Minnesota’s Second Congressional District is considered nationally a US House Battleground for the general election because it’s an open seat, but the Republican primary is proving to be a battle in itself. Four candidates are vying to be the Republican on the ticket against lone Democratic candidate Angie Craig.
Alpha News interviewed the four remaining Republican candidates to offer a side-by-side comparison.
Nationally syndicated radio show host Jason Lewis won the endorsement on May 7th, he thinks he’s the strongest pick against Craig, saying, “Electability. You’ve got to have name ID, you’ve got to be willing to take it to the enemy when it comes to politics, but you’ve got to know the issues, you’ve got to come prepared, you can’t be a neophyte in this business.”
Former State Senator and business owner John Howe, as well as business owner Darlene Miller lost the endorsement to Lewis but decided to stay in the race and take Lewis to a primary. Miller is banking on her business experience, explaining, “I think the big difference for me versus the other candidates is I am a small business owner, I’m a manufacturing plant owner, I know how to create jobs.”
Howe says his experience at the state capitol gives him the edge, stating, “I’m the only one with legislative experience, and you can’t have on-the-job-training when you’re talking about US Congress, you need somebody who understands the system, who can get things done.”
The latest addition to the race, small business owner and veteran Matthew Erickson, is creating a stir due in part to his controversial social media posts. This has some within the Republican party questioning the validity of his campaign, but Erickson says he’s not only sincere, but more sincere than the other candidates, saying “They think they can get up there and just read off a piece of paper of whatever their consultant told them to say because they calculated in a poll – these pollsters said ‘oh this is what will work better’ – well we’ve had politicians like myself, like Donald Trump that prove that wrong, people want real people, they want a real leader.”
While the candidates disagree on who should take on Democratic Candidate Angie Craig in November, they all agree on an issue on the minds of most Americans these days – gun control. All four candidates explained they are firm Second Amendment supporters.
The primary winner will have their work cut out for them, Democratic candidate Angie Craig announced that her campaign brought in more than $650,000 – $450,000 of which came from donor contributions in the second fundraising quarter, leaving her campaign with 1.8 million dollars of cash on hand. The primary for this race is August 9th.
