likely to be as competitive as the general electoral contest Both will have different sets of challenges he commented Klein has noted he won t drop out of the race if he fails to win the DFL endorsement And he explained he won t shift his message to appeal to the more progressive voters who show up at DFL primaries and the more moderate mix of voters who gave Craig victories over her GOP challengers If voters decide they don t like my message I ll accept that Klein noted Former state Sen Matt Little Covey of the Cook Political Account disclosed there s another advantage Democrats may have in the nd District besides a favorable demographic trend Trump s approval ratings have dropped and traditionally the party that holds the White House loses congressional seats in a midterm Given the historical trend one would think the party that is locked out of power will gain strength in the midterm she explained But Covey cautioned it is too early in the campaign cycle to make hard and fast predictions Much will depend on Trump s overall job approval next year and there is inevitably the wild card of new issues or events that can unexpectedly intrude into a campaign Slocum reported For example the Sept terrorist attacks tilted the elections in Republicans favor the overturning of Roe v Wade mostly worked in Democrats favor The post Race for Rep Angie Craig s seat is heating up and expected to sizzle appeared first on MinnPost