Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District again sees national battleground race

AFL-CIO endorses re-election of Angie Craig

By Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review editor

EAGAN — “I’m with labor and I’m in one of the toughest seats to defend in the country,” says Angie Craig, who is running for a fourth term to represent Minnesota’s District 2 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. “I’ve lost by two points and I’ve won by two points.”

The Minnesota AFL-CIO has endorsed three-term incumbent Craig for re-election. She also is endorsed by the DFL Party.

District 2 includes metro area suburbs south of the Minnesota River and extends from St. Peter on the south to Hastings and the Mississippi River on the north.

In Craig’s three terms in the U.S. House, she has earned a 100 percent voting score from the national AFL-CIO for her support of working families issues.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has included Craig’s seat in its list of 40 targeted races.

Craig supports the labor-backed Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), which would strengthen the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain.

Growing up, Craig saw first-hand the importance of a union job. Her grandmother worked in a union shoe factory and helped to support Craig’s mom and her three children. Craig says of her grandmother, “I’m forever indebted to her for having a good-paying union job and being able to help my family.”

In running for re-election, “the high cost at the grocery store is a major concern” of voters, Craig says. “I’ve been working on a bill to address corporate price-gouging.” She notes that high prices for consumers are coming at a time of record-high CEO pay.

Two years ago, campaign spending in the District 2 race — including spending by outside groups — was the highest in Minnesota history, $32.5 million, Craig reports.

“When you’ve got a race like that, what matters most is getting to the doors and having conversations with our neighbors,” Craig says.

“To me, there’s no better partner than labor,” Craig adds, listing the unions who have turned out volunteers for doorknocks in the district. “Those neighbor to neighbor conversations can make a big difference and labor has been particularly great in helping me on the doors,” Craig says.

“This race will be won or lost on the ground in Minnesota,” Craig believes. “We have to get to those doors and have those conversations.”

Craig was the first House Democrat in a battleground district to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race following his June 27 debate performance, POLITICO reported.

Now, with Kamala Harris leading the Democratic ticket, Craig finds “people are excited to get out and campaign and doorknock.”

Craig echoes Biden in saying, “unions built the middle class in this country.”

“As a member of Congress, I’ve tried to demonstrate my support for labor,” Craig says, supporting the PRO Act, pension reform, and major job-creating legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act.

‘‘I wrote the bill to cap insulin co-pays at $35 per month for seniors on Medicare and got it signed into law. I’m working to pass my Affordable Insulin Now Act to extend those savings to every American who needs them,” Craig says.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Craig says, “I will not stop fighting until every woman’s fundamental right to control her own body is protected and Roe is restored.”

Craig grew up in Arkansas in a mobile home park, raised by a single mother.

She earned a journalism degree from the University of Memphis. “I always thought I was going to chase down politicians and hold them accountable, not be one,” she told the University of Memphis Magazine.

After working as a reporter, Craig moved into corporate communications and came to Minnesota in 2005 for a job at St. Jude Medical.

She and her wife have four adult sons and three grandchildren.

Website:
angiecraig.com