Craig’s legacy in ‘purple’ district hangs over the DFLers hoping to replace her

WASHINGTON – Rep. Angie Craig says she won’t pick a favorite among three Democrats vying to replace her in Congress, but at a time when voters are calling for change the lawmaker is casting a long shadow on the race.

Craig has been able to wrest control of the 2^nd Congressional District from the GOP and keep it in Democratic hands with a moderate stance that broadened her appeal among voters.

It won her four terms, but having her backing is complicated for the three running in the Aug. 11 primary: Matt Little, a former state House member who was once the mayor of Lakeville, state Sen. Matt Klein and state Rep. Kaela Berg.

Klein, like Craig a moderate, says he’d be happy to have it while Little, the most progressive of the three who has the DFL Party’s endorsement, and Berg, a working class candidate also running as a progressive, say they aren’t seeking it.

Craig, who has represented the district since 2019 and is now running for retiring Sen. Tina Smith’s seat, said she is staying out of the highly competitive race for the Democratic nomination. She says that choice belongs to 2^nd District voters.

That’s fine with Little, who won the DFL Party endorsement in the district.

“It’s not something we’ve sought because she’s made it very clear she will not endorse,” he said.

While Little is running as a progressive, Craig has been able to wrest control of the 2^nd District from the GOP and keep it in Democratic hands with a moderate stance that broadened her appeal among voters.

The district covers Twin Cities southern suburbs and rural farm areas, making it the most “purple” district in the state.

But Craig’s moderation has run headlong into the activism of progressive Democrats this year, and Craig, who is running against Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, has come under attack for sometimes voting for GOP-sponsored legislation, mainly bills that supported police and, before Operation Metro Surge created chaos in the state, stronger border security.

But what really became a problem for Craig was her support of the Laken Riley Act.

Craig has since said she regrets her vote for the bill, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to detain and deport noncitizens who are charged with — not just arrested for or convicted of — offenses like burglary, shoplifting or assault on a law enforcement officer.

Related: Craig skips the DFL convention

“Little is trying to run as the candidate furthest to the left,” Hamline University political science professor David Schultz said. “And he’s concerned that because of (Craig’s) support for the Laken Riley Act, progressives may not support him if has her endorsement.”

Instead, those newly energized DFLers may prefer Berg, the other candidate in the race who is running as a progressive, he said.

Endorsing a candidate is also risky for Craig, Schultz said, because backing the wrong candidate could cost her votes in her primary against Flanagan.

Yet University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs said it’s not unusual for an incumbent to avoid endorsing a possible successor. “I think there’s a sense of ‘letting the voters decide,’” he said.

Unlike Little, Klein, a physician who works at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said he’s asked for Craig’s endorsement. “I would be honored to have it,” he said.

Klein considers himself a moderate Democrat in Craig’s mold.

“This is the last swing district in Minnesota,” he said of CD-2. “To hold it, you have to bridge a (partisan) divide.”

A woman’s seat?

Berg, who represents Burnsville in the Legislature and works as a flight attendant, said she has not asked for Craig’s endorsement.

But Berg is eager to speak of her close relationship with the congresswoman and the work they’ve done together, which includes procuring funding to rebuild a dangerous intersection.

She also said sharing the same gender with Craig is a boost to her campaign.

Berg is a member of the Blue Collar Brigade, a group of five House candidates with ties to organized labor who have launched a joint fundraising effort to help bankroll their campaigns.

The other working-class candidates are Bob Brooks, a firefighter union chief running in Pennsylvania; Randy Villegas, a teacher’s union member in California; Ohio ironworker Brian Poindexter, and Montana union leader Sam Forstag.

“I’m the only woman in the Blue Collar Brigade, and the only woman in the race,” Berg said. “That matters right now. I love an ally and a great dude, but women’s voices are needed right now.”

Schultz said that because of Craig, many voters in the 2^nd District “view it now as a female seat.”

Related: Can 2nd District candidates keep it blue?

Schultz also said that while Berg stands to benefit from Craig’s efforts in the 2^nd District, an endorsement “may alienate the progressive voters she needs now.”

“But saying, ‘Let’s keep this seat in a woman’s hand’ won’t hurt her,” Schultz said.

Berg’s gender has also helped her win the backing of Emily’s List, a group that supports female candidates who support abortion rights.

Besides funneling money to Berg’s campaign and giving her campaign advice, political action committees tied to Emily’s List have produced ads promoting the candidate.  

Meanwhile, Klein said he’s hoping that having two progressives on the ballot will split the vote among those leaning left in the district in the Aug. 11 primary.

Jacobs agrees that’s a possible scenario that would “open a path for Klein” to win the nomination.

Representing a suburban district in the state Senate, Klein, who lives in Mendota Heights, has appealed to unaffiliated voters and even some moderate Republicans as well as Democrats, Jacobs said. That’s the  formula that worked for Craig, but there’s been a surge of progressive activists in the district, and in the state post-Operation Metro Surge.

Klein likes to remind voters that the winner of the Democratic primary will have to pivot to the center to run against the Republican candidate in the race, state Sen. Eric Pratt, who lives in Prior Lake and whose senate district includes most of Scott County.

“And we can’t just say, ‘We’ll see what the progressive (voters) are up to this year,’” Klein said. “We need a Democrat who can win every cycle.”

Democrats now have an advantage in the district, which analysts say leans Democratic. But it’s not clear how far it leans Democratic.

“The question is, ‘Can a progressive candidate win in parts of the district that are not progressive?’” he asked.  

‘A hard worker’

Whoever wins Craig’s seat will also wrestle with a defining characteristic of the lawmaker’s legacy.

“She’s a hard worker,” Jacobs said. “And she has extensive relationships with people in the district.”

Craig was also able to keep winning reelection by raising massive amounts of campaign cash, making the race for the 2^nd District seat one of the most expensive in the nation. She raised about $8.3 million in her last bid for reelection in 2024, which Craig won by nearly 14 percentage points over Republican Joe Teirab.

Related: Campaign fundraising heating up

That kind of fundraising is not happening now.

According to the latest filings by the Federal Election Committee, as of June 30 Little had raised nearly $900,000, which includes a $155,000 personal loan to his campaign.

Klein, meanwhile, had raised more than $1 million and Berg had raised just $355,000.

Pratt, the Republican in the race, has raised about $462,000.

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