Minnesota
Pair of suburban-centered Minnesota congressional districts attract differing levels of attention
They’re adjacent Minnesota congressional districts with suburban populations at their core. One features an Democratic incumbent with a well-stocked campaign account; the other is an open seat that not long ago was seen as Republican turf.
But only one has been on national watchlists for U.S. House races this year — and it’s the south-east metro 2nd Congressional District. There, Democratic Rep. Angie Craig is in pursuit of a fourth term.
Just across the Minnesota River in the western Twin Cities suburbs, Democratic state legislator Kelly Morrison is methodically marching toward joining the federal House delegation in the 3rd Congressional District, where she’s seen as favored over Republican Tad Jude. It has been a sleepy race by comparison.
In the 2nd, which runs from Eagan and South St. Paul down past Northfield, it’s a been another tug-of-war for Craig. She’s trying to hold off a stiff challenge from political newcomer Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and ex-Marine.
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Katie Kendrick, who lives in Burnsville, said she doesn’t know much about Teirab but plans to vote for him.
Katie Kendrick lives in Burnsville. Although she says she doesn’t know much about Teirab, she said on Friday she plans to vote for him.
Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
“Angie’s been there for a while,” Kendrick said as she took a break from arranging Halloween decorations. “I think it’s time for a change.”
Kim Nutting, who lives in Eagan, said she’ll happily cast her ballot for Craig.
“She’s smart,” Nutting said. “I think she’s for the people.”
Minnesota U.S. House District 2
Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab
Craig has the benefit of name recognition after having run four times already in the district. (She lost narrowly in 2016 to Republican Jason Lewis.) And she’s way ahead in the money race, which comes in handy for the ads that have been on air since late August and for get-out-the-vote efforts.
Fundraising reports out last week showed Craig has spent almost three times more than Teirab — about $5.3 million to nearly $1.9 million — and with substantially more left at her disposal for the final weeks.
The race has already had more advertising exposure than the U.S. Senate race, which is a statewide contest.
On Saturday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stopped by to campaign for Craig. Jeffries, of New York, is in line to become House speaker if Democrats can erase a narrow Republican edge in the chamber, which makes the Minnesota race that much more important to those prospects.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says holding on to Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District is key to his effort to win back control of the House from Republicans.
Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
“We’ve got to make sure, certainly, that every single one of our frontline members, our 31 frontline members goes back to Congress, and Angie is in one of the toughest seats,” Jeffries said as he kicked off a door-knocking push in West St. Paul.
In the 3rd District, Morrison also has a yawning financial edge over Jude. Morrison is a state senator and doctor; Jude is a former state legislator, past county commissioner and retired judge.
Morrison had spent about $900,000 through the end of September, compared with $240,000 for Jude. But Morrison had more than $1.1 million available for the final stretch to Jude’s $58,000. Morrison began airing TV ads last week.
Minnesota U.S. House District 3
Elisabeth Gawthrop | APM Research Lab
Some voters said that race has flown under the radar.
“I guess there really hasn’t been a lot of news about those folks. We haven’t heard too much about them,” said Bloomington resident Susan Bongaarts who voted early for Morrison.
Open seat races tend to attract more attention than this one has, particularly in an area that sent a line of Republicans to Washington. That was until 2018, when Democrat Dean Phillips defeated a Republican incumbent and went on to cruise to two more terms. He opted against a bid for another term amid a short-lived run for the Democratic presidential nomination that ended in March.
Roz Johnson, another Bloomington resident supporting Morrison, said she thinks Phillips helped change the district. New district boundaries set after the most-recent census also made it more favorable to Democrats.
“This area was 50-50 split when we moved here in the 80s, but it has been leaning more Democratic,” Johnson said as she took in a warm fall day in a riverside park.
Retired Carleton College political science professor Steven Schier said former President Donald Trump has a lot to do with the shift.
“The 3rd has always been a high-education, high-income district traditionally that was represented by moderate Republicans like Bill Frenzel and Erik Paulsen and Jim Ramstad,” Schier explained. “But high-education, high-income people in this state, and nationally, have been trending in the Democratic direction.”
In October 2024, Retired Carleton college political scientist Steven Schier says Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District no longer seems to be the intense battleground it once was.
Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
Stan Danielson, an 86-year-old who lives in Bloomington, said he voted for many Republicans over the years but now is exclusively backing Democrats.
“I’m not going to vote for Republicans because they are much too far right and I’m just afraid of them,” Danielson said.
86-year-old Stan Danielson lives in Bloomington and says he’s voted for many Republicans but now is exclusively backing Democrats. “I’m not going to vote for Republicans because they are much too far right and I’m just afraid of them,” he said in October, 2024.
Mark Zdechlik | MPR News
Back across the river in the 2nd District, 30-year-old Nathan Schmidt voiced concern about the economy and border security. He plans to vote Republican up and down the ballot.
“The 2nd District does still have some more of those rural areas that lean heavily conservative,” Schmidt. “So, I think that kind of balances out some of the more left-leaning suburbs that are part of the 2nd District.”
