MINNEAPOLIS — The race for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District is set. 

Former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab will face three-term Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in the November election.

Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Among the communities in the district are Red Wing, Hastings and Eagan.

For years it was represented by Republicans. Craig broke that streak in 2018. Craig has won both her reelection bids in 2020 and 2022 by comfortable margins.

This year she will face Teirab, a Marine Corps veteran and a former federal and county prosecutor. 

Craig credits her strong abortion rights positions as helping her clinch her 2022 win. Teirab is a strong opponent of abortion rights. He says abortion should only occur in the instances of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Teirab, however, says he is against a federal abortion ban. He was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m. 

“When my mom was pregnant with me, it was unplanned and she actually got plugged into what’s called a pregnancy resource center,” Teirab said. “Just encouraged my mom, loved my mom and encouraged her to have me. So I am here to this day because of that and so I want to do what we can to make sure that we’re supporting women who are facing these tough circumstances.”

Teirab has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Teirab said the economy under Trump was better for the average American, including those living in the 2nd District.

While he was a federal prosecutor, Teirab lived in Minnetonka, which is in the 3rd Congressional District, but late last year he moved to Burnsville, which is in the 2nd District. While nearly all members of Congress live in the district they represent, it is not a requirement. In fact, the last Republican to represent the 2nd Congressional District, Jason Lewis, lived just outside the District boundaries.

Craig will be a guest on a future edition of WCCO Sunday Morning.

You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a story with a very unexpected ending, between a guitar player and a clarinet player who are hard of hearing. 

A medical device brought the two musical strangers into harmony in more ways than one.

It’s a story that starts with a girl who loved music, yet couldn’t quite hear.

“It was difficult in school. I think it affected my learning, my self-esteem, but I didn’t want anybody to know I had hearing loss,” Marcia Norwick said.

But Norwick played on.

“I struggled with words, but not with music,” she said.

She wore hearing aids for years until she heard about cochlear implants. The electronic devices carry noise past the damaged part of the ear straight to the hearing or cochlear nerve.

Her results were so good, her audiologist asked her to convince someone else he needed an implant, too.

“She asked me if I would be interested in talking with her father-in-law and I said, ‘Certainly.’ So I gathered all my materials and it was all business,” Norwick said.

Mike Mullins was a music lover, too, and then his hearing hit a fever pitch, too.

“I turned to one of my brothers and I said, ‘The flute is off-key.’  And he listened a while longer and he said, ‘No, no she isn’t,’ and the longer I listened and continued to check, of course she was right where she should be,” Mullins said.

Afraid of hearing bad news, he put off getting help, relying on his wife to navigate life.

“She became my ears. She did my hearing for me,” Mullins said.

When he lost his wife, he lost his way.

“My sons and grandkids and then my daughter-in-law who is an audiologist and they knew there was a solution and so they pushed me,” he said.

He got implants and started taking classes with Norwick. They bonded over their hardware and their music.

“Not hearing causes many people not to be able to engage in the things that they love doing,” Mullins said. “I am doing the things I love doing and it’s the implant that has caused that to happen.”

Partners in implant education, they are now partners in life, hoping others will listen to their story.

“It’s OK to have your hearing checked and it’s OK to wear hearing aids and it’s OK to hear and to admit that you can’t hear,” Mullin said.

“The implant, it’s given you your life back,” Norwick said to Mullins. “It certainly was a win-win-win.”

Cochlear implants are an option only for people with severe hearing loss.