Rep. Pete Stauber faces Jen Schultz in the rematch for the 8th Congressional District

MINNEAPOLIS – Voters in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District will decide Tuesday whether Republican Rep. Pete Stauber will fend off Democrats Jen Schultz to serve his fourth term again.

The district covers much of northern Minnesota, stretching from the northeast corner of the St. Paul suburbs to Duluth, the Boundary Waters, Brainerd, and the White Earth, Red Lake, and Leech Lake reservations.

Historically, the district has been a Democratic stronghold and was one of three congressional districts in the country to flip from Democrat to Republican during the 2018 midterm elections.

The candidates

Stauber is a Duluth native who was first elected to Congress in 2018. He is a former professional ice hockey player and served as a police officer for 23 years. In Congress, he is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in the Natural Resources Committee.

In 2020, Stauber was one of three Minnesota representatives who signed a last-minute petition to get the U.S. Supreme Court to do so overturn the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. The lawsuit was dismissed by the court 7-2.

Schultz has called Duluth home for 20 years and works as an economist and educator at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She has a doctorate in health economics and promotes her union membership. She represented Duluth in the Minnesota Legislature for eight years. During that time, she said she helped secure millions of dollars in bond projects for the city and secured federal funding to clean up the St. Louis River.

Stauber and Schultz were neck and neck in 2022, but Stauber moved ahead with 57% of the vote.

Key topics

Schultz has emphasized that she will vote for infrastructure legislation to bring green and alternative energy solutions to the region. Democrats have criticized Stauber for praising $1 billion in federal funding for reconstruction Blatnik Bridgeeven though the funding came from Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill, which he voted against.

Stauber disagreed, saying that the bill originally did not guarantee federal money for the bridge, but that he was able to secure the funds by lobbying Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg and President Joe Biden.

Schultz also advocates for campaign finance reform, strengthening Social Security and reducing costs for working families.

“I will grow the economy by building the middle class and guaranteeing pension security – that means protecting Social Security and Medicare,” says Schultz.

Stauber emphasizes the rising cost of living and says, “We must put America first by building a pro-growth economy and implementing an all-American energy policy that is not reliant on our adversaries.” He urges reducing dependence on foreign minerals to end and bring mining back to the region.