Defense attorney Tayler Rahm dropped out of the race for Minnesota’s Second Congressional District over the weekend. Seeking the GOP nomination for the south metro seat, Rahm was running against fellow Republican Joe Teirab for a chance to take on incumbent Democrat Angie Craig this November.
Earlier this year, Rahm easily won the GOP endorsement for the seat. Additionally, attendees of a debate between Rahm and Teirab overwhelmingly indicated their support for Rahm after the debate. However, Teirab has significantly outpaced Rahm in fundraising throughout the campaign.
In April, Alpha News reported that Teirab, a former federal prosecutor and United States Marine, had 10 times more cash on hand than Rahm’s campaign. Furthermore, Teirab had eclipsed Rahm’s total fundraising numbers by almost half-a-million dollars.
Last Thursday, Teirab announced a recent fundraising haul of $700,000 in Q2 alone. To date, Teirab’s congressional campaign has reportedly raised over $1.5 million.
“I’m especially humbled that our average individual donation is just $21,” Teirab said in a statement. “In this economy especially, I know every dollar matters in family budgets. The fact that people are giving their hard-earned money to support our mission means so much to me and further fuels my resolve that we need new leadership.”
Currently, the Teirab campaign has $813,000 in cash on hand.
Just days after Teirab’s announcement, Rahm announced he was suspending his campaign to join the Trump campaign in Minnesota, saying “President Trump has asked me to join his Minnesota Leadership team to serve as a senior advisor to his campaign and activate the grassroots community.”
“I will suspend my campaign operations and focus on doing everything possible to save our country,” added Rahm.
In response, Teirab put out a statement which praised Rahm’s “selfless decision to step out of the race in order to help re-elect Donald J. Trump as President.”
“Together, we will unify and strengthen our party, retire extreme Democrat Angie Craig, and re-elect President Donald Trump with a resounding victory starting right here in Minnesota,” said Teirab.
Having locked up the GOP nomination, Teirab will now turn his attention to winning the general election against Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig. While Teirab’s fundraising numbers may have been enough to secure the Republican nomination, the GOP candidate will need to vastly increase those numbers if he wants to keep pace with Craig’s totals.
Rep. Craig’s campaign raised over $4.1 million from January 2023 through March 2024. As of April, the congresswoman had over $2.8 million in cash on hand. Alpha News reached out to the Craig campaign to ask if they had any new fundraising numbers that included Q2 of 2024. However, Rep. Craig’s campaign did not respond to a media inquiry.
In 2022, the race for the south metro district became the most expensive congressional race in Minnesota history–total spending reached $24 million. That year, Craig spent $8.8 million, while her GOP opponent spent $3.3 million on the race. Outside groups spent millions on the race as well.
That year, Craig won reelection by 5.2 points.
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.