Even so, Schmidt said he thinks Craig will win again.
Craig has had her closest races in presidential election years, losing narrowly in 2016 and winning by fewer than 3 percentage points in 2020. Two years ago, she won by about 5 percentage points.
The top of the ballot this year could also be instructive: Four years ago, Democrat Joe Biden won the district by the same margin he won statewide – about 7 percentage points.
Schier, who lives in the district, said despite the visible campaigning on both sides it no longer seems to be the intense battleground it once was.
“The 2nd District, I think, is a very good microcosm of the state as a whole because it has large rural areas that are deeply red,” he said, while noting the “inner-ring suburbs that are strongly blue and so it can, in many ways, be a bellwether for the state.”
Of the many terrible roster decisions Minnesota sports teams have made over the past 30 years, the worst of the bunch may have been trading Randy Moss to the Raiders for the No. 7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris.
Why are we bringing up a trade that happened 21 years ago? Because the New York Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft. It was the first time a non-quarterback has been traded for a top-10 pick since the infamous Moss trade in 2005.
Minnesota traded Moss for the Raiders’ first-round pick, Harris, and a seventh-round pick on March 2, 2005. The Vikings used the No. 7 pick on wide receiver Troy Williamson, who never panned out in the NFL. He had 24 catches for 372 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, 37 receptions for 457 yards and zero touchdowns in 2006, and just 18 catches for 240 yards and one touchdown in 2007.
Williams led the league with 11 dropped passes in 2006. Minnesota traded him to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick after the 2007 season, where he played in 10 games over two seasons and totaled just eight catches for 64 yards. He was cut before the start of the 2010 season, and that was a wrap on the former South Carolina speedster’s NFL career.
Moss didn’t put up jaw-dropping numbers with the Raiders for two seasons, but he set an NFL record with 23 touchdown catches in 2007 with the New England Patriots. He caught 47 touchdowns in 48 regular-season games with the Patriots from 2007 to 2009.
Whether it was trading Moss to the Raiders, the Timberwolves sending Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics — or drafting Ricky Rubio AND Johnny Flynn over Steph Curry — or the Twins cutting David Ortiz and watching him become one of the greatest players in MLB history with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota sports teams have a long history of making terrible decisions.
The Bengals, meanwhile, gave up the 10th overall pick for one of the best defensive tackles in the league. They’ll likely get great production from Lawrence, while the Giants are now under pressure to get the 10th pick right. New York also holds the No. 5 pick in Thursday’s first round of the draft.
By the way, the Vikings had two picks in the first round of the 2005 draft. After taking Williamson, they used the No. 18 pick on defensive end Erasmus James. He was just as much of a bust as Williams, playing in 23 games in three years with the Vikings. He had four sacks as a rookie, but injuries wiped out most of his 2006 and 2007 seasons before he was traded to Washington for a conditional seventh-round pick.
James was cut by Washington in December 2009, marking the end of his NFL career.
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Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault accusing him of involvement in a February road-rage incident.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
Minnesota prosecutors charged a federal immigration agent with assault, saying the agent was involved in a February road-rage incident during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., 35, faces two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, according to April 16 Hennepin County court records. He has a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
On Feb. 5, prosecutors said Morgan allegedly drove illegally on the shoulder of a congested Minnesota highway in an unmarked SUV and pointed his weapon at two people in another car.
Morgan is the first agent charged in Operation Metro Surge, the controversial Minneapolis-area federal immigration operation that resulted in two American citizens fatally shot by federal officials, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
The charges “reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on our community during Operation Metro Surge,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an April 16 video statement.
Second-degree assault with a gun has a presumptive sentence of 36 months in prison if convicted, she said.
“Mr. Morgan’s conduct was extremely dangerous,” she said, adding his actions could have led to “another disastrous incident” in the community.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to email requests for comment. A cell phone listed for Morgan, identified as a Maryland resident, didn’t immediately respond to a call or text message.
The incident came less than two weeks after two Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, during a protest in Minneapolis. Pretti would be the second American killed during Metro Surge after an ICE agent in early January fatally shot Renee Good, 37, while she drove her SUV in Minneapolis near an immigration operation.
Later in February, the Trump administration drew down Metro Surge, which officials called the largest immigration operation in modern American history.
Investigators said they interviewed Morgan, who identified himself as the driver. Morgan told investigators he and the other ICE employee were returning from a surveillance shift. Morgan said he feared for his life and others’ safety, so he pulled up alongside the vehicle and drew his Glock 19 firearm. He said he identified himself as police.
State investigators said neither Morgan nor the other ICE agent reported the incident to an ICE supervisor.
The April 16 warrant, signed by District Court Judge Paul Scoggin, said there was a “substantial likelihood” Morgan would fail to respond to a summons, and officials couldn’t locate him.
On April 18, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the county attorney’s office, said there is no knowledge of Morgan being arrested yet.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
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