WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, who won a landslide election in a bad year for her party, said the results that kept her in Congress for another term are “still kind of stunning.”
But one thing that has really elated her are her losing results in Le Sueur County.
That rural county in the 2nd Congressional District voted overwhelmingly for President-elect Donald Trump, but Craig feels she made inroads among those GOP voters.
“I almost won 39% of the votes in Le Sueur County! That’s 7 percentage points more than Harris and (Gov. Tim) Walz. I am very proud of that,” she said.
Craig also picked up support across her district, winning reelection last week by 55.5%-42% — or more than 13 percentage points — over her GOP rival, Joe Teirab.
She admits her gains were the result of taking positions at odds with her party. That sometimes caused friction with loyal DFLers.
Now, as her party is soul searching after a terrible election, Craig is frustrated the Democratic Party may not come to grips with what she says are major missteps and continue to ignore real concerns on issues like immigration and the economy.
“There are some people in Washington who will say, ‘Look, we were in a red wave election,’” and be content that the GOP is on track to continue to hold only a slim majority in the next Congress, while ignoring the reasons for Democratic defeats, Craig said. “But I’m not going to even try to put lipstick on that pig,” she added.
To Craig, fellow Democrats downplayed the impact inflation had on many voters and touted high employment and other favorable economic indicators they said were proof of a strong economy.
“As long as hamburger prices were $8 a pound, I knew I had to focus on the economy,” she said.
As Republicans are poised to keep control of the House, Craig did what very few Democrats managed to do last week, especially those in swing districts like the one she has represented since 2019: expanded her base of support.
Not only did Craig make headway in Republican Le Sueur County, there’s evidence she attracted support from other GOPers and independents in her district who also voted for Trump.
She won about 11,000 more votes in the 2nd District than Vice President Kamala Harris, while Teirab attracted about 20,000 fewer votes than Trump in the district.
It was a different story in 2020, when Craig won reelection by a much smaller margin and attracted about 22,000 fewer votes than President Joe Biden. Unlike Teirab, Craig’s Republican opponent at that time — Tyler Kistner — was close in his vote count to Trump’s.
“It’s absolutely clear we won a significant number of Republican voters,” Craig said, citing preelection internal polling results that she said also showed a boost from independent male voters.
‘A more rural identity’
Having raised about $7.6 million for her reelection, Craig blanketed the airwaves with ads that pounded Teirab for his support of abortion restrictions. But her messaging also focused on the times she defied the Biden administration.
“I really believe that voters want someone who has a moderate, centrist voting record,” Crag said.
She distanced herself from Biden on immigration issues, traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border with 17 GOP lawmakers and appearing on Fox News to discuss the need to address what she called a “national security issue.” She also ran ads condemning the influx of fentanyl into the United States, which the GOP has blamed on lax border security.
Another point of contention was Biden’s effort to forgive college loan debt, which she said rankled those without a college degree.
And Craig supported a GOP attempt to overturn the Biden administration’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways that the GOP called an environmental overreach.
“I had some Democrats mad at me for that, but the definition (of protected water) was not clear to my family farmers,” Craig said.
Steven Schier, professor emeritus of political science at Carleton College, said Craig “created a more rural identity” than she had ever before when running for reelection.
The messaging Craig adopted to appeal to conservative voters had a definite Republican cast, Schier said. “At times I watched her ads and asked, ‘Wait a minute, is she a MAGA candidate?’” Schier joked.
But he also said Teirab, a former Marine and federal prosecutor, had his own set of issues, even as he had the backing of House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-6th District, and other GOP House leaders.
“(Craig) had a lot more money than Teirab, who also had problems in getting his party’s endorsement,” Schier said.
The Republican Party in the 2nd Congressional District endorsed Teirab’s primary rival, Tayler Rahm, instead. Even after Emmer persuaded Rahm to drop out of the race, the district’s GOP failed to embrace Teirab.
“The impediment to a (GOP) victory in the 2nd District is the Republican Party in the 2nd District,” Schier said.
Schier also predicted Teirab may be the last credible challenger Craig has for a while. “She’s scared off quality challengers for the foreseeable future,” he said.
Ana Radelat
Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.
