Residents in Rep. Angie Craig’s (D-Minn.) swing district highlighted Social Security, border security, and abortion as primary concerns among others.
Some voters who emphasized social issues, however, opted not to support Craig.
“We just need something new,” said another woman with her family who voted against Craig in the Democratic primary.
“I want to find the candidate that closely matches my views in the most number of issues, and my issues generally are police reform, abortion, and democracy being upheld correctly.”
The Campaign
In a swing district, voter turnout can make a great difference to results. Voters in Minnesota’s 2nd District attributed the campaign’s competitiveness to a resurgence of rural voters, who were casting their ballots for Republicans.
“Rural Minnesota is speaking and not just the Twin Cities … they’re turning out more,” said Greg, who lived in a suburban area.
“Democrats do an awfully great job of getting out the vote and getting their people involved and energetic, and too many Republicans have been too laissez-faire … the consequences are starting to become a lot more evident, and I think people are starting to push back.”
He noted that voters may be more conservative on social issues than the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party in Minnesota. “[Minnesota] hasn’t always been Democratic, even though we always seem to have voted blue in presidential elections. There are more Republicans than are represented.”
“Outside the cities, many people vote red without talking about it,” said Costello.
DFL candidates Craig and Walz have held the district since 2006, and some voters said longevity is an issue.
“If one party reigns for a long time, there’s going to be people who are tired of the same thing. They [are] going to see the issues and they’re going to want to change,” said Millner. “A change in this seat wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.”
Craig, a three-term incumbent, has high name recognition in the district, while many voters said they hadn’t heard of Teirab, posing a challenge for his campaign.
“I haven’t read much about him,” noted Costello, an independent voter on Teirab. “I haven’t read or seen anything on TV about him,” said Judy.
Craig and Teirab’s campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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