MN 2nd District race between Angie Craig, Tyler Kistner is a very expensive tossup

Bill Salisbury, Pioneer Press
·5 min read
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The stakes in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District have never been higher. The outcome could determine which political party controls the U.S. House of Representatives for the next two years.

The race is a rematch between second-term Democratic Rep. Angie Craig and Republican challenger Tyler Kistner. In 2020, Craig narrowly defeated Kistner, 48 percent to 46 percent, the fifth-closest congressional contest in the nation.

This year, it looks even tighter. Three election race newsletters rated the contest a tossup. Last week, Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, ranked Craig as the seventh most-vulnerable Democrat in the House.

To complicate matters, Paula Overby, the Legal Marijuana Party candidate, will be on the ballot even though she died last month. She could siphon off some Democratic votes.

One of the most competitive races in the country is “now the most expensive House race in Minnesota history,” Craig said last week. Political party and special-interest groups have spent more than $25 million on the race, mostly on television ads attacking the candidates.

Purple district

Like most incumbents, the congresswoman has a financial advantage in the district that encompasses much of the south metro.

By mid-October, she had raised $7.3 million and spent $6.5 million on her campaign, compared to Kistner’s $3.2 million raised and $2.8 million spent.

But that spending pales by comparison to the millions that outside interests are pouring into the race. Craig estimated that $30 million to $35 million will be spent on it by Election Day.

It’s a critical race because Republicans need a net gain of just five seats to win a majority in the chamber.

The district is about as purple as they come. Craig said about one-third of the voters lean Democrat, one-third lean Republican, “and the other third of our voters don’t really like Democrats or Republicans. They like their personal rights and freedoms and don’t want politicians telling them what to do.”

Candidates

Kistner, 35, is a former Marine Corps officer who lives in Prior Lake with his wife, Marie, and a son and daughter. His campaign declined to make him available for an interview for this article.

Craig, 50, is a retired newspaper reporter and former medical technology executive who also lives in Prior Lake. She and her wife have four adult sons. Craig was first elected in 2018 by unseating Republican Rep. Jason Lewis.

“I’m running for Congress to serve,” Kistner said early in his campaign, “not to serve big business, not to serve the political elites, but to serve Minnesotans who are increasingly concerned about our country’s future. I will be a check and balance to the Biden administration and work to make a greater prosperity for our children and future generations.”

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Asked what’s at stake in the race, Craig responded, “First and foremost … whether the people of the 2nd District have their values represented in Congress.”

She called herself “one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. I’ve been a moderate, centrist Democrat who has stood up to my party on a number of occasions.” One of her major accomplishments, she continued, “is maintaining bipartisanship in such a polarized political time.”

But Kistner has tried to link Craig to President Joe Biden and her more liberal Democratic colleagues, saying she consistently votes with them. The congresswoman has tried to distance herself from the increasingly unpopular president by saying she wants to see “new leadership” on the party’s 2024 ticket.

She contends Kistner would be a “rubber stamp” for conservative Republicans.

Economic issues

Both she and Kistner agree the economy and inflation in particular are the top issues for district voters. They disagree on the causes of the problems.

Kistner blames most of the problem on government spending by Democrats. It’s causing “record inflation and the highest cost of living on every American household our nation has ever faced. This runaway spending needs to be stopped,” he said.

He also advocates strengthening supply chains and bringing back American energy independence.

Craig attributes rising prices largely to disrupted supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said she’s fighting to relieve inflation pressures by working to hold down health care costs by, for example, capping insulin costs for seniors and “taking on big pharma and big oil.”

Abortion, crime, other issues

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal constitutional right to an abortion, Craig and her allies criticized Kistner’s anti-abortion stances. He has tried to downplay the importance of that issue in the campaign. He remains opposed to abortion but says he wants to leave regulation of the procedure to the states and supports exception to restrictions for rape, incest and to protect the life of a mother.

Crime hasn’t been as big an issue in the district as it has in many other campaigns across the state and nation. Kistner has tried to paint the congresswoman as soft on crime, but she responded by gaining the endorsement of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which had endorsed Kistner in 2020, and the backing of Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie. Kistner subsequently was endorsed by the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis.

The two candidates disagree on many other issues. She voted for the Democrats’ $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill last year; he says much of the money is being wasted on child care and electric car rebates instead of roads, bridges and railways.

Craig voted for the Democrats’ inflation reduction act, which she said lowers health care costs, consumer energy costs and provides tax credits for clean-energy sources.

Kistner opposed that law, he said, because it raises taxes and calls for hiring more IRS agents to audit taxpayers.

Voters in the 2nd District will have clear choices on Tuesday.

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