Incumbent Angie Craig (D), Joe Teirab (R), and Thomas Bowman (Conservative Party) are running in the general election for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District on Nov. 5, 2024.
CBS News Minneapolis’ Esme Murphy and Liz Christy wrote, “The district is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. It includes all of Scott, Dakota and Le Sueur counties. It’s a south suburban district with 40% rural farmland.”
Craig was first elected in 2018, when she defeated incumbent Jason Lewis (R) in a rematch of their 2016 contest. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis before working as a newspaper journalist and healthcare company manager.
On her campaign website, Craig said, “I’m proud to have … been ranked in the top 2% of all bipartisan members of Congress.” Craig said the district “is the most evenly divided district held by a Democrat” in Minnesota and that this sometimes leads her to support Republican initiatives. Craig’s campaign website says, “College is unaffordable and technical training is unavailable. Healthcare costs too much. Incomes aren’t keeping up with the costs of groceries and prescription drugs. We can do better.”
Teirab earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He served in the Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq. He was later an Assistant County Attorney and an Assistant U.S. Attorney focused primarily on drug-related crimes.
Teirab said, “I had the honor of living the American Dream and think, sadly, career politicians are killing the American Dream.” His campaign website lists public safety, the economy, border security, and education as top issues. Teirab said on his campaign website, “I’m running for Congress to fight for safer communities, to put an end to Bidenomics that has made life unaffordable for too many families, to get our debt and deficit under control and to ensure safety and prosperity for all Minnesotans.”
Murphy and Christy identified “inflation, abortion rights, the southern border and farm policies” as key issues in the race. Teirab said abortion should only be permitted in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. Craig said women should be able to choose and supported restoring Roe v. Wade.
The Minnesota Republican party supported Teirab, and the district’s Republican party supported Tayler Rahm (R), who dropped out to work for Donald Trump‘s campaign. The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Sydney Kashiwagi wrote in August 2024, “Some Rahm supporters have been reluctant or have refused to back Teirab because he didn’t follow through on his pledge to drop out of the race if he did not get the [local] party’s endorsement.” Teirab said, “I’ve talked to so many people that supported my primary opponent, who I think is a great American and made a tough decision, but I think we’re all on the same page and unified against Angie Craig.”
As of September 18, 2024, four major election forecasters differed in their ratings for the general election, with three rating it Lean Democratic and one rating it Likely Democratic.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is supporting Craig through their Frontline program for vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District is one of 37 congressional districts with a Democratic incumbent or an open seat that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting in 2024. To read about NRCC targeting initiatives, click here. For a complete list of NRCC targeted districts, click here.