Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig is running for a fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Challenging Craig is Republican Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Marine.
The south metro area congressional seat sought by the two candidates will likely be home to the closest congressional election in Minnesota this year. On Friday afternoon, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) hosted a debate between Craig and Teirab.
During Friday’s debate, the candidates discussed the economy, immigration, Social Security, abortion, foreign affairs, and several other topics.
Economy
On the economy, Craig said “no one should be taking a victory lap” on the state of the economy. The congresswoman noted that she has a bill to create “a federal taskforce that would look at getting after exactly why consumer prices are so high.” However, she did state that gas prices are “coming down.” Rep. Craig also said consumers will save “$7.5 billion next year because Medicare is finally negotiating drug prices in this country.”
In contrast, Teirab said “we’re losing the American dream” and “middle-class families are getting crushed by inflation.” The Republican candidate told the debate moderator that the average family has to “earn $13,000 more per year to have the same standard of living that they did just a couple years ago.”
Teirab charged Craig with representing the “status quo” and contributing to inflation and price increases by voting for legislation that “threw gas on the inflation fire.” Craig responded, saying “the Congress approved a number of spending bills under President Trump to make sure that our small businesses did not go out of business” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So at the end of the day, we’ve come through a global pandemic,” said Craig.
The pair also had an exchange regarding Social Security. Craig said Teirab was caught on tape telling a voter that he wants to raise the retirement age of Social Security and that he is open to privatizing it. Speaking to the congresswoman, Teirab said Craig was making up lies because “you can’t run on your record on the economy, you can’t run on your record on the border.”
The Republican candidate said he believes the government must honor the promises made to seniors, and he does not believe in cutting benefits to seniors. Rep. Craig said she has a bill to end taxes on Social Security.
Abortion
Eventually, the topic of discussion turned to abortion. Teirab stated that he would not support a federal ban on abortion. The Republican candidate also said abortion is an issue for the states to decide, and he supports IVF, adoption, and foster care.
Conversely, Craig said her Republican opponent is “an anti-abortion activist” who sits on the board of a “pregnancy crisis center.” Referencing states that have restricted abortion, Craig said Teirab “pledged to [a pro-life organization] that he will do nothing to stop those states from banning abortion even in the case of rape and incest.”
Teirab responded, saying he supports “the exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother” and accused Craig of lying about his stance on abortion “because you can’t run on your record on the economy.”
Immigration
On immigration, Craig acknowledged that the Biden administration has “gotten it wrong a lot of Biden’s term.” The congresswoman said she has been to the border, and securing the border is important to her. Craig also noted that she wants the bipartisan Senate border bill to “come to the House for debate.”
Meanwhile, Teirab said Craig voted against legislation in 2023 that would have secured the border by building a wall, giving additional funding to Border Patrol agents, and reforming America’s asylum process.
“As a criminal prosecutor, as a state prosecutor and as a federal prosecutor, I put fentanyl traffickers behind bars, cartel-linked drug traffickers behind bars. And it’s sad and unacceptable that politicians like you, Congresswoman Craig, had some hand in allowing an open border that had to be cleaned up by folks in law enforcement,” Teirab said.
Foreign affairs
The two candidates also discussed the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Both candidates said the United States should support Israel. On Ukraine, Teirab said the U.S. “can’t give a blank check” to the country, but the U.S. should support “the effort in Ukraine to make sure that Russia cannot infringe on the sovereignty of other nation-states.”
Craig said the United States should continue to provide resources to Ukraine.
The south metro congressional seat is Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. The counties in the district include Dakota, Scott, and Le Sueur. Parts of Washington County and Rice County are also in the district.
Election Day is Nov. 5, but early voting in Minnesota is currently open now.
This article is a brief summary of the debate. For the full debate, see here.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
