MN 2nd District: Angie Craig Projected To Win Over Tyler Kistner

EAGAN, MN — Democratic Rep. Angie Craig is projected to win a second term in Congress and defeat Republican challenger Tyler Kistner, according to the Associated Press.

Craig was trailing Kistner for much of the evening, but she retook the lead late Tuesday night, according to unofficial results.

Unofficial vote tally as of 12:18 a.m.

• Republican Tyler Kistner — 140,845 votes
• Democratic-Farmer-Labor Angie Craig — 156,543 votes

The Second District race was always poised to be one of the most competitive U.S. House elections in the nation. The district features a mix of the dense suburbs of the south Twin Cities metro, its exurbs, and rural counties of southern Minnesota.

Craig positioned herself as a moderate willing to work with both parties on behalf of her constituents. She also touted her work on behalf of the law enforcement community.

Craig's campaign has also painted Kistner as a conservative extremist on abortion and gun rights.

"Every day, Minnesotans send their kids to school, shop at the grocery store or go to the movies wondering if they’ll be caught in the middle of the next mass shooting, and Tyler Kistner wants to keep it that way," said Craig's campaign manager, Wellesley Daniels.

Daniels highlighted Kistner's support from Gun Owners of America (GOA).

"By accepting the GOA’s donation, Tyler is telling us that his commitment to the gun lobby comes before his commitment to the Second District – and we should take him at his word."

Craig, a former business executive, defeated Republican Jason Lewis in 2018 after losing to him two years earlier.

Kistner had hoped that the second time was the charm for his own candidacy. Kistner lost to Craig by less than 3 percentage points in 2020.

"If elected to Congress, combating inflation will be my top priority," Kistner told Patch in an email when asked about the rising cost of living.

"Minnesotans are struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living as a direct result of Joe Biden and Angie Craig’s reckless and irresponsible spending policies. We must immediately reduce wasteful government spending that is raising the principal driver in rapidly increasing price rates far outpacing wage gains for American families."

Kistner added that "We need to restore American energy independence and strengthen our supply chain. We achieve this through common-sense economic policies, such as the additional pipelines for natural gas delivery, clean nuclear power, and American energy exports returning to our previous position - number one in the world. We need to get back to winning on these issues, American families are counting on it."